Ruud Van Nistelrooy appreciation thread

[Adisa]

My favourite football player of all time and the best striker I've ever seen at this club.
His finishing was incredible. No box was too packed, no angle was too tight.
To have seen him play live in 2005 was a dream come true.
Was utterly devastated when he left.

 

[Nickosaur]

My favourite United player ever, I think.

 

[2 man midfield]

Best finisher I've ever seen by a country mile.

 

[Anduin]

Amazing striker. I was livid when we sold him for peanuts, but it turned out Fergie as always knew exactly what he was doing. He kept banging them in for Madrid as well though. Still a bit sad he only won a single league title and left on bad terms, but regardless he is a legend for the club. 150 goals in 220 games.

Watching that again I miss Keane and Beckham as players. Brilliant team, not sure how we didn't win anything more significant around 2002. Should've won the bloody Champions League in 2002...

 

[Lostie007]

Players like Messi and Ronaldo might score more goals, but they will NEVER be as cool as Ruud in finishing.

If Ruud was playing in that Real Madrid or Barca team he'd rank up 100 + goals a season. You know it.

Van The Man was a throwback to a old school football age.

 

[Murray3007]

imagine him playing now with the new offside rules he would score even more, defo up there as one of my fav players

 

[Perrick Dubois]

Most intelligent finisher and quickest of thought finisher I have ever seen. Grab a copy of the 1000 goals at Old Trafford and in 2001 when he comes on the scene he starts scoring some absolutely fantastic goals. That goal against Fulham is still one of my favorite ever goals.

 

[izzydiggler]

Amazing player for us and was gutted when he left. Just imagine how much he'd go for nowadays, especially considering the Higuaín fee.

 

[TsuWave]

manchester united legend

 

[Ixion]

I was never a huge fan of his to be honest (was quite excited at the prospect of him leaving), incredible finisher and that goal against Arsenal in the 2-2 draw is one of my favourites though.

 

[SirAF]

He was great, I always loved how much arsenal fans hated him

 

[JohnnyKills]

Great poacher whose skill was vastly underrated, but I don't think he's anywhere near being United's best striker ever.

I'd say there were two main limitations:

1. His movement. A lot of United's other strikers of recent times (Yorke, Cole, Saha, Tevez etc) offered much better movement than RVN, who could be quite static. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the team exploded as a creative force the year after RVN left, when Saha was the main striker.
2. Lack of goals in big games. He always did brilliantly in Europe, but apart from that amazing goal at Highbury in 03, he barely scored a single goal against the big domestic rivals. In fact his role against Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea (United's three biggest rivals during the period) is two goals from open play in 30 matches.

Thought it was a brilliant buy when he arrived and he was great in 02-03, but by the end of his time at OT I was hoping we'd get rid tbh.

 

[RedDevil@84]

One of the best finishers I was lucky to see. The shots were decisive, very very quick.

 

[Kag]

One of my all time favourite footballers. His finishing was just incredible.

 

[Bicks]

Pace. Power. Precision.

 

[M Bison]

Absolute different class, his finishing and his hold up play were unrivalled.

However, I thought the time was right for him to go when he did. We needed more pace up front and SAF was right to move him on.

 

[devilish]

The best finisher United had throughout SAF's administration. If we had him instead of Cole, SAF would have walked out with 3-4 CLs

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Loved Ruud, the last great pure finisher to play for United. Shame how it ended but I think it worked out well for both parties in the end.

 

[RuudTom83]

Yeah, i loved the man!

 

[Lostie007]

He had finesse to his shooting which is very underrated these days, knowing where to shoot and didn't have to leather the ball with as much power to get the result he wanted.

Footballers these days try to hit the ball too hard, Ruud was savvy. He also invented the offside trick where you stand offside until the ball is played and quickly come back on-side.. even Ronaldo has copied it because Ruud was the greatest in terms of his mind for football, he knew everything the best student of the game I've ever seen.

 

[KM]

He and Roy Keane were my first United heroes. Scored a shitload of goals in Ferguson's worst United team. What a player though!

 

[Lostie007]

Like Jose, you could listen to his speak all day.. these guys have such wonderful insight into the mind of football, the way it works, the romance, history, the way to play.. I love Ruud.

I wish Jose got him here as assistant, I think they would make a great team.. great deep thinkers about the game always looking for that edge/advantage.

