This summer, Manchester United’s backroom staff underwent a Dutch makeover, though it wasn’t what most supporters had anticipated.
Surprisingly, a former Red Devils player is gaining attention after Erik ten Hag signed a one-year contract deal, ending months of rumours about his future.
As a new assistant coach for Manchester United, Ruud van Nistelrooy has all but been confirmed. The former striker was seen being transported to the team’s Carrington training facility for the day. Later, he was seen being snapped as he entered a hotel in Manchester.
ɾumоuɾ has it that Van Nistelrooy rejected Burnley’s offer to take Vincent Kompany’s place in preference of going back to his old hаunt, Old Trafford.But what can Man United supporters, Erik Ten Hag, and his players anticipate from their former all-star striker in his new position as assistant coach?
Van Nistelrooy was assistant to both Guus Hiddink and Ronald Koeman for the Netherlands and has helped young Dutch talents Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simons reach the top level of the game
During his playing career, the 48-year-old played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Hamburg, and Malaga in addition to Den Bosch, Heerenveen, and PSV in the Netherlands.
Van Nistelrooy has also built a solid resume as a coach. After rising through the PSV junior ranks, he worked his way up to become Guus Hiddink’s assistant with the Dutch national side following the 2014 World Cup and Ronald Koeman’s assistant at EURO 2020.
Then, in the Dutch second division, he made his debut as a head coach in 2021 with Jong PSV, Eindhoven’s reserve squad.
Not everything went according to plan; Jong PSV only managed 11 victories, 11 ties, and 16 defeats. He was nevertheless given a three-year deal to become PSV’s head coach.
However, Van Nistlerooy’s tenure at PSV came to an end after just one prosperous season when he quit in May of last year, alleging “a lack of support within the club.”
That was in spite of leading PSV to second place in the league, 10 points behind Arne Slot’s Feyenoord team at the time, and winning both the Dutch Cup and Dutch Suρer Cup.
Man United supporters will be pleased to learn that Van Nistelrooy has defeated Slot in the past. In their league match in 2022, Van Nistelrooy’s PSV prevailed 4-3 in a nail-biting match before tying the away game 2-2.
During that season, Van Nistelrooy’s team also defeated Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal 2-0 in the Europa League group stage. He referred to Arteta as a “class act” and “top manager.”
Despite his coaching abilities, the Dutchman’s greatest impact came from his five seasons as a player at United, where he scored an incredible 150 goals in just 219 games from 2001 to 2006.
He scored 36 goals in his debut season alone, a total he surpassed with 44 the following year.
With Marcus Rashford struggling for form last season and United’s аttаck occasionally falling short of expectations, will Van Nistelrooy’s return push Ten Hag’s gifted but unpolished attackers up the goal charts?
United supporters might recall that the Dutchman’s final exit from the club was caused by a falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson following his final chance to assist the club’s young players in Manchester.
After United won the 2006 League Cup final and Ferguson was not deployed as a replacement, the striker cursed at Ferguson. In order to give younger players Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo a taste of glory, Ferguson wаnted to leave them in. Although Van Nistelrooy regrets the event, he was soon sold to Real Madrid.
It was just incredibly impolite. Though it was uttеrly out of order, the language wasn’t all that оffensive. Not finished. He remarked, “I wasn’t proud of it, and I still am not.”