Former Manchester United first-team coach Rene Meulensteen opened up about his deep-seated admiration for one club legend and sent a clear-cut message to him.
Rene Meulensteen was a key first-team coach at Old Trafford under legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The 60-year-old Dutchman enjoyed incredible success towards the tail end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial career at the Premier League club.
During his time at Old Trafford as a first-team coach, Meulensteen watched as United lifted four Premier League titles, a Champions League and two League Cups.
Ferguson, who is considered one of the best managers of all time, bowed out of the Old Trafford hot seat in 2013 after United captured their last Premier League title.
Meulensteen left Old Trafford in 2013 after former United manager David Moyes did not retain his services for his coaching staff at Old Trafford.
Meulensteen on Man Utd legend and decision
Speaking to former England manager Sam Allardyce, Rene Meulensteen talked up Manchester United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy after his return to Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy had spent the 2023-24 campaign out of management after he left his head coach role at PSV Eindhoven in 2023.
The former United striker led PSV Eindhoven to a Dutch Cup in his debut season as a manager, but Van Nistelrooy resigned from his post before the end of the campaign.
Van Nistelrooy was appointed to Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff in the summer, with the United legend becoming one of two assistant managers alongside Rene Hake.
Meulensteen admitted that he is a big fan of the 48-year-old former Netherlands international, but he felt Van Nistelrooy left his role as PSV “too soon.”
“I rate him highly, I think he jumped the ship at PSV a little bit too soon, he was doing really well,” he told Sam Allardyce on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
“I always feel if I jump into a job, I want to make sure that I’d be able to make a difference, not to make up the numbers.
“I also have to make sure not to kick myself because if I go back into Manchester United, I would walk back into something I probably wouldn’t recognise.”
Meulensteen’s message to Van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s departure from PSV Eindhoven was announced with “immediate effect” in May 2023 after he cited a “lack of support within the club.”
The United assistant manager has been tipped as a potential interim boss or caretaker manager if Erik ten Hag is sacked this season.
Meulensteen admitted that he would be ready to return to Old Trafford and take up a role in the coaching staff if Van Nistelrooy reached out to him.
“In those six years that I was the first team coach at Manchester United, I loved every minute of it,” he said.
“I didn’t feel any negative pressure any day when I was driving up to Carrington, and that was totally down to the man management of Sir Alex Ferguson and how much he trusted us with what we were doing.
“If Ruud would come calling, you would help him, of course, you would, you would talk to him and say, ‘Okay, what can I do for you?’”
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