Robin van Persie faces the boot if he fails to adapt to United's training regime

Robin van Persie faces the boot at Manchester United if he fails to adapt to Louis van Gaal's tough training regime, according to the Daily Mail's Northern football correspondent Ian Ladyman on Saturday. He writes:

Sportsmail understands that Van Gaal has told Van Persie that he will not be of use to him unless he finds a way to cope with the arduous daily sessions at United that ultimately proved too much for another star centre forward, Radamel Falcao.

This story doesn't come as a great surprise, despite van Gaal's well-known affection for the former Arsenal man. Last season was his most underwhelming at Old Trafford yet, and even when he did play, rarely did he outshine Falcao. Dogged by injuries, he finished with 10 Premier League goals in 27 appearances.

However, he is still only 31, and shouldn't yet have physically declined to the point that he's completely ready for the scrapheap. He'd be handy to keep around for depth alone, especially if Javier Hernández and Ángelo Henríquez are deemed not good enough to play a part.

Whether van Persie would be happy with benchwarming as he bids to maintain his place in the Dutch national team, however, remains to be seen.