- Manchester United host Leicester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday
- The Red Devils announced the departure of Erik ten Hag two days earlier
- Ruud van Nistelrooy was then confirmed as the club’s new interim manager
- ESPN’s Mark Ogden assessed the current situation at Old Trafford
Following the departure of manager Erik ten Hag on Monday, Ruud van Nistelrooy was placed in interim charge of the Red Devils, with the Dutchman’s first assignment coming in Wednesday’s last-16 tie against Leicester City, a 7:45pm GMT kick-off at Old Trafford.
The former United striker, who scored 150 goals in 219 games for the club between 2001 and 2006, has been part of the club’s coaching set-up since the summer and Ogden believes it could lead to a turnaround in form and atmosphere around Old Trafford.
“He knows the club,” the journalist began. “He was there as a player for five years and he’s a big favourite with the fans. I think van Nistelrooy is a good fit because he knows the squad, he knows the club, the fans will give him plenty of support, so it works in the short term at least.
“He’s also part of the ten Hag regime as assistant manager, albeit for nine games, but when he came in the summer there was a bit of a change of the backroom staff. It seemed fairly obvious that he was put in as a contingency plan. There was no one to step in last season.
“We don’t know how long it will be, whether it’ll just be for this game on Wednesday or into the weekend’s game against Chelsea or if there will be a new manager in charge by next week. That looks like it could be the case but as it stands, we don’t know.”
Five goals and three assists across all competitions is a decent return for Argentine winger Alejandro Garnacho so far this term, while captain Bruno Fernandes has assisted five goals, including two in this competition, but more will be required throughout the squad, given the weight of expectation at Old Trafford.
The journalist continued: “Alejandro Garnacho could be a star in the making and Bruno Fernandes is obviously a good player, but a new manager coming in would have to make them play better. That’s going to be a challenge.
“Ultimately, they need to find better players going forward to get back to the Man Utd of old, because nowadays the competition is so much tougher and more intense, with Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool being back and Chelsea starting to look better.
“When Man Utd were dominant, it was only Arsenal and Chelsea really. Just because they are the biggest club in the biggest league in the world, it doesn’t guarantee success and they’ve found that over the last 10 years.”
The Carabao Cup is a competition United have won on six occasions, most recently in 2022/23 when they defeated Newcastle United in the final, and it could be the trophy to target this season too, Ogden believes, having fallen behind in the Premier League, sitting 14th.
He added: “José Mourinho always used to want to win the first trophy and he did that at Chelsea back in the day. He won it with United as well and it’s a trophy that stops people saying: ‘How long is it since you won a trophy?’ Ten Hag did that at United, it was a six-year drought without a trophy and he ended that.
“It is a major trophy but I think Leicester fans might agree that the European clubs this year have had an easy ride to this stage because they were absolved of playing in the first couple of rounds and then given a home tie in the third round because they are in Europe. Hopefully Leicester give them a game and make it harder than they’ve had it so far.”