What a call to make.
Louis van Gaal is acutely aware that the Premier League away game to Stoke City may well be his last as a Man United manager if his team were lose again, but he has gone balls out with his decision to drop club captain Wayne Rooney.
Some may suggest that Rooney is being rested for the forthcoming game with Chelsea, but with so much hanging on the result at the Britannia, is it a risk he can afford to take? Or has the penny finally dropped, as he realises that the England man is no longer an automatic choice.
Here is Van Gaal’s line-up for the crucial match…
United XI: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Jones, Blind, Carrick, Herrera, Mata, Fellaini, Memphis, Martial #mufc pic.twitter.com/iHOR9y8vds
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 26, 2015
United subs: Romero, Borthwick-Jackson, McNair, Varela, Pereira, Schneiderlin, Rooney #mufc
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 26, 2015
