Ruud van Nistelrooy is a distraction Ruben Amorim does not need at Manchester United

Portuguese coach does not need an assistant with a rich United backstory who has already had a taste of the top job

Ruud van Nistelrooy has made no secret of the fact that becoming the assistant manager of Manchester United was the only job for which he was willing to give up the role of a No 1.
The former United striker, who scored 150 goals in just 219 games for the club over five seasons, passed up the chance to resume his managerial career elsewhere this summer when he accepted the post of Erik ten Hag’s assistant.
Van Nistelrooy probably could not have expected that, only a few months later, he would be replacing Ten Hag on an interim basis following his fellow Dutchman’s sacking.
He talked on Thursday about his regret that things had not worked out better for Ten Hag but also how there was little time to dwell on things with games to be played – and won.
“You have to switch the mindset,” he said and he did just that on Wednesday when overseeing a 5-2 victory over Leicester in the Carabao Cup in his first game as caretaker manager.
Having left the club under something of a cloud in 2006 after a falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson, it is unlikely he imagined he would be picking his old manager’s brains before taking his place in the dug-out as manager himself 18 years later.
But it is an experience he is set to get to savour on another three occasions at Old Trafford over the next 10 days, starting against Chelsea on Sunday, before the arrival of Ruben Amorim as Ten Hag’s permanent successor.
Van Nistelrooy has the chance to enhance his reputation over these coming games, much as his former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did in his own interim spell six years earlier.
He started with a bang against Leicester and will hope for more against Chelsea, PAOK Salonika in the Europa League next Thursday, and then Leicester again, but this time in the Premier League, three days later.
It does not take a giant leap of the imagination to guess what will be said if Van Nistelrooy has a fine time of it in his short stint at the helm. Comparisons inevitably will be drawn with Solskjaer, whose glorious honeymoon inexplicably saw him land the job on a permanent basis.
But regardless of what happens on the pitch under the Dutchman, United need to move on – and Amorim explain that there can be no place for Van Nistelrooy on his staff.
If that sounds ruthless, it is because that is precisely what United need to be. This is not the time for sentiment or clouded judgement – goodness knows there has been enough of that at Old Trafford in recent times.
Amorim intends to bring three of his Sporting assistants – Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido and Emanuel Ferro – with him to United, plus goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital and sports scientist Paulo Barreira. Even if the idea of Van Nistelrooy staying on interested him, there would be no space to accommodate him.
But what Amorim does not need is an assistant with a rich United backstory who has already had a taste of the top job and is very clear about his own managerial desires hanging around in the background. It is a situation that would do neither men any favours – and that is assuming they shared similar ideals. United need clear-eyed thinking, not an overcrowded backroom staff.
Van Nistelrooy’s presence was complication enough for Ten Hag – and he had apparently chosen the former United goalscorer to join his staff alongside Rene Hake, contrary to claims he was hoisted on the manager by the club’s hierarchy.
Questions were immediately being asked about how Ten Hag might handle having two former managers as his assistants, particularly one who was still at the start of his managerial journey and had rejected No 1 jobs to return to Old Trafford.
Even before results started to go awry, Van Nistelrooy was being touted as an interim replacement – and look what unfolded.
What is to think the Van Nistelrooy situation would be much different for Amorim should his opening months in charge at Old Trafford prove rocky?
He is joining the biggest and most scrutinised club in the world’s most competitive domestic league in a country that is new to him and taking over a chronically underperforming squad that, on the surface at least, does not appear to be tailored to his preferred 3-4-2-1 system.
He will have enough on his plate without the spectre of Van Nistelrooy hanging over him.
It is a distraction Amorim would not need. So even if the next few games go swimmingly for Van Nistelrooy, United and their new head coach will need to part company with him, even if that means yet another compensation bill.
James Ducker