Man United star confirms surprising Ruud van Nistelrooy reports – “It is massive for us”

One Manchester United player has confirmed the surprising reports surrounding Ruud van Nistelrooy’s impact behind the scenes.

Van Nistelrooy, 48, rejoined United this summer to become one of Erik ten Hag’s new assistant coaches alongside Rene Hake.

The former striker scored 150 goals for the club across five years, and his return was expected to be hugely beneficial to the forwards at Old Trafford.

Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee could learn many things from the Dutch legend. However, he seems to be making another surprising impact at the club so far.

Various reports have explained that Van Nistelrooy has been helping the defenders in the squad – using his expertise as a striker to explain ways in which they can defend more successfully against centre-forwards.

It makes complete sense, and the 48-year-old was also well-known for his defensive structure at PSV Eindhoven, but it might come as a surprise to some.

Rhys Bennett has been one of the players who has benefited from this on the training pitch, and he believes that the advice has been “massive” for the defensive unit.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Bennett responded when asked about the reports, as per United Stand. “I mean, I’ve spoken to him in our build-out in the 11-v-11 in training.

“Just what he didn’t like playing against, which is a massive thing for us all to take as centre-backs and defenders because it’s a world-class player.

“And we can learn from him even though he was a striker and he’s at the other end of the pitch. It’s one of those things for us.

“We can think in a striker’s mind and try and think about what he doesn’t like playing against. So, it was massive for us.”

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