"I wanted to bring Manchester United into a better place," Ruud van Nistelrooy said after rounding off his interim tenure with a comfortable 3-0 win over Leicester City at Old Trafford. "It was my absolute goal, together with the players, and it's three wins and a draw. Getting 11 goals at Old Trafford, and only three against, is the standard you want to go to as a club. I think it's something to build on."
He just gets it, doesn't he? United is a club that must always demand the highest standards. Van Nistelrooy saw that the players had forgotten their responsibilities in the final months of Erik ten Hag's turbulent reign, and in just four games, gave them the proverbial kick in the backside that had been long overdue.
Because of Van Nistelrooy's impressive work, Ruben Amorim is walking into a more settled environment. United were in crisis when Ten Hag was sacked on October 28 and the future looked bleak because of the INEOS group's failure to put the former Ajax coach out of his misery at a far earlier date. But now, there is genuine cause for optimism again.
Amorim can focus on shaping the squad in his image instead of lifting the confidence levels of the entire dressing room. United's new permanent manager owes Van Nistelrooy a debt of gratitude for that, and making the Dutchman his No.2 would be the perfect way to repay him.