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...

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