Ruud van Nistelrooy sees positives in Manchester United's fighting ...

Updated

Nov 04, 2024, 07:59 PM

Published

Nov 04, 2024, 06:07 PM

MANCHESTER – Manchester United’s interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy believes the team can turn around their torrid season, based on the “spirit” he saw in their two games since the sacking of manager Erik ten Hag.

Moises Caicedo’s second-half strike for Chelsea cancelled a penalty from United captain Bruno Fernandes in a 1-1 English Premier League draw on Nov 3 to spoil United’s celebrations, but van Nistelrooy said there were positives to be gleaned from their performance after a difficult few days.

The draw saw United climb one spot in the table to 13th spot after 10 games.

“We’re early in and the performances, with the spirit the players showed, is a foundation to build on... then football qualities will come out. That’s the foundation to build on, and then there’s time to improve a lot in the ranking,” van Nistelrooy said.

He added that the days since ten Hag was shown the door have been “very difficult” for the team.

“Six days, the roller coaster of emotions, obviously very sad seeing Erik leave, the next day you have to start to focus on getting the lads ready for a performance against Leicester (City, a 5-2 League Cup win on Oct 30), because 75,000 people are going to show up at Old Trafford.

“So we have the obligation, and the players feel that they have the obligation to do better. They looked also in the mirror, and their reactions Wednesday and today showed that they thought about things as well themselves.”

Van Nistelrooy’s positive view of the Red Devils’ performance against Chelsea, who have lost once in nine league games, was not shared by everyone.

Former United midfielder-turned-pundit Roy Keane said Ruben Amorim – ten Hag’s permanent replacement who will take the reins on Nov 11 until June 2027 – should have signed a longer contract, because “there’s a long way back for this team”.

“This is an average United team,” Keane said on Sky Sports. “We don’t know what we are going to get from them, it’s hit and miss. At the end it was a bit more open, but really disappointed. It was so flat. From the manager’s point of view, this team is way off it.”

United’s nine goals after 10 games, third worst in the league, is their lowest total at this stage of a league campaign since 1973-74. It was one of the reasons that cost ten Hag the job, a situation that an apologetic Fernandes holds the team accountable for.

“Whenever you see a manager go, you have to take some of the blame on yourself. It is because the team is not doing so well,” the Portugal midfielder said.

“It is easier to get rid of a manager than 15 players. I spoke to (ten Hag) and apologised to him. I wasn’t scoring goals, we are not scoring goals and I feel responsible.”

Blues boss Enzo Maresca was pleased with his side’s response to going behind at Old Trafford. He said: “We knew that it would be a difficult game. For a big part of the game, we controlled it quite well but, in the last 10 minutes, we lost a bit of balance through our desire to win the game.

“In this stadium, against this team, when you go down it is difficult to come back and we did that. And then we tried to win the game and lost a bit of balance.” REUTERS