Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been warned to expect his new assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy to go against him and challenge his decisions, according to club icon Jaap Stam.
The 48-year-old sealed his return to the club – where he scored 150 goals in 219 appearances between 2001 and 2006 – in July as Ten Hag’s new assistant after Mitchell van der Gaag had his contract terminated.
Van Nistelrooy has previous experience as a manager after starting his coaching career at PSV Eindhoven. The United hero will be using all of his expertise to help Ten Hag steady the ship after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign.
And Stam, who praised the club’s decision to bring back the former striker, believes Ten Hag will benefit from having a strong-willed figure like Van Nistelrooy to challenge him.
“As a manager, you need people who will go against you and challenge you and hopefully Ruud and Rene [Hake] will do this,” Stam told The Athletic. “Ruud, of course, is a legend for the club.”
He added: “At United now, Ruud can hopefully bring some quality to the strikers in coaching and make the players better as individuals. He’s been a manager himself, too, so that should help. I like the appointment.”
Stam, 52, has also worked with Rene Hake, United’s other new Dutch coach, and thinks he will need to prove to the players he can cut it in the Premier League.
“He was a coach at Zwolle and together we worked with the manager. Rene is a good coach and manager who has done well in Holland,” he added.
“Of course, that’s different from doing well at a big club like United where he’ll need to convince the players he can add something, but he has the knowledge and a clear vision of how to play football and I think that’s why Erik wants him.”
There is no indication yet to suggest Ten Hag has approached Stam to join him and Van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford, but the 1998-99 treble winner appeared to pour cold water on the idea of him returning to United to take a coaching role.
Instead, Stam has set his sights on a return to management in the UK for the first time since he was sacked by Reading in 2018.
“I do a little bit of work for an amateur team where my boys are playing, but I’d love to go back into management, especially in the UK.
“I’ve had several offers from clubs in Holland, but it must be the right fit. I’ve had a couple of jobs where I’ve taken what is on offer at face value and the reality has turned out very different. Then you are alone and exposed.”
