What Ruud van Nistelrooy did with Man Utd star during Liverpool defeat proves why his Old Trafford return was so important

Ruud van Nistelrooy demonstrated nothing but exemplary sportsmanship to a Manchester United player during their tough 3-0 Premier League defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The 48-year-old former United striker made his highly anticipated return to Old Trafford this summer, joining Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff as one of the assistant managers.

Erik ten Hag has significantly restructured his coaching team at United, bringing in Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake as his new assistant managers.

Van Nistelrooy had spent the entirety of the 2023-24 season away from management, following his departure from PSV Eindhoven towards the end of the previous season. His tenure at PSV was marked by success, notably winning the Dutch Cup. However, he resigned from his position due to disagreements with the club’s leadership.

As a former fan favorite during his playing days at Manchester United, van Nistelrooy had been linked with various managerial roles before he eventually decided to join Ten Hag’s coaching setup.

This season has been challenging for Manchester United, with only one victory in the Premier League thus far. The Red Devils experienced consecutive losses leading up to the September international break, further compounding their woes.

In their most recent setback, United faced a strong Liverpool side, who comfortably secured a 3-0 victory. One notable aspect of the match was Joshua Zirkzee, who made his first Premier League start for United following his transfer from Bologna for a reported fee of £36.54 million.

The 23-year-old Dutch striker had an impressive debut against Fulham, where he came off the bench to score the winning goal late in the match. However, against Liverpool, Zirkzee found it difficult to make a significant impact and couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities presented to him.

Ten Hag decided to substitute Zirkzee in the 86th minute, bringing on Christian Eriksen in his place. As Zirkzee took his seat on the bench, van Nistelrooy was seen offering words of comfort, placing a reassuring hand on Zirkzee’s shoulder. This moment was captured on video and shared widely on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Reflecting on the defeat to Liverpool, Erik ten Hag expressed his disappointment, stating that the team was “not happy” with the result. He acknowledged that United performed reasonably well in the first half but ultimately made critical errors that Liverpool exploited.

“I think the first half an hour was okay,” Ten Hag said, according to Manchester United’s official website. “We made a mistake in defensive organization for the disallowed goal, but we were in the game. It was equal, level, and then we had a great structure in building up, but then made a big error, and with the quality of Liverpool, they took advantage of that. They took their chances so well. We have to be humble. We have to give compliments to Liverpool, but, of course, we are not happy.”