Ruud van Nistelrooy, a Manchester United icon, has stepped down after a brief but impactful role as interim head coach. Following his return to the club in the summer, van Nistelrooy took charge of the team for the past four matches, where he made a significant impact. The club expressed gratitude for his leadership, praising his commitment and approach during this period.
Despite his departure, the club affirmed that van Nistelrooy will always hold a special place at Old Trafford, maintaining his status as a Manchester United legend. Ruud van Nistelrooy lingered on the Old Trafford pitch after Manchester United thrashed Leicester City 3-0 on Sunday in his final game as interim boss, but the Dutchman said it was more about celebrating a great moment than a potential goodbye.
Ruud van Nistelrooy ends interim
United recorded three wins and a draw across all competitions in the four games since Erik ten Hag was sacked and Van Nistelrooy temporarily took charge.
“No (it wasn’t goodbye),” Van Nistelrooy said. “I felt like closing this period down and basically it was a moment, here and now, and that was the beauty of the moment in my opinion where, yeah, circumstances came together and it was a beautiful moment and it was gratitude from my side to them, and the reception I received was unbelievable.”
The fans sang his name during the game’s dying minutes, and then serenaded him with “Ruuudddd!” when he walked over to the Stretford End after the final whistle to applaud their efforts.
With the arrival of new head coach Ruben Amorim on Monday, Van Nistelrooy has yet to learn whether he will be part of the restructured staff.
“I can only describe that moment, how I felt it, and as a closure of this block of four games, it felt like a closure for that period, and the future is open, that’s the way I felt it,” Van Nistelrooy said. “It was a beautiful moment to share that with the supporters. Yeah, special.”
United captain Bruno Fernandes did not score in his last 17 games under Ten Hag, but bagged four in four matches with Van Nistelrooy in charge, including United’s first goal on Sunday.
The manager said much of his role was to stabilize the team and instill some confidence in the brief time that he had after such a rocky start to the season.
“When I started as an interim at the beginning of this four-game period to stabilize and to continue playing what the players are used to, 80-85%, and put in little tweaks or change of positions or resting players or starting players, and that’s where you start to get your own bit in of identity, transfer it to the training pitch, get the confidence back,” the former United striker said.
He will hand the club over to Amorim in good shape.
“You can see quality of the players still not in a consistent way, because there’s still a lot to improve, but I think there’s a foundation in the past four games where there was strong unity, good spirit, players who were looking for results,” Van Nistelrooy said. “And we got four and that was for me really important.”
The Dutchman said he was initially told he would only be in charge for a game or two, but it was eventually extended to four games to allow Amorim to manage his final matches at Portuguese side Sporting before the international break.
Van Nistelrooy said he was thankful for the club’s transparency, saying: “It’s important to have that clarity and I appreciated that.
Source: manutd
In other news – Man United interim head coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy leaves club as Ruben Amorim takes charge
Man United interim head coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy leaves club as Ruben Amorim takes charge! Ruud van Nistelrooy will not be part of Ruben Amorim’s coaching staff and has left Manchester United.
Van Nistelrooy was appointed as assistant manager in the summer and became interim head coach when former United boss Erik ten Hag was sacked last month. Read more
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