Formation change and European heartbreak - Ruud van Nistelrooy's time as Man United manager predicted

Manchester United have confirmed Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over as interim head coach after the sacking of Erik ten Hag.

Just four wins in all competitions so far this season saw Ten Hag depart after just over two full seasons with the club, with Sunday's 2-1 loss to West Ham the final straw for the Dutchman. The defeat has left United 14th in the Premier League after nine games while they're also winless in the Europa League, with Van Nistelrooy confirmed to be taking his place while a permanent head coach is recruited.

Since his appointment in April 2022, Ten Hag spent over £600m as United boss, winning a Carabao Cup and an FA Cup in that time. But despite the trophies, performances of late just haven't been good enough, resulting in his exit from the club just 116 days after his contract was extended.

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Van Nistelrooy was appointed as United's assistant manager at the beginning of the season, with the Dutchman now being given a chance to take charge of the side until a new manager is found. But if Van Nistelrooy was to spend the rest of the season as United manager, what could happen? Let's take a look...

Manchester United's 2024/25 season predicted with Ruud van Nistelrooy as boss

To set up this simulation, we updated every Premier League club's results, fixtures, and squads to reflect real life in Football Manager 2024 before simulating until October 28th, where we used the in-game editor to sack Ten Hag and make Van Nistelrooy the new United boss. We then simulated until the end of the season to see what happened over the remainder of the season.

The first change Van Nistelrooy made was to the formation and set-up United used, with the Dutchman often setting up in a 4-2-2-2 formation, with Bruno Fernandes starting out wide on the right, rather than in a central position. At the end of the 2024/25 season, this was United's best XI based on average rating.

United's best XI (4-2-2-2): Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez Dalot; Fernandes, Eriksen, Mainoo, Garnacho; Hojlund, Rashford.

In his 4-4-2 set-up, Van Nistelrooy started Marcus Rashford alongside Rasmus Hojlund up top, with Joshua Zirkzee struggling for game time. Casemiro was rarely used with Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte Van Nistelrooy's preferred midfield duo, with the Brazilian making just four starts over the remainder of the season.

The 48-year-old had a big emphasis on moving forwards out wide rather than through the middle, hence why Fernandes was preferred on the right. This was reflected by the end-of-season stats, with Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho tallying 29 assists between them across all competitions.

With Van Nistelrooy in charge, an instant improvement was made in the Premier League, with United winning five games in a row, including a clash away to Arsenal. For his instant impact, the Dutchman was awarded Manager of the Month for November. In the 31 league games Van Nistelrooy was manager, United won 13, drew eight, and lost eight – an improvement on current form, but nothing amazing.

United ended the season with 58 points in the league – two fewer than last season to secure another eighth-place finish and a spot in the Europa League for the following campaign. Fulham were the shock of the season, however, with the Cottagers finishing sixth.

In the cup competitions, Van Nistelrooy was unable to win a trophy, but they came close in the Europa League, with United losing 1-0 in the final of the competition to Lyon. A 3-0 defeat against Liverpool ended their FA Cup defence in the fifth round, while a 1-0 loss to Arsenal knocked them out of the Carabao Cup in the quarter-finals.

Overall, FM24 predicts that Van Nistelrooy can make improvements as United manager, but he would still be way off the mark for where United wants to be. A change in formation helped solidify the defence and gave a new creative output down the flanks, but the Dutchman's efforts could only secure an eighth-place finish in another underwhelming season.