Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has heaped praises on captain Wayne Rooney ahead of their second match of the International Champiosn Cup against San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday. 

After signing Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay, Van Gaal believed that Rooney can go back to playing in his preferred centre forward position. 

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"I could not have expected more. I think he's a great captain. Better than I had expected. He is fully accepted by the players and that's also very important because I can choose the captain -- but the players decide," Van Gaal told the reporters. 

Rooney was deployed at several positions last season by Van Gaal and the season did not turn out to be as good as they wanted.

"My best position, and I have always said it, is as a striker, getting into the box," Rooney told the media. And the two seasons I have really done that as a lone striker have been my two best goal-scoring seasons. It is where the manager and myself see my best position. Hopefully I can get a good run of games and repay the manager and score goals for the team, but it is obviously on me to do that.

"I have no doubts that I can score 20 goals or more again and I am ready to take on that mantle and be the one who gets the goals for this team. If I play up there again this season, then I can get the goals. It is where I like and it is where I will play," he added.