Forget Van Persie and Falcao, James Wilson should partner Wayne Rooney, says former Manchester United star Teddy Sheringham

 

The Evening Standard's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Left out: Wilson has been used by Van Gaal as a rotation player this season
Tom Farmery17 March 2015

Former Manchester United player Teddy Sheringham has said that if Louis van Gaal chose to play James Wilson he would be in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League.

Sheringham said that the 19-year-old is capable of scoring 20 goals a season, which is something no first team United player looks like achieving with only Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie on double figures.

"I really like James Wilson. It's a shame that Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie are in front of him," Sheringham told United Review.

"It's a shame for him that Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie are in front of him. Louis van Gaal said recently that he doesn’t have a striker who can score 20 goals a season, but I think if you put Wilson up there with Wayne Rooney then you’d have two players who can reach those figures for you."

Manchester United v Tottenham - player ratings

1/22

Wilson scored twice on his full debut in the 3-1 home win over Hull at the end of last season when United were under the management of Ryan Giggs.

However, this season, and under Van Gaal's control, Wilson has only made an impact when coming off the substitutes' bench. He has scored two goals this season: one in the 2-0 away win at QPR and another in the 3-0 FA Cup home victory over Cambridge United.

Sheringham, who is an attacking coach at West Ham United, added: "He’s very direct, scores goals, has good pace and that added bonus of being a left-footer – they always tend to catch defenders off guard and it always looks more special when the left-footed strike goes in.

"I like his attitude, he looks a good player, a good prospect and one that everyone needs to keep an eye on."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in