Ruud van Nistelrooy was an extraordinary goalscorer as a player for Manchester United but his impact as a coach could now prove to be just as important. Find out what makes him so good, with insight from Javier Rabanal, his former assistant at PSV Eindhoven…
Saturday 17 August 2024 07:17, UK
He is already looking forward to his wave towards the Stretford End on Friday evening. Ruud van Nistelrooy is back at Old Trafford.
That used to spell danger for opposition defences during his five seasons as a player for Manchester United in the early part of this century. Now supporters are wondering what it could mean for the club as he returns as part of Erik ten Hag's new-look coaching staff.
Despite his 150 goals, there was a time when Van Nistelrooy would have been among the unlikeliest of former favourites to be entrusted with such a role. His departure in 2006 was acrimonious, the relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson having disintegrated.
For much of his career as a player, there was a reputation for single-mindedness that did not necessarily chime with a career in coaching. Gary Neville has even admitted to questioning whether, for all the goals, his style was conducive to what United required at that time.
Rio Ferdinand tells a tale of returning to the Manchester United dressing room after a win to see Van Nistelrooy's pained expression upon discovering that Thierry Henry, his long-time rival for the Golden Boot, had also found the back of the net that afternoon.
But while still laser-focused on his goals, Van Nistelrooy is now a different animal. Javier Rabanal, the Spaniard who was his assistant at PSV when he guided the club to two trophies, regards him as not only a great player but a hugely impressive coach as well.
"We had a fantastic relationship," Rabanal tells Sky Sports. "He is a really humble person, easy to work with, and I learned a lot from him. In fact, he was someone who completely changed my perspective about what professional football is in some ways."
He explains: "When it comes to tactical knowledge about the game, most of the top coaches in football are at a similar level of understanding. The difference with Ruud was his passion and his ability to communicate his feelings about football to the group.
"He is someone who can connect with people. It does not matter if it is a young player taking their first steps or a player in his final years. I remember the passion with which he spoke before big matches such as the cup final we won against Ajax. He is different."
There is a temptation to view Van Nistelrooy as a figurehead, his appointment an easy win given his popularity with the supporters. But Tom Heaton has already spoken of the outstanding quality of his initial meetings, the level of detail in his analysis work.
As Rabanal points out, this is a vocation for the now-bespectacled Van Nistelrooy. "You have to have that passion because his life is already sorted after the career that he had as a player. If he is doing this job, it is because he loves coaching," he says.
"This is not a typical ex-professional player who is still thinking of his playing days. He is really focused on his career as a coach. He loves to be in the sessions. Probably too much! He wants to be involved in every exercise. He cannot stay away from the pitch.
"He wants to have that contact with players every day on the pitch, every training session. For me, that is a strength because he has that mix of the former player and the professional coach. He has both perspectives. It makes him a different type of coach."
Van Nistelrooy began to change towards the end of his playing career. Four years after leaving United, he called Ferguson to apologise for his attitude. In those final seasons, he embraced his role as a mentor to forwards he would once have seen as rivals.
Heung-Min Son, arguably the best finisher in the Premier League, was a teammate at Hamburg. Van Nistelrooy championed him. "He helped me a lot. He saw my first training session and talked to me. He gave me confidence and I want to thank him."
At Malaga, he really started to think about how he could influence those around him and began to contemplate a coaching career. Salomon Rondon talked of Van Nistelrooy being "a magnificent example" while Juanmi, then 19, went on to play for Spain.
As a coach at PSV, he helped to develop Cody Gakpo. Speaking to Noni Madueke, another of Van Nistelrooy's young proteges, he was clearly impressed by the aura. "Everybody respects him a lot for what he has done in the game," he told Sky Sports.
"Players will definitely take to him as he is such a big player. I think tactically he has got good ideas as a coach as well. He is a legend in the game, so it was an honour to work with him. He helped me a lot with my attacking game. And he is still a great finisher."
Watch videos of Van Nistelrooy in his pomp and that finishing ability remains striking. A master inside the penalty box, it is noticeable how many of the goals look simple - but only because the first touch has taken him away from trouble. The second finds the net.
United's forwards can surely learn from that? "I have no doubt," Ten Hag told Sky Sports recently. "He scored so many goals, so definitely he will help the strikers in different areas and definitely on the mental side, bringing over his desire to win and score goals."
There is a story that Marcus Rashford once took umbrage at Steve McClaren's attempts to cajole him during a five-a-side game in training. McClaren told him he was the man to score the winner but was urged by the player not to put such pressure on him.
McClaren, who had worked with strikers such as Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole in his first spell at the club, as well as Alen Boksic and Mark Viduka elsewhere, is known to have been shocked by the reaction, having intended that his jocular remarks would inspire.
Perhaps Van Nistelrooy will find a more receptive audience. Many spotted him out of his seat to encourage Rashford following a near miss during the Community Shield at Wembley. But Rabanal is keen to stress that this is more than just a striker coach.
It is not only the goals that he scored in his career, it is his ability to transmit how he did it.
"I doubt that Erik ten Hag has taken on the former head coach of PSV only to work with the strikers. He has a lot more to bring to every player in every position. But, of course, we did double sessions and the afternoon session would be focused on finishing.
"It is not only the goals that he scored in his career, it is his ability to transmit how he did it, that feeling of being inside the 18-yard box, how to attack, how to make a step away from the centre-back, how to find this space, how to prepare the shape of the leg to shoot."
At PSV, Van Nistelrooy and his team lost out on the Eredivisie title to Arne Slot's Feyenoord but they did take four points from their two head-to-head matches. Rabanal believes they helped to sow the seeds for their successor to overhaul Slot's side last time out.
"They had an amazing season with Peter Bosz and he deserves the credit. But I am sure that we changed the mentality a little bit. Peter did not start from zero. We did a lot of work there to get the players in the right frame of mind to help him win back that title."
With Rene Hake and Andreas Georgson also on board, both having been top-flight managers in Europe last season, Ten Hag has assembled an impressive collection of head coaches to support him. "These coaches are going to help," says Rabanal.
"They can bring a lot to help Manchester United back to the top, top, top level, where they want to be, fighting for titles." None more so than the legendary striker who has reinvented himself as a thoughtful coach eager to make the difference for his team.
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