Ruud van Nistelrooy will take interim charge of Man Utd tonight as the Red Devils face Leicester at home in the Carabao Cup round of 16.
His fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag was let go by the club on Monday and today was the first time the former United forward spoke about what it's like to manage the club (even if on a short-term basis), how he feels about ten Hag's sacking, focusing on tonight and more.
Ruud first interview:
“Good evening and welcome to Old Trafford.
“As I am sure everyone can imagine, I am writing these notes with a huge amount of mixed emotions. Erik ten Hag brought me back to Manchester United in the summer and, while I have only been part of the coaching staff here for a few months, I will always be grateful to him for giving me the opportunity, and I am saddened to see him leave.
“Even on an interim basis, it is a great honour to manage the club I love for however long I am asked to do so. I can promise that I will continue to give my all, in whatever capacity, to try to turn around our fortunes.
“Despite our results, I am loving being back at Old Trafford and working with the team and staff every day. We’ve seen the squad’s potential at times this season, but clearly not often enough.
“Now is the time for everyone at the club to work together, give everything and turn this season around while we have time. From my experiences as both a player and a coach here, I can say for sure that when players, staff and supporters pull together, Manchester United can be unstoppable.
“Thankfully, we have time on our side and with fixtures coming so regularly now, we also have plenty of opportunities to build up some positive momentum, starting with tonight’s visit of Steve Cooper and Leicester City in the Carabao Cup.
“It will not be easy, of course. Leicester are Premier League opposition and they will also be highly motivated by the prospect of moving into the quarter-finals. However, every game we play is also an opportunity for us to remind everyone – ourselves included – of what this great club stands for.
“When I returned in the summer as Erik’s assistant, it was because I believe that Manchester United can climb back to the levels that I knew here as a player. I still have that belief, but it will take time and a lot of hard work.
“The first step is to restore the winning habit, starting at Old Trafford this evening. I know first-hand the positive effect that our wonderful fans can have on the team, so please get behind the players as we fight together to move a step closer to Wembley.”
Final Thoughts
Understandably so, he will have mixed emotions considering the season so far and what's happened in the last couple of days. Saying that it was ten Hag who brought him back is interesting because there was news about how INEOS may have been the ones who actually brought him in.
This could be a sign that perhaps Ruud will be gone soon along with ten Hag once Ruben Amorim comes in. The Portuguese will probably want his own coaches at Old Trafford resulting in van Nistelrooy's departure. I'm sure some of the other coaches will leave as well if this is the case.
Sky Sports News are saying that United have sent key figures to Portugal to negotiate with Sporting Lisbon over Amorim with the main subject of those talks being on bringing his backroom staff with him.
So it all suggests up that Ruud and the other coaches were ten Hag's choices and that the club will look to move them on as well.
Will be a shame tbh because I like Ruud and he's only just come in but it makes sense to remove ten Hag's coaches too.
I suppose nobody knows how long this interim role will last. Some say just for this game, others that Ruud could be in charge for Chelsea on Sunday. Reports suggest that Amorim will stay for Sporting's game against Estrela da Amadora on Friday but can then travel to England on the weekend - Record_Portugal via mufcMPB.
So there is a chance that Amorim may not be in charge on Sunday.
I would like him to come in asap because I don't really see what's the point in sticking with Ruud for a while regardless of how he performs. Unless this was an audition for him to potentially become the permanent manager, I don't see any reason to not go and get Amorim now.
He is the future while Ruud, at least as head coach, isn't.
I agree with him that there is still enough time to turn things around. While it ain't great that ten Hag has been sacked just nine games into the Premier League season, that means there is still loads of time for things to change.
Bring in the new manager now, he can still make a season of this. With 29 games in the league to go, top 4/5 is still a possibility. Getting into the Champions League HAS to be one of the major goals.
We are also 21st in the Europa League which again, isn't ideal but with five league games left and having played a couple of the harder fixtures, you would back United to progress into the RO16 in that competition.
Win tonight in the Carabao Cup and we move into the quarter finals. Erik ten Hag won this trophy in his first season and really gave us all a lot of hope that perhaps things were changing for the better.
It's also a great way to start your reign as a new manager as to bring in silverware of any sort, is always welcome.
But this is, as Ruud said, a collective task. It cannot be just on the manager to try and make a success of the season. Everyone has to pull their weight.
Ruud talks about how he still believes that MUFC can get back to the top, the level that he experienced as a player some 20 years ago.
We all believe that as well simply because we're Man Utd. I don't think that that will ever disappear, hopefully 😬.
But it will take time, as he says. We cannot expect things to change immediately although that would be great because us fans have suffered for far too long.
Ruud or Amorim or whoever, will need the time to show whether they can be a success or not. I think we are much too impatient these days and expect immediate results. It doesn't work like that but what we should expect is a better brand of football and one that is consistent.
However again, time will be needed as Amorim for example, plays a style that is unknown to United and one that requires specific type of players to suit that system. He will need these current Unted players to do something they've never done before in terms of playing a 3-4-3. Adapting to that won't be easy.
We are all obviously quite low at the moment in terms of where we are as a club and how we are playing on the field although I'm sure there are a lot of people who are happy that ten Hag is gone, but a good performance and win tonight is what's required to get some of that good feeling back even if we've been here before. Several times.
The fans will always back United but those players need to show us a reason to truly get behind them.
Background Image: Ruud van Nistelrooy takes interim charge of Man Utd | Creator: Ryan Hiscott | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Goal