The sight of Martin Keown bearing down on Ruud van Nistelrooy after the latter had missed a penalty in the last minute of the Man United vs Arsenal ‘battle of Old Trafford’ in 2003 is the abiding image of that game, and the Gunners former centre-back runs the risk of opening a can of worms with the Dutchman after his latest comments, directed at Erik ten Hag and, indirectly, to van Nistelrooy himself.
The former Red Devils striker joined ten Hag’s backroom staff this season in the hope that his presence would help spark an underperforming United side back into life.
Not only has van Nistelrooy not done that, but he’s been extremely passive on the touchline during games, something that Keown was keen to pick up on during an appearance on talkSPORT.
Arsenal legend Martin Keown could reignite van Nistelrooy feud
“I’m looking at Van Nistelrooy. Is he giving everything to this manager? This manager looks very lonely on the sideline,” he said on the White and Jordan Show.
“Is van Nistelrooy waiting to take over? Because it looks as if there’s going to be change taking place there.
“Is everyone adding to the group? I’m not seeing that from van Nistelrooy. Ten Hag is just sitting there, nothing going on, no conversation. Pep goes back and speaks to the gurus next to him.”
After another awful United performance, this time against Tottenham Hotspur, CaughtOffside columnist, Fabrizio Romano, noted in his exclusive Daily Briefing how important the next two games were for ten Hag.
Clearly, the players have to step up for their manager, and one of their summer signings was slammed for his performance at the weekend by Jamie Carragher.
Porto are up next in the Europa League, before a crucial Premier League date away against Aston Villa.
Both games are likely to present United with problems, and it will be a miracle if ten Hag is still in a job after the international break if his side haven’t at least shown a marked improvement on the past few games.