Jaap Stam has said that he would be willing to help out Manchester United in any way he can if called upon.
The former defender enjoyed a hugely successful three years at United and was a vital member of the Treble team in 1999. Stam has remained a favourite amongst United fans since his departure in 2001.
Since retiring in 2007, Stam has entered the world of management and coaching with various degrees of success but is currently out of work after leaving FC Cincinnati in 2021. The Dutchman mentioned in the summer that he would jump at the chance to join United's coaching staff if he ever got the call.
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While that call didn't come after Erik ten Hag was hired as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's permanent successor, Stam has revealed he remains willing to help the club in any capacity if they need him.
"I've never spoken to United - nobody phoned me about anything," he told Bet365. "But that's also how it goes in football you know. When a new manager comes in, he's taking his own people with him, that he knows and that can give him confidence, and that might help him out in certain ways.
"But like I said before, United is a club that I love, I've grown there as an individual, as a player it made me stronger, it made me what I am now in career. I made history with that club, which is very positive, so if they need me, or if I can help them out in anyway, I'm always willing to do so."
Stam has been keeping a close eye on United so far this season and also identified what Ten Hag has done to turn things around after an awful start. "They changed their setup. Instead of using the one holding defender, they now use two with McTominay and Eriksen playing next to each other, and Bruno as a Number 10, which is very important for when they lose the ball, but also when they go into a block, defensively having two players to shield you works better.
"The work rate of the team is better than before and you can see players running back, tracking back and they're very compact now. You can see that the opposition find it very difficult to pass through the lines to create opportunities. Arsenal did it a couple of times, but in the end, they didn't manage to make the final pass to score.
"So, in general the team are doing quite well defensively, but there will always be teams who have the quality to play through it. Sometimes it will go wrong, but that's part and parcel of being a manager and planning for it."
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