Wayne Rooney has recounted a hilariously awkward chat between his wife, Coleen, and former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal from their time working together at Old Trafford.
Van Gaal was United manager between 2014 and 2016, and shared a close bond with Rooney, making the forward captain upon his arrival at the club.
The United all-time record goalscorer made 79 appearances under the leadership of the Dutchman during the manager’s two seasons at the Red Devils, scoring 29 goals and winning the FA Cup.
Rooney has openly spoken about how Van Gaal was ‘quite a loud and bubbly character’ in the past, and during the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show, he has revealed the indecorous comment the now 74-year-old made during his first-ever conversation with Coleen at a players’ lunch.
‘I loved him, he was so funny,’ Rooney started. ‘The first time he met Coleen, we had a lunch with all the players, wives, girlfriends, staff.
‘He came up to Coleen, first time he had met her, he said “your children, they look very much like the father”, she said “yeah”, he said “he has very strong sperm”. That was the first time he met her!’
The awkward remark did not bother Rooney, though. In fact, the former England international found the conversation rather amusing.
‘He was so funny, such a good character,’ Rooney added ‘We just moved on. I really liked him as a person.
‘He was different and funny but as a coach I probably learned more from him than I did from anyone else.’
Despite leaving such a positive lasting impression on Rooney, as a person and a coach, Van Gaal’s results were not good enough to keep him at United in the long term.
He was sacked by the club just two days after winning the FA Cup against Crystal Palace in the 2015-16 season, after finishing fifth in the Premier League and missing out on Champions League football.
Jesse Lingard sealed the historical title for 10-man United in extra time at Wembley, providing some respite for Van Gaal after what had been a tough season. But his joy was short-lived as he was informed of his impending P45 after the match.
And now Rooney has described how it truly affected the Dutchman during the celebrations of their much-needed triumph.
‘I have so much respect for him, I think his wife maybe found out at half-time of the game,’ the retired striker explained.
‘We won the cup, we had the after party. Louis was stood over with his wife and a couple of friends and he was very quiet, that’s just weren’t him. When you see his character and personality, that just was not him.
‘I went up to him and said “boss, whatever is going on just forget it and enjoy tonight” and he couldn’t. It was tough, it was tough for us because we respected him.
‘He made us all get up at 8am [the next morning], come down for breakfast and we are all hungover. Fair play to him, he gave every player the schedule, what he wants from them, what he expects from them in the off-season. He stuck to his job until it was confirmed he was sacked.
‘It was really sad because you looked at him, big personality, we had just won the FA Cup, and he knew – we all knew – that he was going to be sacked.
‘Fair play to him, he stuck to his job until the end and I have a lot of respect for him for that.’
