In blazing south California sun Ruud van Nistelrooy is leading training at UCLA’s Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Manchester United will go down 2-1 to Arsenal at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium the following day but on this heat-drenched afternoon the new assistant manager is conducting quickfire attack-v-defence sessions of less than two minutes each on a pitch of shortened, squeezed dimensions designed to enhance touch and speed of play.
Sitting in shaded bleachers observing the Dutchman are Dan Ashworth, United’s sporting director, his technical director, Jason Wilcox, and Sir Dave Brailsford, who is the executive oversight for Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the minority shareholder and Ineos owner in charge of football operations.
