Ruud van Nistelrooy is a club legend who was one of the deadliest strikers ever to play for Manchester United.
Van Nistelrooy ranks in eighth place for all time goal scorers with 150 goals for the club in just 219 games through six seasons at the club.
Former teammate Rio Ferdinand recently singled out Van Nistelrooy as ‘one of the hardest hitters’ of the ball he had ever seen.
Many forget that Van Nistelrooy’s original move to Manchester United was almost called off due to a horrific injury.
Club Legend Van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy has now returned to the club as part of Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff and will be building upon the legacy he has at the club.
For Manchester United and neutral fans alike, Ruud van Nistelrooy is one of the best strikers to have ever played in the Premier League.
Van Nistelrooy is also certainly one of the best forwards to have worn the Manchester United shirt. His lethal finishing abilities are showcased by the fact he averaged 0.68 goals per game in all competitions, the second highest amongst Red Devils players ever.
What was most remarkable was the player was consistently brilliant form start to finish with no need for bedding in time.
His data was astonishing from the beginning as he sits in the top four for most goals in a debut season in the Premier League with 23. Plus his consistency meant that he is in third place for the fastest rate of scoring 50 league goals, taking just 68 games for Manchester United.
When he left the club in the summer of 2006 he had four trophies under his belt and played a pivotal role in ensuring the club’s successes during this time.
Van Nistelrooy injury before Manchester United
The fascinating truth of the Ruud van Nistelrooy transfer is that it almost never happened. A horror injury almost robbed the club of one of its greatest strikers ever.
Towards the end of the 1999/2000 van Nistelrooy picked up a MCL injury (Medial Collateral Ligament) while playing for his club PSV Eindhoven.
The player was predicted to make a good recovery as MCL’s are able to progress fairly well and even the most severe, Grade 3 injury, can see a player come back after two months.
However, during this recovery process a deal was agreed between PSV and Manchester United for van Nistelrooy and the Red Devils wanted to examine the injury as part of his medical.
Unfortunately, Van Nistelrooy failed the medical, which caused some embarrassment for both clubs, but the hope was that after the player had fully recovered the deal may be able to be completed.
Then disaster struck. On returning to training in Holland, Ruud van Nistelrooy attempted a bicycle kick in training.
He landed awkwardly and ruptured his ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament). The ACL injury is one of the worst in football and it kept van Nistelrooy out for a year.
The worry was that the injury was so serious that van Nistelrooy would not be able to join the club at all.
However, the player was treated by Dr Richard Steadman, who has worked with some other footballing greats, to help recover from the dreaded ACL injury.
During his hard recovery process Sir Alex Ferguson kept in touch with the player and the transfer went through the following summer.
Van Nistelrooy’s stunning recovery
What is most remarkable about Ruud van Nistelrooy’s recovery is that the player was back to his best almost immediately.
Often when a player has an ACL injury they take around two years to recover. One year to get back to fitness, a second year to reach their original performance levels. This is something that Dr Matthew Provencher, who works at the Steadman Clinic, has explained.
However, Dr Provencher also highlighted that some players can return “stronger” through addressing other weaknesses in their physicality or game during this lengthy time off, and this is what van Nistelrooy seems to have done. He seems to have used this career “reset”, as Dr Provencher calls it, to improve aspects of his game.
This is how van Nistelrooy proved to be a unique case and his incredible dedication to his recovery meant that he was able to score 36 goals in all competitions. He even won the PFA’s 2002 Player of the Year award in his first season due to how strong he was on his return.
But many players are not so lucky. Other footballers are just as dedicated, however, usually ACL injuries lead to a downturn in output and it is why this story of recovery and record-breaking goal scoring is so fascinating.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/lWFjTV4