Manchester United haven’t changed manager but the club’s coaching staff will be different.
United triggered the one-year extension option in Erik ten Hag’s contract last week and the Dutchman will be supported by three different faces in the 2024/25 season.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle ten Rouwelaar (goalkeeper coach) arrived at Carrington for the first day of pre-season on Monday morning and their appointments will offset the exits of Eric Ramsay and Benni McCarthy, who have both departed from Ten Hag’s staff.
After being initially appointed as a set-piece coach, Ramsay took on a much wider berth as a first-team coach, which saw him take the majority of training sessions alongside Mitchell Van der Gaag. McCarthy was a striker coach – he worked with attackers – and was popular with the players.
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The departures of Ramsay and McCarthy have provided an opportunity to freshen up the coaching staff and the appointment of Van Nistelrooy, in particular, has excited fans.
It’s an interesting move for Van Nistelrooy. He made an impressive start to his management career by winning the Dutch Cup as manager of PSV Eindhoven in 2023 and held talks about becoming the manager of Burnley before opting to join Ten Hag’s backroom staff.
Having resigned from his position at PSV in May last year, Van Nistelrooy took a break from football last season and he returns to work at a club he spent five years with as a player.
Van Nistelrooy is a shrewd addition to Ten Hag’s backroom staff and should immediately provide value to the players, particularly the forwards, who will be relishing the chance to work with him. The Dutchman scored 150 goals in 219 games for United and was a superb finisher.
That impressive haul included 36 goals in Van Nistelrooy’s debut season, which was eclipsed in the 2002/03 season when he scored 44 times as United won the Premier League. Van Nistelrooy knew where the back of the net was and is remembered as one of the finest finishers to have played for United, so his knowledge should be soaked up by the current squad.
When analysing who will benefit most from Van Nistelrooy’s coaching, Rasmus Hojlund is the obvious first choice. Hojlund enjoyed a more than respectable first year in England, scoring 16 goals in all competitions, but he remains raw and isn’t the finished article at just 21 years old.
Hojlund’s finishing could be scruffy on occasions last season and Van Nistelrooy will help him polish his game. He should improve working with the former striker at Carrington and score even more goals in 2024/25 because he’s already demonstrated his potential to become a star.
Elsewhere, United are continuing to make progress in their deal to sign striker Joshua Zirkzee, who scored 12 goals in all competitions last season, from Bologna and AC Milan have officially pulled out of talks, which points toward the transfer being concluded sooner rather than later.
Zirkzee was Bologna’s top goalscorer as they qualified for the Champions League against all odds in Serie A, but at 23 years old, there are still improvements to make to his game.
The Dutch forward must sharpen his finishing, which is an art that can practised on the training ground through repetitive drills, and will be in safe hands under Van Nistelrooy.
Van Nistelrooy’s focus will be on improving first-team players and Hojlund and Zirkzee will learn from his specialist knowledge, although he will also have a significant impact on younger players, who will be hungry to learn new information as they strive to break into the senior squad.
Ethan Wheatley, who became the 250th player to make his debut from the academy last season when making a cameo appearance against Sheffield United at Old Trafford, is included in that bracket and might benefit the most from working with Van Nistelrooy.
Ten Hag doesn’t give debuts to youngsters as gimees and Wheatley’s senior bow was well deserved after contributing 17 goals and nine assists in academy fixtures. His goals fired a supremely talented Under-18 side to a treble and, promisingly, there is still room for improvement.
Like any young player, Wheatley is green, he will only improve his finishing with more experience and being coached by Van Nistelrooy will do a world of good for his development.
Wheatley could be United’s surprise package in the new season and there’s no better feeling than seeing an academy product perform in the red shirt for the first-team. He is one of the club’s own and Van Nistelrooy will help unlock his full potential.
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