When Louis van Gaal talked about Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney as coaches on the pitch last week , it actually revealed far more than you might at first imagine . Football intelligence is something very few people are truly blessed with . Van Gaal was highlighting these two because of their superior football intelligence . The backdrop is a season at Old Trafford where Champions League football looks likely , but at the same time it is fair to say United have only been truly convincing in a few isolated games . Louis van Gaal has identified Michael Carrick ( left ) and Wayne Rooney as two of his most bright players . Van Gaal demands a level of 'football intelligence ' from his players at Manchester United . United now have a eight-point cushion over Liverpool and are in good shape to make the Champions League . Van Gaal revealed why United have almost stumbled into the top four this season when he praised Carrick and Rooney . He basically said too many players at United aren ’ t very bright . In fact they ’ re pretty thick . Of course there are exceptions : Juan Mata is a cultured , classy individual on and off the pitch . Carrick and Rooney have football intelligence in abundance : hence Carrick slipping seamlessly in and out of the centre-half position mid-game at times this season , and Rooney slotting into whichever position Van Gaal asks him to occupy . The Dutchman can trust these players . Let me give you a couple of examples : last summer his first encounter with Luke Shaw was to set up a separate training regime for the teenager because he was so unfit . Shaw admitted his manager was right and accepted he need to step up his mentality at his new club . Spanish midfielder Juan Mata is another cultured , classy player in United 's team . Rooney showed plenty of intelligence to turn and volley home United 's second goal on Saturday . Luke Shaw had to take part in extra pre-season training sessions to reach the necessary fitness levels . Imagine signing for Manchester United and being so unfit you can ’ t take part in pre-season training sessions . That ’ s what happened to Luke Shaw . Not very bright . Ander Herrera played well on Saturday but at one point in the first-half with United pressing he launched a ridiculous pass from the right-wing position , back into his own half . It sailed over Marcos Rojo ’ s head and the Argentina international had to chase back to retrieve it . It was a poor pass – that can happen . But choosing to make that pass in the first place was inexplicable . Van Gaal was clearly frustrated on the sidelines by this poor in-game management from a top player . Not very bright . Look at Phil Jones bulldozing his way into challenges and getting nowhere near the ball . I ’ m convinced that ’ s part of the reason he gets so many injuries . Not very bright . Marouane Fellaini is a good footballer , but he ’ s had several seasons of being turned into a target man by David Moyes . He had any football intelligence hammered out of him . He regressed – he became not very bright . Ander Herrera score twice against Aston Villa but also played a notably poor pass to Marcos Rojo . Phil Jones makes himself prone to injuries by crashing into tackles . Fellaini had his football intelligence hammered out of him by the disastrous David Moyes regime . A continental colleague told me that Van Gaal is frustrated by the lack of football intelligence he has found in the squad at Old Trafford . This is a guy used to working with erudite thinkers of the game at Ajax , Barcelona and Bayern Munich . At these clubs there is a true football philosophy built up over years that has stood the test of time and stands proud despite managers coming and going . Van Gaal walked into United and found a club shorn of its direction . The dictator Sir Alex Ferguson was gone and any philosophy died with the departure of Fergie , and then Moyes 's reign set the club back further . The United job is clearly far bigger than just signing Angel Di Maria and thinking everything will be fine . And this issue of a lack of football intelligence in the squad and at the club needs a long-term solution . But at 63 has van Gaal got the time to impose a new philosophy on the club , to teach that intelligence needed ?
Very few Manchester United players possess the intelligence demanded . Michael Carrick , Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata can claim to have it . The Dutchman suggested some of his other players lack brains . Luke Shaw was n't fit enough when he arrived last summer . Phil Jones thunders senselessly into tackles and gets injured . Even Ander Herrera is guilty of playing senseless long balls . Durham : Arsenal only turn it on when the pressure is off . Adrian Durham : Sterling would be earning the same as Balotelli if he signed £100,000-a-week deal at Barcelona ... that 's the real issue here . CLICK HERE for all the latest Manchester United news .