Manchester, May 30 (IANS): English football club Manchester United's captain Wayne Rooney says he has loved working with manager Louis van Gaal, who was appointed last year.

United, after a sluggish start to the season, rallied in the second half of the campaign to finish fourth in the Premier League, which Rooney has credited to the management skills of the 63-year-old.

"It was exciting really, to have the chance to work under him. The record he has got shows that he is a top manager and since he's come in he's been fantastic,” Rooney was quoted as saying by sportsmole.co.uk on Saturday.

"He had faith in me and made me captain. Seeing the way he works and his different style of management, it's clear why he's been successful. The manager came in with new ideas, a new way to play, new training methods and we did find that difficult at first.

Rooney added: "The manager told us before we started that we were going to find it difficult and there were also a lot of new players who came in during the summer and it can be difficult for them to bed into a new league and a new team."

Rooney scored 12 goals for United in the Premier League's last season.