Björn van der Doelen claims he can easily gauge the mental state of his former PSV teammate and the new Manchester United interim coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy. “Sometimes I spot the old Ruud on the sidelines,” says the midfielder, who played for PSV between 1994 and 2001. “His chin lifts. I know then that he’s not happy, he’s seething inside and would rather be on the pitch.” When Van Nistelrooy was a player, he would get angry briefly when his chin went up. Now that he’s older, he appears calmer. That chin quickly drops again.
Will we see the chin go up as soon as Wednesday when Van Nistelrooy takes charge of his first game for United, against Leicester in the Carabao Cup? It’s not unlikely, as the temper that made him successful as a player still lingers since his transition to the dugout. His goals for United – 150 in 219 games – between 2001 and 2006 will help him in the short term, but won’t matter in the long run, as former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær discovered.
Van Nistelrooy is an incredibly determined individual who has been seen as a bit of a predator throughout his career, focused solely on scoring goals and winning trophies. If that required a bit of a fight, so be it. Van Nistelrooy’s time at United ended after he swore at Alex Ferguson when he wasn’t brought on in a match, as the manager revealed in his autobiography. Years later, Van Nistelrooy apologized for his outburst.
Not many fiery ex-strikers become top coaches, but don’t confuse the player with the coach. Van der Doelen says: “Ruud thrived under pressure. He played better in hostile atmospheres. Outside of that, he was good with everyone and liked to joke. A great, amiable social guy. I think he is closer to himself now than he was as a player.” Another former teammate, Ronald Waterreus, says life as a coach suits Van Nistelrooy better. “This suit fits him like a glove. I didn’t see that happening [when he was a player], but it’s a relief to talk to him now about the profession of coaching.”
Van Nistelrooy served one year as a coach in the Netherlands, at PSV during the 2022-2023 season. He resigned just before the last match because he no longer felt supported by the management. He won the Dutch Super Cup, the KNVB Cup, and reached the knockout phase of the Europa League. Under his reign, players such as Cody Gakpo, Xavi Simons, Noni Madueke, and Jordan Teze improved. He persuaded Luuk de Jong to return to PSV from Barcelona.
Under his successor, Peter Bosz, PSV won the league, reached the last 16 of the Champions League, and broke numerous records. Bosz made it clear that the foundation for such success was already there and had been laid by Van Nistelrooy, something that was appreciated.
Van Nistelrooy’s resignation in May 2023 came as a big surprise to many, even to the director Marcel Brands, who had persuaded him to take the job after he initially declined. At the time, he was coach of Jong PSV and felt it was too early to manage the first team.
In December, Van Nistelrooy opened up about his resignation to de Volkskrant. “It felt powerful, that I had the courage to stay close to myself,” he said. “It made sense to me. Sometimes things are clear enough. Then you continue, with pride, because you stand for certain values, because I was able to help the club further. But there was sadness too because I am no longer the coach of PSV. That sadness remains underneath.”
A cornerstone of Van Nistelrooy is to stay positive, something he learned from another former PSV coach, Bobby Robson. Van Nistelrooy says: “He could explain everything in simplicity and said: ‘Boys, in the media you speak about yourself or positively about somebody else.’ Period.” While managed by many great coaches, he names the Englishman (“a gentleman”) as his greatest inspiration. He has also studied closely the master tactician Marcelo Bielsa and team builder Diego Simeone. He is keen to be a mix of them, although most of all, he wants to be himself.
Succeeding, according to Van Nistelrooy, is a case of sticking to his core values: be humble, involved, and reliable. “Those frameworks, that is me,” he says. “It is about basic attitudes. People always see me as that striker from Manchester United and Real Madrid, but I am not only that.” He has also learned that he knows how to work with a group of players, make them better, inspire and motivate them. He wants to work somewhere where they share his philosophy, somewhere that makes his heart beat faster. “Having the ball, being creative, quickly to the goal, but also knowing how to survive,” he says. “Can we be Atlético Madrid for 15 minutes? Because I only want to win.”
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he has learned how to take people with him when he goes in a certain direction with a team. “Otherwise you will lose them,” he says. His spell in charge of United may be short – this time at least – but one thing is for certain: he will give it everything he can to succeed.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
