Defensively obsessed and barking instructions - inside Ruud van Nistelrooy's Manchester United return

Ruud van Nistelrooy is arguably the headline arrival at Man United this summer and is already imposing himself on the training pitch.

Sporting a brilliant red leisure Adidas T-shirt, black shorts, white socks and white trainers, Ruud van Nistelrooy looked more immaculate in Manchester United attire than he did 20 years ago.

Van Nistelrooy was heading out for a stroll around Beverly Hills with the new goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar. 12 years on from his retirement as a player, the 48-year-old Van Nistelrooy still has an aura that Rodeo Drive cannot match.

In 2003, Van Nistelrooy enjoyed his own tour of the States with United, plundering four goals in four games. Now he is imparting that knowledge onto United's underachievers.

Van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake are assistants to manager Erik ten Hag but the former United striker is the prominent appointment. "They are just two more Dutch people," Christian Eriksen laughs.

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"I’ve only been back for three sessions of training so it’s difficult to see what their impact really is. Obviously, it’s different faces and different personalities walking around on the pitch.

"In terms of taking training and the sessions, it’s more or less the same. It’s the same manager so a lot of the training is similar.

"I was sad to see Benni (McCarthy) and Mitchell (van der Gaag) leave. I had a good relationship with both of them and they are both incredible guys. It’s tough but with Ruud and Rene I’m sure it’s going to go well."

First team coach Darren Fletcher has been reunited with Van Nistelrooy after 18 years. Fletcher was a teammate of Van Nistelrooy's between 2003-06 and the Dutchman used to give the midfielder lifts into training at Carrington as Fletcher did not have a driver's licence. Fletcher repaid Van Nistelrooy by lending him his 24 box sets.

Van Nistelrooy embraced the history of United upon his arrival in 2001 (a year later than intended). He poured through player statistics in a book on the official history of the club and Van Nistelrooy wrote his own numbers into it: 150 goals in 219 games. Only ten players have scored more goals for United.

Burnley spoke to Van Nistelrooy about replacing Vincent Kompany early in the summer and he had offers to manage elsewhere. He told confidants that when United came calling he knew he could not turn it down.

Van Nistelrooy does not see it as an issue that United have a teeming brains trust of essentially five number ones in the dugout: himself, Ten Hag, Hake, Andreas Georgson and Steve McClaren.

Club sources say Van Nistelrooy oozes authority and the younger members of the squad are aware of his esteemed status despite not growing up watching him.

An articulate talker, Van Nistelrooy often speaks to players on a one-on-one basis after training. That also extended to a brief post-match debrief with goalscorer Joe Hugill after the 2-0 win against Rangers at Murrayfield.

Van der Gaag and Eric Ramsay were fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, so often conversed with Casemiro, whose English is limited. Van Nistelrooy, also fluent in Spanish, is now the coach Casemiro leans on.

Ten Hag is not as familiar with Van Nistelrooy as he is with Hake, whom he worked with at Twente. Hake is not the headline addition that Van Nistelrooy is but is regarded as just as important in the dual assistant model and sets up the training sessions.

United sources claim Ten Hag picked Hake and Van Nistelrooy. External sources have disputed that and it is understood Van Nistelrooy was recommended by the club's new structure. Ten Hag accepted Ineos's conclusion the coaching staff needed to be refreshed. McCarthy did not even travel to every game last season.

Van Nistelrooy imposed himself during the open training session at UCLA on Friday. "Quicken it up," he commanded. Marcus Rashford swiftly lashed the ball into the corner of the net.

Before Rashford made his debut in February 2016, the former United academy coach Paul McGuinness urged him to be more like Van Nistelrooy. Rashford became the first United player in ten years to break the 30-goal barrier in a season in 2022-23. Van Nistelrooy did it in his first three.

Jonny Evans's first pre-season with United in 2006 was Van Nistelrooy's last at the club. "I think it's been great," Evans says of the coaching changes. "I mean it's always good to freshen up.

"I think obviously having Ruud come back has been great, especially for myself. I sort of grew up idolising Ruud and the way he used to play. I got a little bit of a chance when I was in the youth team to see him play, when he was coming to the end of his United career.

"I might have trained with him once or twice when he was coming back from injury. It is good to have someone of that calibre and respect in the squad already."

Tom Heaton also got to rub shoulders with Van Nistelrooy at Carrington 18 years ago. "I was always his go-to keeper for shooting! It was so good to see him, I have to say.

"And he's been brilliant. He's been really, really good. His level of detail is superb, you know. You’d be forgiven for thinking, he’s a United legend coming in, is he just a face for it? But his level of detail, and I've been in a couple of meetings that I've listened to, and he's been outstanding. And Rene Hake as well."

Van Nistelrooy had no intention of managing until he got bitten by the bug working under Manuel Pellegrini at Malaga. Pellegrini noticed Van Nistelrooy's usefulness as a player had expired, so he tasked him with overseeing some training drills.

What United players and staff have noticed with Van Nistelrooy is he is also an authority on defensive shape. Having got the better of defences time and again during a 362-goal career, Van Nistelrooy is "quite obsessed about defensive structure", according to Evans. Van Nistelrooy worked with "die-hard" defensive coaches in Spain and it has rubbed off.

United have stressed Van Nistelrooy is a rounded coach and absolutely not a striker coach. Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, two similarly-aged strikers with modest goalscoring records from Italy, are still frontmen to hot-house.

"If that was a goal there, he'd always say he’d hit four squares so I was almost irrelevant as a goalie," Heaton recalls. "It wouldn't matter where I was, he’d always have it in his mind it was on him about where he was on the pitch.

"He'd be hitting one of those four squares and he used to hit in early - like a dart - and you just couldn't save it, you know what I mean? As a goalie, you put yourself in a position to give yourself the best chance. You can't save everything.

"But if the opponent finds the right spot every time, you're not getting there. So he was tough to play against, he was the best that I've worked with. He left in 2006 so it feels like a long time ago now."

"I have to say, I’ve played with quite a few players and he’s my favourite ever finisher, the best I've ever seen. He was brilliant."

And Van Nistelrooy still looks brilliant in red.