The 6 current PL stars who have played under Ruud van Nistelrooy & what they’ve said about him
Following the dismissal of Erik ten Hag, and the imminent appointment of Ruben Amorim, Ruud van Nistelrooy is set to briefly take over as an interim boss at Manchester United.
The former Red Devils striker has already got a chunk of managerial experience under his belt from his time managing PSV from 2022 to 2023.
We’ve identified the six current Premier League stars who have played under Van Nistelrooy at PSV and have checked out what they have said about the Dutch boss.
Cody Gakpo
Prior to his move to Liverpool, Gakpo made a name for himself with PSV in the Eredivisie. He played a total of 24 games under Van Nistelrooy and produced 30 goal contributions in that time.
Given Van Nistelrooy was a goalscorer himself, it’s no surprise that Gakpo enjoyed his time playing under the former PSV boss.
“With Ruud, we practised running patterns,” Gakpo told The Times.
“He would tell us about his Manchester United team with [Ryan] Giggs and [Paul] Scholes. Everyone there knew exactly what run they would make.
“The message was: you have to interact, communicate, to make operating as a unit much easier.”
Noni Madueke
The dynamic winger joined PSV when he was just 16 years old and he often speaks fondly of his time in the Netherlands.
In total, he made 80 appearances for PSV and 39 of those games were managed by Van Nistelrooy. Impressively, the Chelsea star averaged a goal or assist every 101.9 minutes while playing under the Dutch boss.
“He is a legend of the game so it was an honour and he is still a great finisher. He helped me a lot with that,” Madueke told Sky Sports in 2022 when discussing Van Nistelrooy.
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Jarrad Branthwaite
Now considered as one of the best defenders in the Premier League, Branthwaite’s loan spell at PSV in 2022-23 definitely accelerated his development.
He made a total of 34 appearances under Van Nistelrooy and honed his craft as a defender during his time in the Eredivisie.
“He was brilliant for me,” Branthwaite said in December 2023 when discussing the Dutch coach.
“He would advise me on my defensive body positioning and the significance of being side-on, ensuring I’m always prepared to retreat or press forward.
“He warned that without the correct body shape, you’ll be caught out because the Premier League is much quicker. If they play it behind you and you’re not side-on, the striker will already be away.”
Despite only featuring sparingly in the first half of his loan spell with PSV, Van Nistelrooy then made Branthwaite a promise that he would utilise him more in the second half of the campaign – which he did.
“He [Van Nistelrooy] sat me down for half an hour and said I was going to play every game in the second half of the season.
“At the time, I was like, ‘you can say that, but how am I meant to believe you?’ We were on a winter break, I was on holiday, and he kept ringing me every day, saying, ‘trust me, you are going to play’.
“I sat down with my mam, dad and my agent and said, ‘he wouldn’t go to all this effort if he wasn’t going to play me’. I decided to trust him and it worked out well.”
Carlos Vinicius
The Fulham forward got a brief taste of life under Van Nistelrooy during the opening stages of the 2022-23 season.
Vinicius originally intended to spend two years on loan with PSV, but the loan spell was cut short early into his second season after Fulham decided to swoop in for him.
The Brazilian only ever played two matches under Van Nistelrooy and failed to score in either.
QUIZ: Can you name every club Ruud van Nistelrooy scored against for Man Utd?
Ki-Jana Hoever
The former Liverpool defender is still on the books at Wolves today, although he has spent the last few years out on loan.
His first loan spell away from Molineux happened to be at PSV where he got the chance to play under Van Nistelrooy.
As Hoever was still a fairly raw prospect at the time, Van Nistelrooy only used him sparingly. In total, the versatile defender made eight appearances under the Dutch boss and he did produce two assists in that time.
Fabio Silva
Like Hoever, Silva also enjoyed a loan spell with PSV from Wolves. The Portuguese striker spent the second half of the 2022-23 campaign on loan in the Netherlands and he did fairly well for himself.
He managed to score five goals while playing under Van Nistelrooy and he averaged a goal contribution every 112 minutes which isn’t too shabby.