 

[2cents]

2. Lack of goals in big games. He always did brilliantly in Europe, but apart from that amazing goal at Highbury in 03, he barely scored a single goal against the big domestic rivals. In fact his role against Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea (United's three biggest rivals during the period) is two goals from open play in 30 matches.

Interesting stat. Probably due to his European record I've always thought of him as a big-game player, but apparently not.

I think Fergie tended to build his teams around a talismanic individual- Cantona (92-97), Keane (97-02), Van Nistelrooy (02-06), Ronaldo (06-09), Rooney (09-12) and Van Persie (12/13). Of these, Ruud's period was the least successful, followed by Rooney's. Easy to see why Fergie ditched one and was about to ditch the other.

 

[Sparky10Legend]

Dont think this is his fault but we were so much more exciting with Saha up front.

The RvN v Henry comparisons at the time were laughable if we are honest.

Top player, but limited imo. Very rarely scored "outta nothing", which as we were very average at the time was a big miss.

 

[kouroux]

Interesting stat. Probably due to his European record I've always thought of him as a big-game player, but apparently not.

I think Fergie tended to build his teams around a talismanic individual- Cantona (92-97), Keane (97-02), Van Nistelrooy (02-06), Ronaldo (06-09), Rooney (09-12) and Van Persie (12/13). Of these, Ruud's period was the least successful, followed by Rooney's. Easy to see why Fergie ditched one and was about to ditch the other.

Both cases had nothing with decreased success. They just fell out with the manager for varying reasons.

 

[united_99]

Oh Ruud

Absolutely loved him from his first to the very last United days. My favourite United striker. He was a joy to watch. Loved his ability, confidence and arrogance. Also loved how our biggest rivals back then and their manager Wenger disliked him so much.

Both his PL and CL goal scoring record were amazing and that mostly at a time when we weren't even that good / a bit in transition.

Also loved how he one day just decided to call SAF and apologise for misbehaving before his departure and told him what a great time he had at United.

 

[Reynoldo]

Love the guy, met him once actually. I was working in a poster shop in San Francisco during the summer of the 2002 world cup. Looked up from behind the counter to see Ruud standing there and me serving him wearing a United shirt. I was literally speechless, he just smiled and said nice jersey

 

[Yagami]

Love him. Having him as our striker and Scholes as our #10, with Giggs, Beckham and G.Neville delivering balls into the box with these two lurking was amazing. One of, if not the main reason why the 02/03 season is one of my favourites ever.

 

[rollingstoned1]

Dont think this is his fault but we were so much more exciting with Saha up front.

The RvN v Henry comparisons at the time were laughable if we are honest.

Top player, but limited imo. Very rarely scored "outta nothing", which as we were very average at the time was a big miss.

Agree with this, as much as we indulged in those comparisons RVN was never anywhere near as good as Henry. He scored goals but lacked skill and I didn't like the way he left the club, something that has been cleared up in SAF's autobiography.

 

[Lostie007]

Love him. Having him as our striker and Scholes as our #10, with Giggs, Beckham and G.Neville delivering balls into the box with these two lurking was amazing. One of, if not the main reason why the 02/03 season is one of my favourites ever.

Becks and Ruud had a telepathic understanding. If you watch Ruud's goals you will see how brilliant Becks was and how underrated he is even by United fans. He could put a cross on a six-pence and when you have the ability feck pace, power and skill.. it's all about finesse and accuracy something which both Ruud and Beck's was smart enough to master.

When we signed Ronaldo who couldn't cross to save his life that is when Ruud suffered and you can't blame him I felt sorry for him.. Ronaldo was very selfish and irritating when he first joined something which is glossed over by United fans.. he didn't deliver early quick balls like Ruud needed as he wasn't the quickest. Don't blame Ruud if he chinned him one..

 

[acnumber9]

Dont think this is his fault but we were so much more exciting with Saha up front.

The RvN v Henry comparisons at the time were laughable if we are honest.

Top player, but limited imo. Very rarely scored "outta nothing", which as we were very average at the time was a big miss.

And yet he somehow scored 150 goals in that 'average' team. Something doesn't add up there.

