A tactical guide to Ruud van Nistelrooy, the football manager
By Carl Anka
Ruud van Nistelrooy will be Manchester United’s head coach for the time being, following the club’s decision to sack Erik ten Hag on Monday morning.
An official statement on the club websitereads the Dutchman will be supported by the current coaching team whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.
Van Nistelrooy’s coaching career first began in June 2013, working with academy coaches in PSV Eindhoven’s under-17 side before joining Guus Hiddink’s coaching staff on the Netherlands national team after the 2014 World Cup. In 2016, he became a forwards coach for the under-17 and under-19 teams at PSV, before taking over the under-19 side two years later.
Van Nistelrooy succeeded Roger Schmidt as PSV’s senior team manager ahead of the 2022-23 season in which they finished second place, but he departed before the final Eredivisie fixture of the season. While in charge at PSV, Van Nistelrooy won the Johan Cruyff Shield and KNVB Cup, but the interim role at United is his biggest job to date and while we do not know for sure how he’ll approach things at Old Trafford, there are some learnings we can take from his time working in the Netherlands.
Here then, is a cheat sheet on Ruud van Nistelrooy: Football Manager.
How does Van Nistelrooy set up his teams when in possession?
Across the 2022-23 campaign, Van Nistelrooy favoured a 4-3-3 formation that looked to build the ball up slowly from the back and in central areas, before hitting direct balls to the wingers.
(The above formation takes PSV’s starting lineup from their 4-3 victory over Feyenoord on September 18, 2022.)
Van Nistelrooy’s academy teams tried to make sure there was an extra man compared to the opposition whenever passing the ball through central areas, and some of these lessons were passed on to the senior team. During Eredivisie games, midfielders including Ibrahim Sangareand Joey Veerman (an excellent progressive passer in the Eredivisie) would at times drop deep to collect the ball from the centre-backs to help create a 2-2 shape.
As the ball passed the halfway line, the impetus would be for the wingers to get wide, while the advanced full-backs would tuck inside and help the central midfielders.
Once the ball approached the final third, the attacking impetus was channelled to their talented wingers who would look to beat their opponent in a one-v-one. Cody Gakpo was one of Eredivisie’s most outstanding players in the pre-World Cupsection of the 2022-23 season, operating from the left wing and frequently scoring goals by cutting inside and shooting on his right foot. His set-piece deliveries (he has a formidable corner-taking technique) gave PSV another tool for breaking down stubborn defences. Couple this with Noni Madueke’s work from the right wing and you can glimpse Van Nistelrooy’s approach of two potent wide options, both able to stretch defences to breaking point.
Things were made better by the squad’s talent in central areas. Xavi Simons’ loan spell at the club saw him develop into a potent attacking midfielder. Luuk de Jong — a prolific striker in the Eredivisie — scored 14 goals in 24 games in 2022-23, dominating defences on a near-weekly basis.
Van Nistelrooy’s PSV team would often overload one side of the pitch by pushing up a full-back to join an attack and have the attacking midfielder support the winger. That numerical advantage would either break through a defence or drag opponents across, creating extra space for the winger on the other side, who could call for a switch. If the wingers were on top of their game, the team likely had a positive result come match day. But if opponents denied Gakpo and others space to run into, then things got a little tricky.
It is important to note that despite the club’s financial issues, the squad available to Van Nistelrooy boasted some of the best talent in the Netherlands. In addition to the names mentioned above, the club had Marco van Ginkel, Jarrad Branthwaiteon loan (still raw in his positioning at this point, but a frightening physical prospect in a Dutch league where centre-backs often have to deal with a lot of crosses) and a young Savinho (who was unused that season).
How does he want his teams to defend?
Without the ball, Van Nistelrooy’s PSV largely defended in a stubborn 4-1-4-1 shape, where Sangare — in particular — was tasked with cleaning things up before opponents ventured too close to the PSV penalty area.
(The above formation takes PSV’s starting lineup from their 2-1 victory over Ajax on November 6 2022.)
The Ivorian’s ability to cover ground and win tackles stood out during this period (long-time subscribers may remember he became something of a statistical darling.)
Van Nistelrooy made attempts to iterate upon this, with PSV occasionally moving to more of a 4-4-2 shape and pressing higher up the field, but the quality of the front press was often inconsistent and uneven. For the most part, when his side lost the ball, the two players closest attempted to snatch it back, while team-mates retreated and Sangare was prepped.
