Louis van Gaal will sit down with Sir Alex Ferguson for the first time over the weekend when the former Manchester United manager joins the club’s pre-season tour in Washington.
New United boss Van Gaal said last week that he was keen to have coffee with Ferguson and is understood to be keen to pick the Old Trafford icon’s brains about life at Old Trafford.
Ferguson has spent much of the summer on holiday but is flying out to America on Saturday and will be with the United party in Washington and then Detroit.
The Scot will also be joined by six members of the Glazer family who have also decided to join the tour for the latter section, swelling the numbers in the United party to more than 170 here in America.
With United having got their tour off to a good start in Los Angeles with a 7-0 defeat of LA Galaxy, Van Gaal’s team face Roma in Denver this afternoon.
Centre forward Wayne Rooney scored twice against Galaxy at Pasadena Rose Bowl on Wednesday and is hoping to thrive in Van Gaal’s new 3-5-2 system.
The Dutch coach has said that this system is designed to incorporate two strikers and a ‘number ten’ and Rooney hopes that will help him forget about the disappointment of England’s World Cup summer.
'Of course the system is good for me,' said Rooney. 'It’s great to hear the manager say he wants to play two strikers as we have a few. It’s a good formation and it’s good to work on it in training for a few days.
'It was always going to be interesting to see how it worked in a game and it worked well, which is good. It was a good result and good to get 45 minutes under my belt. Louis van Gaal has been great.
'I’ve only had a few days but he’s a strong guy who has been good in training and it’s been enjoyable.
'He is bringing in a new style of play and wants us all to adapt to that and that’s been enjoyable. It was good to see it work against Galaxy.'
Rooney would have hoped to joined United’s tour later, given that progress for England in Brazil would have delayed his arrival in America.
However, the 28-year-old claimed this week that he has already put the World Cup – and the criticism that came on the back of England’s early exit – behind him.
'Was I criticised in the world Cup?' he asked. 'I honestly didn’t know. But I think that happens. It’s the world we live in.
'Of course we can win the title,' he said. 'Last season was a bad one, we know that, but we are confident we can put it right. We have to believe we can win the title.
'Of course I would like the captaincy but it’s the managers decision who he chooses.
'I think he wants to work with the players and then choose a captain from there. I don’t think he was ever going to just walk in and choose a player from the off. I’m sure he will look at the players now and make his decision in a couple of weeks.
'He’s very honest in training. If you are not doing well in training he will tell you but if you do well he will praise you.
'If you aren’t doing things right in training you need to know so that you can put them right. In Brazil I watched the way Holland were playing and I carried on doing that when I came home.
'However you can watch as much as you want but it’s when you hear him getting his point across in training that you start to learn.'
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