Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Ruben Amorim could risk upsetting some of the Man Utd players after his decision to let Ruud van Nistelrooy leave Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy returned to Man Utd in the summer to work as assistant to Erik ten Hag as the Red Devils rejigged his backroom staff.
The move didn’t work and Ten Hag was sacked nine matches into the Premier League season with Man Utd currently 13th in the Premier League table.
Van Nistelrooy took over as interim boss in an encouraging four-match spell which saw him beat Leicester City twice, win against PAOK in the Europa League and draw against Chelsea at Old Trafford.
But Amorim’s first move as Man Utd boss was to break the news to Van Nistelrooy that he would no longer be part of the Old Trafford setup with the Premier League club confirming the news on Monday.
And Ferdinand thinks the Man Utd players “had grown to really like” Van Nistelrooy during his short spell in sole charge of the team.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “His audition couldn’t have gone any better.
“I think, knowing him, there was a steely determination underneath that said, ‘I’m going to put myself in the best position, either to stay at the club in some capacity or someone else is going to say we need you as a manager’.
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“He looked the part and he produced. The players needed that. We’re in a time where there was a lot of turbulence, the manager’s relationships with some players seemed fractured and irreversible and the fans seemed to have made their minds up that that was it.
“And the new manager comes in – and you always get that bounce – but this seemed a bit different from a bounce. The players had grown to really like him, they appreciated how he informed them of different bits and pieces – tactically, individually, as a team – and there was a genuine ‘we want to do well for this guy’.”
Dutch football pundit Rene van der Gijp was pleased to see Van Nistelrooy leave Man Utd as the Dutchman would have risked becoming Amorim’s “errand boy”.
“He shouldn’t become the errand boy of some Portuguese. You can’t interfere with that. You can’t get a grip on that. Now he’s going away a hero. Now he could come back as head coach.”
While Dutch commentator Johan Derksen added: “It was done a bit hastily. Ruud has an aura there, it’s unbelievable.”
