logo
logo
Van Nistelrooy finds himself in the hot seat...

The two current Premier League managers that Ruud van Nistelrooy has already beaten

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been confirmed as Manchester United’s interim manager following the sacking of Erik ten Hag.

The former United forward returned to the club as an assistant coach this summer as the newly formed hierarchy at the club sought to bolster their coaching options in a bid to help Ten Hag, but now finds himself in the hot seat while they search for a new manager.

Ten Hag’s exit was confirmed the day after United lost 2-1 away to West Ham, who themselves had not won in the Premier League all season heading into the fixture.

Defeat in London meant the Red Devils have won just one game in their last eight in all competitions and leaves them stranded in 14th in the Premier League table after nine games, while having also gone winless in their opening three games of the Europa League.

The former Ajax manager leaves the club after two-and-a-half years having guided United to the League Cup and the FA Cup, but also finished eighth in his second season in charge.

Van Nistelrooy takes charge with immediate effect while the search for a new manager is ongoing and will face Leicester in the League Cup before ending the week with a test in the form of Chelsea at home in the Premier League.

He’s been in coaching since his 2013 retirement, learning the trade at club and international level under various managers at different age groups, before taking over the men’s first-team at PSV in 2022 – his first senior managerial role.

In his first and only season in charge, Van Nistelrooy guided PSV to the KNVB Cup, but resigned before the end of the season citing a lack of support.

During that season, however, he faced and beat two managers who are currently managing in the Premier League. Read on to see who and how he did it.

Arne Slot

United fans will be delighted to hear that their new interim boss and club legend is unbeaten in two games against the current Liverpool manager.

Slot was in charge of Feyenoord while Van Nistelrooy was on the touchline for PSV, with both of their clashes coming in the Eredivisie.

The pair first locked horns in September 2022. PSV won 4-3 in a thrilling contest at home in Eindhoven, initially fighting back from conceding an early goal before stealing all three points with a late winner from Armando Obiso.

The spoils were shared in the reverse fixture in 2023, which proved to be another high scoring contest. PSV pulled ahead in Rotterdam and extended their lead after 68 minutes, but a red card to Obiso and a late comeback from Slot’s side saw the game end 2-2.


READ NEXT: The surprising Premier League table over the course of Ten Hag’s Man Utd reign

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name all 48 players Erik ten Hag used as Man Utd manager?


Mikel Arteta

Van Nistelrooy tussled with Arteta over two group stage games in the Europa League in 2022-23, losing their first meeting 1-0 at the Emirates on 20 October 2022.

Granit Xhaka’s second half strike was enough to get the Gunners over the line, but PSV inflicted some revenge seven days later when Arsenal travelled to Eindhoven.

A largely uneventful first half saw the game goalless at the break, before Joey Veerman and Luuk de Jong fired PSV into a 2-0 lead either side of the hour mark.

They finished second in the group behind Arsenal, but were unable to advance beyond the play-off round, being beaten over two legs by Sevilla.