‘He seems calmer’: what Van Nistelrooy will bring to United as interim coach

Ruud van Nistelrooy has had one year in charge – at PSV for the 2022-23 season, leaving before the final game. Photograph: Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

Björn van der Doelen says he can easily tell the state of mind of his former PSV teammate and the new Manchester United interim coach Ruud van Nistelrooy. “Sometimes I see the old Ruud on the sidelines,” says the midfielder, who played for PSV between 1994 and 2001. “His chin goes up. I know then that he doesn’t like it at all, he’s boiling inside and he’d rather run on to the pitch.

“When he was a player, he would get angry for a while when his chin went up. Now that he’s older, he seems calmer. Now that chin quickly goes down again.”