LOUIS van Gaal has done two things right since being at Manchester United: be lucky and play Wayne Rooney in midfield.

Lucky because he is far higher in the table than his team deserves because it is a poor Premier League this season.

And on the other matter, it is only a matter of time until Rooney moves back into midfield permanently, so people should just get over it.

The issue is playing England's number one striker in the centre of the park this year has been a source of much anger and confusion from pundits and the man in the street.

On Monday night he scored his first goal this calendar year – from the penalty spot – to start tongues wagging about how so-called crazy it is to play him out of position.

But is it?

We tend to pigeon-hole footballers in this country.

Just ask anyone who has ever played the game at any level what position he played and he will reply with one position.

It's the same with professionals. In England we think of a player only having one position and cannot understand it when a manager moves him away from it – especially if that player has a bad game.

The fact is it's getting time to take Rooney away from the striker position.

He is being handled by younger, stronger, faster centre-halves with increasing ease and while I still reckon him to be the best meeter of crosses in the league, you need to be able to get the better of your direct opponent to make a telling contribution to the team.

He doesn't do that now like he once did, maybe that's what Van Gaal has seen and decided that continuing with Rooney up front is not going to scare top teams in the future.

On the other hand, Rooney is a great footballer. He can keep possession, pass and has an eye for an opening.

He's got all the natural ability and skills you need to be a great play-maker.

Whether he has also got what you need between the ears to play that role effectively is yet to be seen.

And you can't blame Van Gaal for trying to find out.

United could have the next Paul Scholes or Andrea Pirlo in their ranks, but they're not going to know unless they play him there to find out.

And people should get off the manager's back for once because history tells us you can have great success by giving somebody a new role.

Thierry Henry was a winger until Arsene Wenger turned him into a striker, Vincent Kompany was a midfielder at Hamburg and Manchester City before becoming a centre-half.

Same with midfielder-turned-centre-half Javier Mascherano at Barcelona.

People should back Van Gaal on this one. You never know, he might get lucky.