Ruben Amorim is taking over Manchester United Football Club, and that means, unfortunately for the very well-liked Ruud van Nistelrooy, he’s out the door. A club statement made it official- neither Van Nistelrooy, nor anyone else from the backroom staff of Erik ten Hag will remain on with MUFC.
That’s a bummer, as RVN made it clear that he wanted to stay on with the club, in some capacity.
“Ruud is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend. We are grateful for his contribution and the way in which he has approached his role throughout his time with the club.He will always be very welcome at Old Trafford. Rene Hake, Jelle ten Rouwelaar and Pieter Morel have also departed and we wish them all well for the future.
“We will confirm the full men’s first team coaching composition in due course.”
So we’ll see what happens with Nistelrooy, but for now, for United, it’s yet another regime change.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, they will now have had six full time managers: David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag and now Amorim. Not to mention the four caretaker bosses: Ryan Giggs, Ralf Rangnick, Michael Carrick and Nistelrooy, over than span.
Obviously, when you get that many different bosses in the same club, over that span, you have different players who were brought in to play in different systems and philosophies.
You get some square pegs in round holes, and the pieces just won’t fit.
Central defender Matthijs de Ligt hopes that Amorim can overcome that, and get everyone on the same page.
“I think a back three or a back four, it’s in general the same, the only thing of importance is how the team is set up,” De Ligt said.
“You can play in a back three but if everything is not compact and everybody is doing their own job then it’s going to be really difficult, the same in a back four. That’s going to be the biggest challenge for the trainers, to get everyone on the same wavelength and same page to improve as a team and improve as players.”
De Ligt has the right attitude, but these are indeed lofty aspirations. Getting “everyone on the same wavelength” will be a tall task.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.