Few places on earth do murk like Manchester. A soft drizzle settled on the city the morning after the night before. Unusually in this phase of the Manchester United malaise there was no accompanying despair amongst those under red umbrellas as they stepped around the puddles, just pure elation after a match won well.
The electricity sparked by Ruud van Nistelrooy’s win against Leicester City rubbed alongside the pursuit of Ruben Amorim, carrying its own energy. The terms of Amorim’s extraction from Sporting Lisbon will seemingly delay his arrival until the conclusion of November’s international break. This provides caretaker Van Nistelrooy with an opportunity to rap his stay in ribbons, which may or may not be a problem for Amorim.
In the euphoria of the Carabao Cup carnival it was possible to imagine a place for Van Nistelrooy somewhere in the new regime, such is the love for him among the fans and he for them, and he is contracted as an assistant until the end of next season.
Amorim will be joined by coaching assistants Carlos Fernandes and Adelio Candido, but Van Nistelrooy made it clear that his intention is to remain in post as long as the new regime are onside.
“We will see but it’s a contract situation that I’m in and my desire to help the club forward so I can speak to you about my side of this story and after that, when the new situation is occurring, when the new manager is signing and conversations take place, we have to see how things develop,” he said.
“I want to help, I want to do everything I can in my abilities, as many others do in this club, to fight for this club.”
This begs a number of questions of Amorim and United. Would it serve the new man to retain a positive coaching association with the past to facilitate the transition and strike an immediate note of connection?
At some level Amorin will have to assimilate into the Carrington infrastructure. Would Van Nistelrooy be an acceptable part of that? Moreover does Amorim need him?
Could his relationship with existing coaches accommodate the inclusion of a club legend or would that be intrusive?
If the evisceration inflicted upon Leicester, which emulated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s five-goal start as interim coach following the sacking of Jose Mourinho, leads to a meaningful result against Chelsea, you can see how the players plugging into the Ruud vibe might be harnessed by an incoming head coach.
“We scored some great goals – we had some luck as well,” Van Nistelrooy added.
“I have to say the chances we created against Fenerbahce and West Ham, also I remember at Crystal Palace, we created so many bigger, better chances than today. We had the luck with the post and the deflection.
“Sometimes, it’s what you need. It makes football a cruel game sometimes. Hopefully, the luck has turned today and we can build on this victory.”
It was for us to evaluate what “we” might mean. Van Nistelrooy arrived in the summer at the behest of Ten Hag, in part as an acknowledgement of the need for change but also utilising the same connection to United’s past that might prove useful for Amorim. It seems obvious that Van Nistelrooy would be responsive. Why would he want to uproot so soon after arriving?
We shall have to wait until Amorim speaks following Sporting’s Friday night fixture against Estrela Amadora to learn more about the details surrounding his move and if he would be open to the retention of Van Nistelrooy who will lead the team for the fixtures against Chelsea on Sunday followed by PAOK Thessaloniki next Thursday and Leicester again in the Premier League, all at Old Trafford.
At Chelsea, Enzo Maresca has imposed an impressive order upon an environment every bit as unstable as United’s when he arrived in the summer. The like opportunity to reset under a new coach was missed by United, whose retention of Ten Hag led to the present interregnum.
United will take succour where they can, of course, and Van Nistelrooy certainly delivered that with the Leicester carnival. Chelsea lost to a Newcastle team they beat in the Premier League on Sunday after fielding a shadow team on Wednesday, but have showed in their opening games they are trending positively under a man with a plan and the wherewithal to execute it.
This same sense of direction and organisation is the aim with Amorim. Under Ten Hag, a Cole-(Palmer)-fired Chelsea, aided by Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson, would have represented a fearful prospect. With Van Nistelrooy at the wheel, a Solskjaer-like bounce cannot be discounted.
What United showed against Leicester was a refreshing plausibility. Should Van Nistelrooy repeat the dose on Sunday, romance might harden into an unexpected quandary for the new regime. Which is so thoroughly United, where little is ever straightforward and drama is guaranteed.