To celebrate Ruud van Nistelrooy's 47th birthday, we're taking a trip down memory lane to recall the time Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Paul Scholes discussing the former Reds striker on their 'The Overlap' episode from 2022.
Neville’s YouTube series has become essential viewing in recent years after providing in-depth interviews with some of sport’s biggest names, as well as live events with supporters.
But one episode in particular has stood out to some United fans, with van Nistelrooy a hot topic when discussing some of our former strikers and where the former PSV boss ranks in terms of his sheer ability in front of goal.
With Ruud having now featured himself on the programme, let's look back at when a previous episode with Scholes caused quite the stir, with a round of quickfire questions leading to a fascinating debate on van Nistelrooy.
Scholes had famously developed an outstanding relationship with van Nistelrooy and often played in the number 10 role behind him, providing the ammunition for Ruud to fire home. It worked magnificently and, in The Overlap, Neville reveals he and Paul disagree over his suitability.
“We argue about this,”admits Gary. “I love Ruud, we both love Ruud, I do, but I say Manchester United needed counter-attacking players, we needed power and pace when we had, like, Yorke and Cole, or Rooney and Tevez, those types of power players that ran the channels and they were pressing. We were very different with Ruud, but you liked that period with Ruud didn't you.”
In response, Scholes says: “I loved playing with Ruud because I knew what he wanted without speaking to him, if you know what I mean. I don't think it's true [that I was the only one who spot his runs], but I just knew what he wanted and at that time I was playing number 10 really, I wasn't playing in centre-midfield. Do you know what, football is all about that, your relationships with people. I don't think you see a lot of that these days.”
Van Nistelrooy left United in 2006 and he went on to enjoy success with Real Madrid, while Sir Alex’s evolving team blossomed to win three Premier League titles in a row, plus the Champions League, so it worked out for all parties.
When Ruud appeared on our UTD Podcast series, he reflected on the circumstances of his exit and spoke about the situation with typical class. Of course, he had made up with Sir Alex several years earlier when he returned to Old Trafford to attend the unveiling of his statue.