Louis van Gaal Reveals Wayne Rooney's Spurs Rallying Cry, Reacts to Boxing Video

Louis van Gaal is "very pleased" with Wayne Rooney's leadership skills after the Manchester United captain called a meeting prior to the side's 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. In it, he underlined how important victory could be to the Red Devils' season, reported by David McDonnell and Alex Richards of the Mirror.

Van Gaal commented on Rooney's rallying cry after watching his side crush Spurs with a 25-minute blitz at Old Trafford, per the aforementioned report: "The players knew this game was of massive importance. So I think a captain has to do something to help the players, help the manager or help the club. I was very pleased with that."

Headlines before the game centred on Rooney and a private video that had gone viral. It appeared to show Stoke City defender Phil Bardsley—formerly of United—knocking Rooney unconscious in a kitchen-based boxing bout.

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Rooney was inches away from hitting his head on a breakfast bar, with Jeremy Cross of the Daily Star telling Sky Sports' Sunday Supplement: "We joke about it, but he could have really hurt himself. He could have killed himself even, without being too dramatic about it."

Van Gaal batted away questions after the final whistle, per McDonnell and Richards: "I don't want to answer any questions [about that]. I think it's a ridiculous world where we live that I have to answer questions. I don't have any comment. What is this world, twisted?"

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Rooney acknowledged the widespread coverage of the incident with his celebration after scoring the third against Spurs. He burst through the north London side's defence before slotting beyond Hugo Lloris. The England captain then mocked the video posted by The Sun on Sunday with his celebration, per B/R UK:

After the match, Rooney outlined his annoyance at the video being released to the masses, reported by McDonnell and Richards:

"

That’s the world we live in today. It’s in my own home, it’s not public. It’s what friends do—they mess around in the house. It was a couple of mates in a private house, and somehow it’s managed to get on the front page of a national newspaper.

"

Tanya Bardsley, Phil's wife, highlighted why he may be irritated:

Rooney's celebration grabbed plenty of coverage in the morning's newspapers, highlighted by Neil Henderson of the BBC:

All at United will agree that Sunday's result was the most important thing, however. Van Gaal's men produced some of their sharpest football of the season—curiously, given Angel Di Maria had dropped out of the side—with Rooney, Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini and Daley Blind putting in strong performances.

United moved the ball well, played on the front foot and were set up to attack without leaving themselves exposed, something Van Gaal must ensure during the upcoming trip to face Liverpool.

Rooney's goal provided him the opportunity to put coverage of his boxing to bed. United certainly came out swinging against Spurs and need to continue in that manner during their extremely tough nine remaining games.