Erik ten Hag overhaul taking shape but Man Utd legend left in the dark
Manchester United are set to add Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake to their coaching staff, with the moves expected to be announced after Erik ten Hag's new contract is confirmed
While Manchester United fans fret about which players their club will sign this summer, behind the scenes there are pressing areas elsewhere that are being addressed.
Having confirmed Erik ten Hag will remain in charge – for now at least – Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his football executive team are assessing the make-up of the United manager's coaching staff and plotting a significant overhaul.
Last season, Ten Hag's backroom team comprised of assistants Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren, forwards coach Benni McCarthy and goalkeeping coaches Richard Hartis and Craig Mawson. Former set-piece coach, Eric Ramsay, left midway through last season to manage Minnesota United in the USA.
United's former technical director, Darren Fletcher, stepped up to fill the void left by Ramsay's departure. But with Jason Wilcox having been appointed as United's technical director, Fletcher's future remains unclear, with the former United midfielder effectively without a role.
READ MORE: Transfer news LIVE: Liverpool enter Ugarte race, Zirkzee 'convinced' to join Man Utd, Arsenal latestREAD MORE: Win a £100 Amazon gift card, an Adidas Euro 2024 replica ball and £25 to spend at Just Eat in our fab giveawayThere are many other key members of Ten Hag's coaching team, including club doctor Gary O'Driscoll, fitness coach Paolo Guadino, head of performance analysis Paul Brand and strength and conditioning coach Michael Clegg, but those are the major roles and figures to whom the Dutchman delegates.
One key area Ratcliffe and his newly-assembled team of football executives are looking to improve is United's paucity of goals. Last season in the Premier League, United managed just 57 goals from 38 games, the joint-lowest return in the top half of the table and an unacceptable return for a squad with such an attacking threat and potential.
With that in mind, Ratcliffe and Co – with the involvement of Ten Hag – have sought to appoint a new forwards coach to replace McCarthy, whose contract is set to expire and who is not expected to return to his role in pre-season.
Former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored a formidable haul of 150 goals from 2019 games between 2001 and 2006, is set to join Ten Hag's coaching staff, once the manager's own new contract is confirmed, which is expected to be within the coming days.
Another, less familiar, new face expected to be added to Ten Hag's coaching staff is another Dutchman, Rene Hake, currently the manager of Eredivisie club Go Ahead Eagles.
United's move to recruit Hake, 52, raises questions over the future of McClaren and Van der Gaag, although the latter has worked with Ten Hag for years and would only be likely to leave to take on a bigger role elsewhere.
Hake went into management at Ten Hag’s first club as a player, FC Twente, with the two men having both coached Utrecht and Go Ahead Eagles, who he led into Europe for only the third time in their history last month.
The thinking at United is that Hake will bring fresh ideas and tactical input to Ten Hag's approach, reinvigorating and energising the coaching team, with Van Nistelrooy helping the forwards rediscover their scoring touch.
After scoring a career-best 30 goals the season before last, Marcus Rashford managed just eight last term, while £72million Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund managed to double that total in his debut campaign.
There is so much more to come from both strikers in terms of their goal output and Hojlund, in particular, could learn a great deal from Van Nistelrooy about the art of being in the right place at the right time, to find the net on a consistent basis.
Van Nistelrooy was unrivalled in terms of his movement in the six-yard box, knowing when to time his runs to perfection to get on the end of crosses and loose balls in predatory fashion, something Hojlund struggled with last season.
Having turned down the chance to succeed Vincent Kompany at recently-relegated Burnley, former PSV Eindhoven coach Van Nistelrooy is set for an emotional return to United, where his expertise in the art of goalscoring could prove invaluable to his old club.
With sporting director Dan Ashworth now ready to start work, after a compensation package was agreed with Newcastle, and CEO Omar Berrada starting next week, United have their new executive team in place to begin work on Ratcliffe's stated aim of making the club great once again.
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