Ruud van Nistelrooy believes momentum is beginning to change for the better at Manchester United and cannot afford to go off track against Leicester in his final match as interim manager.
Parachuted into the hotseat following Erik ten Hag’s exit, the popular former striker oversaw a 5-2 win against the Foxes as the Red Devils progressed to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
A 1-1 league draw with Chelsea followed before Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League victory against PAOK, with his four-match stint in the Old Trafford hotseat coming to an end on Sunday.
Ruben Amorim is taking over as head coach the following day and Van Nistelrooy wants to hand over fresh from securing another victory against Leicester, this time in the English Premier League.
“It’s a results game in the end and I think the last three results were OK,” said the caretaker boss, who is keen to work under the 39-year-old Portuguese having returned to United in the summer as an assistant.
Read more:
- Newcastle never wanted to sell former Scotland youth international
- Young Scots' European exploits bode well for World Cup qualifying bid
“We’re through in the Carabao Cup, we’re in the quarter-finals there.
“It was a good point against Chelsea where we felt we deserved more, and also an important win in the Europa League to get us settled higher up in that table to go through to the next round in January hopefully.
“So, I think that momentum is changing a little bit, but of course Sunday is also a competition where we need to do better than we’re doing.
“So, as in the Carabao, where we needed to go to the next round, and do good business in the Europa League with a win, that’s Sunday and that game is very important in that sentiment I think overall.
“It was very important after I took over to stabilise the ship with results, and all of a sudden we’re three games further in that and it passes so quickly.
“The last one, yeah, that’s the one also where it will mean a lot.”
Sunday could end up being Van Nistelrooy’s second Old Trafford send off, but he is keen to stay on with a club he would one day like to manage on a permanent basis.
The 48-year-old says he has gained a lot from his time in temporary charge, building on his solitary season at PSV that ended with the 2022-23 Dutch Cup and a second-placed Eredivisie finish.
Read more:
- Jim Goodwin extends Dundee United stay after 'meeting all targets'
- Man City’s Rodri wins Ballon d’Or amidst Real Madrid’s shock absence
“I’ve enjoyed it,” Van Nistelrooy said. “It gave a lot of energy.
“I think the reaction of the players was outstanding. I think also as an assistant you are quite close to players.
“So, the past three months I spent a lot of time with the players and got to know them very well, as human beings but also as football players, where they are in their development and how I can help.
“And I think that relationship is helping now, that we are together and we want to achieve something together, so that bond is there.
“That’s what I feel, very supported, so that gives a lot of energy and the support of the fans obviously was amazing.
“That gives also lots of confidence and energy. So far so good.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here