Rooney reveals Van Gaal called Luke Shaw fat in training at Manchester United

Wayne Rooney has described as ‘horrendous’ the moment Louis van Gaal called Luke Shaw fat during a training session at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground, a story that resurfaced on the Stick to United podcast.

Reflecting on Van Gaal’s tenure, Rooney and fellow former United midfielder Ashley Young recalled the Dutch manager’s blunt, unfiltered style. When host Mark Goldbridge raised the well-known incident in which Van Gaal called a journalist fat at a press conference, Rooney immediately drew a parallel closer to home. ‘He did that to Luke Shaw as well, didn’t he? In training, it was horrendous,’ Rooney said.

Van Gaal had made no secret of his concerns about Shaw’s condition from the moment he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2014. The manager had signed the teenager from Southampton for £30 million and placed him on an individual fitness programme, publicly citing the physical demands of his preferred 3-5-2 system, which required wing-backs to cover the full length of the flank.

Shaw himself acknowledged the criticism at the time, admitting he had underestimated the step up in intensity. ‘To play in this formation you have to be really fit. I am fit but I am not at the high level he demands,’ Shaw said. ‘I didn’t come into United thinking it would be much harder. That’s something I think I made a mistake on.’

Van Gaal was not the only manager to scrutinise Shaw’s conditioning. Mauricio Pochettino, who managed Shaw at Southampton before recently being confirmed as the new Manchester United head coach, previously revealed he would visit Shaw’s home to ensure the young defender was not eating pizza — an anecdote Pochettino confirmed during a television appearance in April when pressed on the story by Gary Neville.

Young, meanwhile, was more charitable in his overall assessment of Van Gaal, recalling the manager’s famous moment of throwing himself to the ground on the touchline during a match. ‘He was a character,’ Young said. ‘Remember when he threw himself to the ground on the side of the pitch? It was unbelievable.’ The recollections paint a picture of a manager whose methods were as divisive in the dressing room as they were entertaining to outside observers.