Ruud van Nistelrooy yet to speak with Ruben Amorim about Manchester United future

How about Ruud van Nistelrooy as ‘Player Mentor’?

In many realms of professional development, there are mechanisms to assist a young professional to maintain perspective, remain focussed on the right things and solve problems without the daunting prospect of airing doubts and misgivings to line management (such as one’s immediate supervisor). These mechanisms are valuable, especially to optimise personal development and assist growth of a positive organisational culture because they allow an outlet (that the person knows won’t be held against them) while often reducing the potential for conflict.

We generally call this ‘mentoring’; a concept as equally applicable to football as any other endeavour, in my opinion.

Whilst team mates might offer an outlet, a fellow teenager or 20-something may not have the experience or maturity to offer the best advice. And while the manager/coaching staff has an important place in offering advice, it’s not uncommon for a young professonal to want to seek an opinion where they can talk more freely to someone with extensive experience of similar circumstances. I don’t see football as being any different.

It’s probably not surprising that the highest performing teams have the kind of strong, positive culture that allows honest feedback – one that incorporates lessons learned at all levels and allows adaptation as it progresses. The challenge in organisational leadership and management is in continuing to deliver required outcomes, efficiently using resources and maintaining high levels of individual and team motivation and performance while that occurs. The challenge for the individual is to tailor their feedback toward improvement, development and performance without damaging team cohesion and morale.

Nevetheless, even a high performing team, with close and effective leadership and management, will still likely have imperfections. Mentoring can still offer significant value.

The role of mentor is a tricky one. It must be outside of line management (the immediate chain of command) and the further away the better. However, a mentor still needs to have much overlapping experience and be close enough to understand the mentoree’s cicumstances. The mentor must also maintain strict confidentiality.

When I look at Man Utd, and ponder the question of mentoring, Ruud van Nistelrooy stands out as an excellent candidate for the role of player mentor. Not only does he have recent management experience, now at two clubs, but he is a Man Utd icon with crediblity in spades. His love for the club is beyond question and he has an affinity for the players (apparent, at least, through the lens of television and sports journalism).

So why not use this valuable resource? Put in place the management arrangements that will protect Ruben Amorim’s authority as head coach, and the authority of other coaches across the club, while RvN stays on in a distinct and separate role as player mentor across the first team, youth teams and academy. This might mean that RvN would report to the CEO, Omar Berrada, rather than to Dan Ashworth. It would, of course, be critical that the mentor not undermine the head coach’s methods; a mentor’s advice needs to be finely calibrated to support professional development and gaining perspective while not seeking to interfere with the day-to-day running of any team.

It’s a thought but one which I hope that Man Utd will consider when determining how to best use the incredibly valuable resources they have.

And apologies for the essay-length comment.