Fergie ends TV ban to defend Ruud

Here in Stuttgart yesterday afternoon, Ferguson re-affirmed a desire to win the European Cup for a second time, and with Van Nistelrooy, 27, in his side he clearly believes such an achievement is within reach.

Kevin Kuranyi is the Stuttgart striker Rudi Voller, the Germany boss, has described as his nation's answer to Van Nistelrooy, but, when asked to make his own comparisons, Ferguson sided with the man who scored a record 12 goals in the Champions League last season. 'I saw Germany's game against Scotland (when Kuranyi scored) and I thought the Germans were very lucky,' Ferguson said wryly.

Quite how the victim became the accused in the wake of that Arsenal game is something that must puzzle Van Nistelrooy as much as it does those who recognise the obvious distinction between assault and someone who flinches at the sight of a boot travelling in the direction of his groin. Van Nistelrooy's reaction to Patrick Vieira's petulant swing of the leg was a touch theatrical and a vague history of histrionics does attract suspicion, but in the company of Arsenal's diving masterclass he is no Greg Louganis. That he then remained calm when attacked from all angles by four members of the 'Highbury six' was a measure of his maturity.

If Van Nistelrooy is guilty of anything, then perhaps it is a failure to sometimes control the same competitive spirit that enabled him to recover from a careerthreatening knee injury to become one of the finest strikers in Europe. Far more serious than any crime he committed 10 days ago were the challenges he executed against Lauren and Martin Keown in the FA Cup last February.

Van Nistelrooy has a desire to match that deadly eye for a goal, and a strength which saw him emerge as the Premiership's outstanding forward at a time, last season, when Thierry Henry started to falter. Given the choice between the strikers, most managers would still favour Van Nistelrooy. Against a Stuttgart side who lost to Rangers a fortnight ago but who have not yet conceded a goal in the Bundesliga, Van Nistelrooy's talents will be put to the test. 'This game is another chance to show what I can do,' said Van Nistelrooy, who dedicated his hat-trick against Leicester last weekend to the team-mates who lifted his spirits after the Arsenal game.

Only on the international stage has Van Nistelrooy disappointed, his blood reaching boiling point when coach Dick Advocaat took him off during Holland's recent defeat against the Czech Republic. The tantrum that followed stunned some observers - and has led to Van Nistelrooy being left out of the final qualifier against Moldova on October 11, - but what was perhaps forgotten was that he apologised in private to Advocaat and in public to the Press.

'Ruud hasn't changed,' said one prominent Dutch football writer yesterday. 'He has been frustrated with his form for Holland but he is still polite and courteous. He lives a normal life in a normal apartment in Manchester, and he doesn't have five cars or anything like that. He's always been an aggressive player but, even when he was at PSV, we never thought of him as a diver or a cheat.'

There was just one occasion when the relatively unknown American defender, Gregg Berhalter, accused Van Nistelrooy of such tactics after a game between PSV and Cambuur Leeuwarden, but television replays favoured Van Nistelrooy.

Berhalter was wheeled out again last week but the chance of him running into Ferguson in the not-too-distant future would appear fairly remote. Judging by the fervent mood of United's manager yesterday, it is probably just as well.