What to expect from Man Utd interim boss Van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy re-joined Manchester United as a coach in August 2024

Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag and temporarily replaced him with his assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Van Nistelrooy is adored by United fans from his five-year spell as a prolific striker at the club, but lacks experience having only managed at senior level for one season.

It seems a risk, but those who know the 48-year-old former Netherlands international say he is "driven", "strong-willed" and "obsessed with perfection". He also absolutely loves Manchester United.

Have the club found the ideal candidate to replace Ten Hag sitting alongside him, or will this just be a temporary fix?

In training he was 'always looking for an edge'

Van Nistelrooy was inspired by Diego Forlan to ask for extra training sessions to help maximise his performance

United bought the Dutchman for £19m from PSV Eindhoven in 2001 and he scored 150 times in 219 games before he was sold to Real Madrid in 2006.

Ex-United coach Rene Meulensteen remembers a player "determined to succeed" who was "always looking for an edge" over opponents.

Meulensteen was overseeing United's reserves in 2005 when, after successful one-on-one work with the Red Devils' Uruguay forward Diego Forlan, he was sought out by Van Nistelrooy.

"Sir Alex Ferguson was all for it," Meulensteen told BBC Sport. "I said to Ruud: 'Oppositions will start to analyse you. You are very direct in your approach so sometimes in games you need to take that extra touch just to shift the angle of your finish.'

"We worked quite a bit on that and, as ever, he was focused and disciplined, trying to add to his game and be a success."

The trip to Argentina to learn as a coach

As a coach, Van Nistelrooy has retained his obsession with perfection.

The Dutchman became a coach in the PSV academy after retiring as a player at Malaga in 2012 and was promoted to first-team manager in 2022.

When he resigned in 2023, after winning the Dutch Cup and finishing second in the Eredivisie in his only season in charge, he had no shortage of offers.

Instead he took a year out to learn from other coaches around the world at clubs such as Spanish giants Real Madrid and Argentine powerhouses Boca Juniors and River Plate.

"He's not a proud man in that way, he's not arrogant. He wanted to bounce his own ideas off others," Marcel van der Kraan, sports editor of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf told BBC Sport.

"On his dream football trip, he went to all the big games. He spoke to Martin Demichelis, the River Plate manager, for hours and hours about coaching.

"He also went to experience the football culture. He told me he walked through La Boca in Buenos Aires and saw 'The eternity of Maradona' painted on the walls in tribute to the Argentina legend, who died in 2020. He said: 'You need to win the culture of an area.'

"At Man Utd, it's probably more vital than at any other club in England that you know the culture of the club, of the area, and Ruud does."

Investment in youth and communication breakdowns

Van Nistelrooy managed Premier League stars Noni Madueke (left) and Cody Gakpo while at PSV

So, what can United fans expect from a Van Nistelrooy-led side?

"His style of play was very realistic, not naive," said Van der Kraan. "I won't say it was super attacking. But there was venom in the side.

"To sum him up as a coach, he probably got more joy out of improving players than of winning trophies.

"Ex-PSV youth star Xavi Simons, now on loan at RB Leipzig from Paris St-Germain, said Van Nistelrooy taught him 'everything'."

Although Van Nistelrooy won two trophies and secured Champions League qualification in his debut season, he resigned with one game left of the campaign.

"There was a breaking-down in the relationship between him and the assistants," said Van der Kraan. "He stuck to his principles."

De Telegraaf claimed at the time that six players had reported their dissatisfaction with Van Nistelrooy to the PSV board.

Back at club he loves with point to prove

Van Nistelrooy felt he was forced out of United when he spoke to the BBC in 2011

There is a sense of unfinished business for Van Nistelrooy at Manchester United. He left the club at the peak of his powers aged 30 in 2006.

In an interview with Football Focus in 2011, he said it was the result of a "fall-out" with legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I didn't play in the 2006 Carling Cup final, I didn't even come on, and that was a disappointing moment for me," he said.

"Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke always said to me: 'Listen, enjoy your time here because at a certain point he will move on.'

"I never thought I would leave, but then I was more on the bench. Then when a club like Madrid comes, you don't think twice."

Van Nistelrooy, who almost took the Burnley job in June, returned to United as a coach this summer.

Meulensteen believes he and Ferguson, who will leave his role as Manchester United ambassador at the end of the season, have "ironed out their differences", adding Van Nistelrooy had "never forgotten" the Scot signing him even after he missed much of his final season at PSV with a "horrific" knee injury.

"When he moved to Man Utd this summer, he never moved with the idea of taking over from Erik ten Hag," said Van der Kraan.

"It was back to his real love. He is not an opportunist, he just wants to improve the club."