Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed that Chris Smalling will be the next captain at the club once Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick decide to leave.
Smalling, 25, has developed into one of United’s most important players in the last 12 months and he is now the first-choice central defender under Van Gaal this season.
The England international has improved massively on his game, with his pace and agility always being his main strengths, he is now stronger and has good organisation skills which the Dutch boss always wants. Van Gaal is a very well structured coach and he believes that communication is key during games. Smalling has taken that lead by talking to the defence during games and also performing the most consistent this season, with another good game in the recent 1-1 draw with CSKA Moscow.
It has done wonders for his confidence and Van Gaal now sees the former Fulham defender as a future captain. And speaking ahead of the Manchester City clash on Sunday, the 64 year-old admitted that Smalling has all the credentials to succeed Rooney when the striker decides to step down.
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"“Wayne Rooney is the captain and so you don’t have to worry and then Michael Carrick but when they are gone then Chris Smalling can do that,” he said, as reported by the Guardian. So I push him also in that situation. Every player makes the steps by himself to improve. I put him in the situation and I help him in the situation and I advise and the player can take it on board or not. It is his responsibility. He has done it by himself. There is a lot of advice.“It is about how we defend as a team. Smalling is a part of that and I wanted him to speak. He also has the talent to speak. That makes him easy to coach. Because of that I made him a leader of the team. He has made steps and also in a tactical way.”"
Smalling has started for United since the opening day of the season and his place in the side is literally guaranteed after just two months. The central defender has been strong in every aspect and even showed his maturity by dominating the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke – two of the strongest players in the league.
But not only that, Smalling has been vocal and as mentioned earlier, Van Gaal is really impressed by that with David De Gea also getting praise from the boss.
"He said: “When you give instruction in terms of organisation you need someone to understand that. He is a structured person. He accepted it more quicker. David de Gea [the goalkeeper] has the best view and then the central defenders so I demand of my defenders that they speak. They need also an overview. I put him in that situation and then he can develop or not. It is his choice.”"
United are enjoying a positive start to the season and you can see the benefits of Van Gaal after his 14 months in charge. At first the Dutchman was overworking the squad and that was evident with the injuries suffered last campaign. And touching on that was the United boss, who admitted it was his fault for the failures last season.
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"“That was my fault. I was training them harder but they were not used to training like that,” Van Gaal continued. “Because I am convinced you have to train now they are used to that step. I also let go players because of that and I bought new players. I think they are more used to my training sessions. You can see that with the new players. You can see which players are always injured.“In my career I never had injuries like that [last year]. I have always preferred small squads. I think I have the smallest squad in the Premier League. You always have to train but with structure and not too hard,” he added."