Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of Manchester United today for the Carabao Cup game against Leicester City.
While the Dutchman will not be the club’s manager for long, as Ruben Amorim nears the job, it will be a special moment for an individual who will always be closely linked to the glorious history of United.
AD in the Netherlands have now published an interview with the ex-striker, and Van Nistelrooy has spoken about his love for United.
The Dutch newspaper say the interview was conducted before Erik ten Hag was shown the door, and it feels like they’ve had to publish it earlier than originally planned.
Van Nistelrooy spoke about the cultures and values that still exist at Old Trafford: “I think it’s great, that you enter somewhere and immediately see, taste, smell the culture.
“I had it at PSV, at Real Madrid. At Heerenveen. Values. Standards. I want to read about it, understand something about the culture you’re entering. That was the case at United too.”
The interim manager was asked how the return to Old Trafford came about in the first place, with some in the Netherlands surprised he’d accepted an assistant role.
He said: “I was informally sounded out by someone in June. ‘Would you possibly be open to…’ Back to United, wow, I hadn’t thought about that for a moment. Because I was completely in the process of becoming a head coach.
“I thought about it for a while and thought it was a good idea. In any case, good enough to start a conversation. Because of course you also want to hear if there is a substantive story behind it.”
He also revealed that being at Manchester United has helped him execute some coaching ideas and former manager Erik ten Hag had a role to play in that.
“I have to be able to express myself here. And Erik understood that.
“We clicked in that conversation, which you always have to wait and see, because we didn’t know each other personally.”
Van Nistelrooy explained it’s more than a job to him, and that’s why he left his family to make the move: “It is much more than work. Otherwise you would not make the choice to sit here alone in an apartment.”
The 48-year-old may have just one game to shine at Manchester United, and then there’s obviously huge doubts over his next steps.
Maybe the first step can be a family reunion and hopefully they’re there tonight to see him in the spotlight.