Rest defence was an issue for several sections of the season (particularly after the Qatar World Cup), due to the amount of players that were often ahead of the ball when the ball was lost. There was only so much space Sangare could cover in matches, and PSV had a tendency to give up worrying counter-attacking opportunities to the opposition.
One could argue such an approach bears some similarities to Ten Hag’s United team of 2022-23, where Casemiromopped up any defensive errors before looking to hit Marcus Rashfordon the left wing.
Tell me more about Van Nistelrooy not lasting the entire season
Van Nistelrooy resigned from PSV with only one game remaining, citing a lack of support from senior executives above him.
“A head coach needs to be aligned with the board and the directors, and to know about plans for the future,” he later told The Coaches’ Voice. “When you’re not, it’s impossible to continue.”
PSV’s difficult financial position going into the 2022-23 season meant Van Nistelrooy was likely to lose Gakpo, Madueke and others to bigger clubs in Europe eventually, but things were made worse by the club’s failure to reach the Champions Leaguegroup stages, losing to Rangersin the qualifying stages in August. Without that additional revenue, PSV moved early to move on some of their best players during the January window, much to Van Nistelrooy’s frustration.
Believing he would be unable to build upon what was achieved in 2022-23, he decided to step down early. Fred Rutten (an experienced coach who has managed multiple Eredivisie clubs) took charge of PSV’s final match of the season, a 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar that confirmed their second-place finish in the league and Champions League football for the following campaign.
Peter Bosz was announced as PSV’s permanent head coach on July 1, 2023, leading the club to the league title the following season. Such was the dominant nature of their title win (they finished five points higher than Arne Slot’s Feyenoord and lost only once), that some sections of Dutch media began to question Van Nistelrooy’s claims that the squad had been rendered uncompetitive due to player sales/financial strife.
PSV’s 2023-24 season was an improvement on the previous campaign on nearly every level.
Which United players are likely to benefit from this approach if Van Nistelrooy tries to repeat it?
At a glance? United’s collection of wingers could see even more of the ball directed their way, although a lack of a match-fit left-back complicates things.
Is this style of play going to fire United back up the league?
Only time will tell, but it is worth noting that Van Nistelrooy has spent time since leaving PSV working to refine his approach to the game.
Taking over at United is a difficult task for even the most experienced managers. Van Nistelrooy’s time at PSV offers some clues as to how he might approach this interim period, but the games ahead will be the true test.
A tactical guide to Ruud van Nistelrooy, the football manager
By Carl Anka
Ruud van Nistelrooy will be Manchester United’s head coach for the time being, following the club’s decision to sack Erik ten Hag on Monday morning.
An official statement on the club websitereads the Dutchman will be supported by the current coaching team whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.
Van Nistelrooy’s coaching career first began in June 2013, working with academy coaches in PSV Eindhoven’s under-17 side before joining Guus Hiddink’s coaching staff on the Netherlands national team after the 2014 World Cup. In 2016, he became a forwards coach for the under-17 and under-19 teams at PSV, before taking over the under-19 side two years later.
Van Nistelrooy succeeded Roger Schmidt as PSV’s senior team manager ahead of the 2022-23 season in which they finished second place, but he departed before the final Eredivisie fixture of the season. While in charge at PSV, Van Nistelrooy won the Johan Cruyff Shield and KNVB Cup, but the interim role at United is his biggest job to date and while we do not know for sure how he’ll approach things at Old Trafford, there are some learnings we can take from his time working in the Netherlands.
Here then, is a cheat sheet on Ruud van Nistelrooy: Football Manager.
How does Van Nistelrooy set up his teams when in possession?
Across the 2022-23 campaign, Van Nistelrooy favoured a 4-3-3 formation that looked to build the ball up slowly from the back and in central areas, before hitting direct balls to the wingers.
(The above formation takes PSV’s starting lineup from their 4-3 victory over Feyenoord on September 18, 2022.)
Van Nistelrooy’s academy teams tried to make sure there was an extra man compared to the opposition whenever passing the ball through central areas, and some of these lessons were passed on to the senior team. During Eredivisie games, midfielders including Ibrahim Sangareand Joey Veerman (an excellent progressive passer in the Eredivisie) would at times drop deep to collect the ball from the centre-backs to help create a 2-2 shape.
As the ball passed the halfway line, the impetus would be for the wingers to get wide, while the advanced full-backs would tuck inside and help the central midfielders.
