Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has defended not playing his players to their perceived strengths.
Van Gaal referred to his success with such a model at home in Holland, where he adapted the roles of some of the country's biggest stars.
"Edgar Davids was a left winger and I made him a midfielder. Michael Reiziger was a no.10 and I made him a full-back. Frank Rijkaard, a no.6, came as a right midfielder and I made him a centre-half in my winning team, for example.
"I like multipurpose players because then you can vary your team more and you are more unpredictable for your opponent because you are changing the players' positions. That's why I like that, that's why I had a team at Ajax that the opponent didn't know anymore.
"That is also possible with Rooney, for example. And now I'm creating that a little bit with Januzaj and Angel Di Maria because they can play the positions that they play in now. Maybe that is the solution, we have to wait and see. It's difficult because I have to develop this in a season, but in spite of that, we are third [in the league]."