 

[Yagami]

Becks and Ruud had a telepathic understanding. If you watch Ruud's goals you will see how brilliant Becks was and how underrated he is even by United fans. He could put a cross on a six-pence and when you have the ability feck pace, power and skill.. it's all about finesse and accuracy something which both Ruud and Beck's was smart enough to master.

When we signed Ronaldo who couldn't cross to save his life that is when Ruud suffered and you can't blame him.. Ronaldo was very selfish and irritating when he first joined.. he didn't deliver early quick balls like Ruud needed as he wasn't the quickest.

Completely agree. Becks is my favourite player and I loved him in that season delivering balls on a plate to Ruud and Scholes. I was gutted when he was dropped for Madrid, but still, that game was brilliant nonetheless.

 

[Sparky10Legend]

And yet he somehow scored 150 goals in that 'average' team. Something doesn't add up there.

Its a fact we were poor in that period, and i never said he wasnt a great goalscorer, just not a great player.

Lacked pace, so our style of play suffered as a result.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

1. His movement. A lot of United's other strikers of recent times (Yorke, Cole, Saha, Tevez etc) offered much better movement than RVN, who could be quite static.

Expand on that? Because I think it's an insane comment.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Dont think this is his fault but we were so much more exciting with Saha up front.

The RvN v Henry comparisons at the time were laughable if we are honest.

Top player, but limited imo. Very rarely scored "outta nothing", which as we were very average at the time was a big miss.

Agree with this, as much as we indulged in those comparisons RVN was never anywhere near as good as Henry. He scored goals but lacked skill and I didn't like the way he left the club, something that has been cleared up in SAF's autobiography.

I actually think he had a lot more skill than he was given credit for, and scored plenty of 'out of nothing' goals. Think of the goal against Fulham, Arsenal in 03, Basel away...

But yeah there was no comparison between him and Henry. Henry is one of the best forwards of all time and his record against United (eight goals in 21 league and cup games) is better than RVP's against Arsenal (two goals in 12 games, one of which was a penalty).

 

[Sparky10Legend]

I actually think he had a lot more skill than he was given credit for, and scored plenty of 'out of nothing' goals. Think of the goal against Fulham, Arsenal in 03, Basel away...

But yeah there was no comparison between him and Henry. Henry is one of the best forwards of all time and his record against United (eight goals in 21 league and cup games) is better than RVP's against Arsenal (two goals in 12 games, one of which was a penalty).

Exception rather than the rule though and im sure you would agree. Wasnt the stat that he never scored outside the box for us?

As i say, top goalscorer, but for my money id have Andy Cole over him every day of the week because RvN didnt stretch defenders , creating space for others to exploit etc.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Expand on that? Because I think it's an insane comment.

Yorke and Cole were renowned for their movement and their one-twos were one of the highlights of the 98-99 season.

Louis Saha and Carlos Tevez played up front in 06-07 and 07-08 respectively. These two seasons witnessed some of the best attacking football in United's recent history. Like Yorke and Cole, Saha and Tevez was widely revered for their off-the-ball movement and ability to stretch defences.

But some random bloke on the internet thinks it's insane, so I guess I'm wrong.

 

[acnumber9]

Its a fact we were poor in that period, and i never said he wasnt a great goalscorer, just not a great player.

Lacked pace, so our style of play suffered as a result.

We were never average. You can't have a striker playing in an average team scoring that amount of goals and claiming that he couldn't get you a goal out of nothing.

 

[Sparky10Legend]

We were never average. You can't have a striker playing in an average team scoring that amount of goals and claiming that he couldn't get you a goal out of nothing.

He was a predator, we won 1 title in his time with us which at the time was a ,relatively, lean period hence the use of the word "average"

Goal outta nothing ,for my 2p, is like Rashfords v City last season. THAT kind of goal.

 

[acnumber9]

Yorke and Cole were renowned for their movement and their one-twos were one of the highlights of the 98-99 season.

Louis Saha and Carlos Tevez played up front in 06-07 and 07-08 respectively. These two seasons witnessed some of the best attacking football in United's recent history. Like Yorke and Cole, Saha and Tevez was widely revered for their off-the-ball movement and ability to stretch defences.

But some random bloke on the internet thinks it's insane, so I guess I'm wrong.

You think that may have been more to do with Ronaldo? Saha started less than half of our Premier League games. The way he's talked about on this forum is bonkers.