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Manchester United stars Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton have lauded praise on Ruud van Nistelrooy and his influence on the team since his appointment as a club coach.
Earlier in July, United officially confirmed the arrival of Van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake. The two were brought in to effectively replace Benni McCarthy and Mitchell van der Gaag.
It seems that Van Nistelrooy has wasted no time imparting knowledge on the current crop of United players.
Academy graduate Joe Hugill – after scoring a sensational goal during a pre-season clash against Rangers – was very complimentary about Van Nistelrooy.
According to The Athletic, the Dutch legend is proving to be a “major factor” in the “fresh feel of the coaching” at United.
It’s understood that Van Nistelrooy has impressed United chiefs with his “presence, communication skills and knowledge of the game.”
The newspaper notes that the former Netherlands international has been giving tips to forwards on shooting.
Evans revealed that besides helping attackers find the back of the net, Van Nistelrooy is also obsessed with defensive structures.
Evans said, “I sort of grew up idolising Ruud and the way he used to play. I got a bit of a chance when I was a youth-team player to see him play when he was coming to the end of his United career.”
“I might have trained with him once or twice when he was coming back from injury. It is good to have someone of that calibre and respect in the squad.”
“After he left United, he had a spell when he went to Spain and he was talking about when he was under (Manuel) Pellegrini and diehard defensive coaches. He learned a lot and he saw real value in it. He’s probably quite obsessed with defensive structure as a striker; I’m sure that was always quite interesting (to work out) where he could score his goals.”
Heaton remarked about Van Nistelrooy, “I was always his go-to goalkeeper for shooting. If that was a goal there, he’d always say he had four squares so I was almost irrelevant as a goalie. It wouldn’t matter where I was, he’d always have it in his mind that it was on him about where he was on the pitch.”
“He’d be hitting one of those four squares and he used to hit in early — like a dart — and you just couldn’t save it. He was the best I’ve worked with.”
The goalkeeper added, “It was so good to see him. And he’s been brilliant. His level of detail is superb. You’d be forgiven for thinking: ‘He’s a United legend coming in, is he just a face for it?’ But I’ve been in a couple of meetings and he’s been outstanding.”
Van Nistelrooy enjoyed five prolific seasons as a striker before he left to join Real Madrid. At Old Trafford, he scored 150 goals.
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