Man Utd pitches torn up, will Van Gaal do same to Rooney?

Big changes at Carrington training ground as new United boss picks a captain

Man United boss Louis van Gaal
(Image credit: LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP/Getty Images)

New Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has ordered staff at the club's Carrington training base to tear up two grass practice pitches and replace them with the hybrid 'Desso' playing surface used at Old Trafford.

When they are installed the new hybrid pitches will perfectly match the one on which United play their home games after a new pitch has been installed at Old Trafford because of concerns about the quality of the playing surface there.

"While Old Trafford's previous pitch was a pure grass surface, the new surface is a fusion of grass and 20 million artificial fibres, which intertwine with the natural grass 20 centimetres beneath the surface to strengthen the playing area and make it more robust and stable," explains the Daily Telegraph.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It says they should be ready for use in six weeks, after the start of the new season, but until then United can use the other grass pitches at their training facility.

The same surface is used at Wembley and is also being installed at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff this summer. The cost of replacing the pitches at Carrington will be around £800,000 says The Times.

"With Van Gaal also ordering that trees be planted at Carrington to make the facility more sheltered from the wind, the manager has wasted little time in starting to shape the club," reports The Guardian.

And he must make another big decision ahead of his first game in charge against LA Galaxy in California on Wednesday: who will be captain.

His decision will be eagerly awaited and could have far-reaching consequences even though it may not be final. With Robin van Persie on leave and Michael Carrick injured "a decision on a permanent captain may still be some weeks away", says Mark Ogden of the Daily Telegraph.

"But if Van Gaal overlooks Wayne Rooney when he hands out the armband in the Rose Bowl dressing room, it will point towards a wholly new dynamic at Old Trafford and one which the England forward is unlikely to have anticipated when he signed his new five-year contract in February."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us