Some people will have noticed that Juan Mata was called upon to dispatch a penalty awarded to Manchester United in their win away to Crystal Palace earlier in the month, and not club captain Wayne Rooney, who had missed against Liverpool at Anfield a few weeks prior.
Talk quickly began to spread that this was part of a system that Louis Van Gaal incorporates at the clubs he manages, where you go to the back of the queue as soon as you miss.
Wayne Rooney confirmed this, and went into detail when asked about the system in a sit-down interview with Gary Neville for Sky Sports.
In pre-season he asked me if I take penalties, and I said yeah and obviously I said I want to take them, so he said he has a structure where if you miss one, you're at the back of the queue.
After I missed it was Robin (Van Persie) first, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Ashley Young, and then me again.
Rooney also revealed that after Phil Jones found himself in an unwanted situation, the defenders have started to drop out of the running.
We were playing Swansea in the first game of the season, and I had missed the week before against Valencia, so Chicharito was at one, and Phil Jones was at two. At half-time Hernandez had to go off, so Phil Jones comes up to me and says "If we get a penalty, I can't take it". The boss says make sure you have the bottle to take it in a game, so a few of the defenders have dropped out now.
Lastly, Rooney explained that he is no longer at the bottom of the ladder.
Because Robin missed (against West Brom), he'll be number five and I'll be number four.
There you have it. You had better make it count if you step up to take a spot kick at Manchester United.
You can watch Neville's interview with Rooney in full here.