Once the ball approached the final third, the attacking impetus was channelled to their talented wingers who would look to beat their opponent in a one-v-one. Cody Gakpo was one of Eredivisie’s most outstanding players in the pre-World Cupsection of the 2022-23 season, operating from the left wing and frequently scoring goals by cutting inside and shooting on his right foot. His set-piece deliveries (he has a formidable corner-taking technique) gave PSV another tool for breaking down stubborn defences. Couple this with Noni Madueke’s work from the right wing and you can glimpse Van Nistelrooy’s approach of two potent wide options, both able to stretch defences to breaking point.
Things were made better by the squad’s talent in central areas. Xavi Simons’ loan spell at the club saw him develop into a potent attacking midfielder. Luuk de Jong — a prolific striker in the Eredivisie — scored 14 goals in 24 games in 2022-23, dominating defences on a near-weekly basis.
Van Nistelrooy’s PSV team would often overload one side of the pitch by pushing up a full-back to join an attack and have the attacking midfielder support the winger. That numerical advantage would either break through a defence or drag opponents across, creating extra space for the winger on the other side, who could call for a switch. If the wingers were on top of their game, the team likely had a positive result come match day. But if opponents denied Gakpo and others space to run into, then things got a little tricky.
It is important to note that despite the club’s financial issues, the squad available to Van Nistelrooy boasted some of the best talent in the Netherlands. In addition to the names mentioned above, the club had Marco van Ginkel, Jarrad Branthwaiteon loan (still raw in his positioning at this point, but a frightening physical prospect in a Dutch league where centre-backs often have to deal with a lot of crosses) and a young Savinho (who was unused that season).
How does he want his teams to defend?
Without the ball, Van Nistelrooy’s PSV largely defended in a stubborn 4-1-4-1 shape, where Sangare — in particular — was tasked with cleaning things up before opponents ventured too close to the PSV penalty area.
(The above formation takes PSV’s starting lineup from their 2-1 victory over Ajax on November 6 2022.)
The Ivorian’s ability to cover ground and win tackles stood out during this period (long-time subscribers may remember he became something of a statistical darling.)
Van Nistelrooy made attempts to iterate upon this, with PSV occasionally moving to more of a 4-4-2 shape and pressing higher up the field, but the quality of the front press was often inconsistent and uneven. For the most part, when his side lost the ball, the two players closest attempted to snatch it back, while team-mates retreated and Sangare was prepped.
Rest defence was an issue for several sections of the season (particularly after the Qatar World Cup), due to the amount of players that were often ahead of the ball when the ball was lost. There was only so much space Sangare could cover in matches, and PSV had a tendency to give up worrying counter-attacking opportunities to the opposition.
One could argue such an approach bears some similarities to Ten Hag’s United team of 2022-23, where Casemiromopped up any defensive errors before looking to hit Marcus Rashfordon the left wing.
Tell me more about Van Nistelrooy not lasting the entire season
Van Nistelrooy resigned from PSV with only one game remaining, citing a lack of support from senior executives above him.
“A head coach needs to be aligned with the board and the directors, and to know about plans for the future,” he later told The Coaches’ Voice. “When you’re not, it’s impossible to continue.”
PSV’s difficult financial position going into the 2022-23 season meant Van Nistelrooy was likely to lose Gakpo, Madueke and others to bigger clubs in Europe eventually, but things were made worse by the club’s failure to reach the Champions Leaguegroup stages, losing to Rangersin the qualifying stages in August. Without that additional revenue, PSV moved early to move on some of their best players during the January window, much to Van Nistelrooy’s frustration.
Believing he would be unable to build upon what was achieved in 2022-23, he decided to step down early. Fred Rutten (an experienced coach who has managed multiple Eredivisie clubs) took charge of PSV’s final match of the season, a 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar that confirmed their second-place finish in the league and Champions League football for the following campaign.
Peter Bosz was announced as PSV’s permanent head coach on July 1, 2023, leading the club to the league title the following season. Such was the dominant nature of their title win (they finished five points higher than Arne Slot’s Feyenoord and lost only once), that some sections of Dutch media began to question Van Nistelrooy’s claims that the squad had been rendered uncompetitive due to player sales/financial strife.
PSV’s 2023-24 season was an improvement on the previous campaign on nearly every level.
Which United players are likely to benefit from this approach if Van Nistelrooy tries to repeat it?
At a glance? United’s collection of wingers could see even more of the ball directed their way, although a lack of a match-fit left-back complicates things.
Is this style of play going to fire United back up the league?
Only time will tell, but it is worth noting that Van Nistelrooy has spent time since leaving PSV working to refine his approach to the game.
Taking over at United is a difficult task for even the most experienced managers. Van Nistelrooy’s time at PSV offers some clues as to how he might approach this interim period, but the games ahead will be the true test.
