Cody Gakpo sends Man United forwards message about Ruud van Nistelrooy, Marcus Rashford will love it

Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo has sent a message to Manchester United forwards about his former coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Van Nistelrooy, 48, has rejoined United after spending five years at Old Trafford as a player. He will work under Erik ten Hag as an assistant coach.

Having scored 150 goals for the club, it is expected that the United legend will benefit the forwards at the club, such as Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Højlund and Marcus Rashford.

Cody Gakpo, who previously worked under Van Nistelrooy at PSV Eindhoven, has explained how the Dutch coach helped his attacking game.

The Liverpool forward thrived in the Eredivisie under the 48-year-old and believes that the running patterns the manager helped with were crucial to his success.

As per The Times, Gakpo said: “With Ruud, we practised running patterns. 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.”

Of course, Rashford is well known to be at his best when making runs behind the opposition’s backline, and the United legend will certainly help in this aspect.

Garnacho will likely be another player to benefit from this type of work, with the two players being the most direct threats within the United squad.

Rashford has returned to Carrington this week for pre-season training, while Garnacho is on international duty with Argentina at the Copa America.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Thursday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.