Martin Keown makes Ruud van Nistelrooy vow as Arsenal icon sends Man Utd foe message

Martin Keown could send long-term foe Ruud van Nistelrooy a gift to mark his first victory as Manchester United's interim boss following the sacking of Erik ten Hag

Martin Keown vowed to send Ruud van Nistelrooy a gift after his old rival made a winning start as Manchester United ’s interim boss.

Following Erik ten Hag’s sacking on Monday, Van Nistelrooy has been placed in temporary charge of the team, with Ruben Amorim poised to take the helm next month. The goalscoring legend lifted the air of gloom at Old Trafford as United romped to a 5-2 victory over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup.

After the match, Keown, who regularly did battle on the pitch with Van Nistelrooy, took to X to congratulate the Dutchman, as well as getting in a shameless plug for his new autobiography. The former Arsenal defender posted: "Nice to see Ruud jumping around for a change [winking emoji].

“Think I’ll send him my book to congratulate him. It’s released tomorrow.” Keown ended the post with a link to how to buy the book, titled On The Edge.

The pair most famously clashed at Old Trafford in 2003, back when United and the Gunners were the Premier League 's top two sides. After Van Nistelrooy hit the bar with a late penalty he had contentiously won, Keown taunted him by screaming in the striker’s face as an ill-tempered match ended 0-0.

Patrick Vieira had earlier been sent off for ‘kicking out’ at Van Nistelrooy, despite making no contact. Keown has taken several swipes at Van Nistelrooy over the years, recently accusing him of not showing enough support for the beleaguered Ten Hag.

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Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “I’m looking at Van Nistelrooy. Is he giving everything to this manager? This manager looks very lonely on the sideline.

“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 [Guardiola] goes back and speaks to the gurus next to him. Is everybody looking in the mirror at themselves giving their best? It doesn’t look like the players are committed, it doesn’t look like the staff are particularly committed. It’s a lone man in the dugout.”

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