Ruud van Nistelrooy got his reign as Leicester City manager off to a great start with a much-needed victory over West Ham United, restoring some faith and confidence among his players and the supporters.
With just one season at PSV Eindhoven and four games as caretaker manager at Manchester United, Leicester fans, who had booed their own players off the pitch after a dismal display at Brentford four days before, were wondering what changes Van Nistelrooy would make.
Even though he had just two days to work with his new squad to prepare, there were some big decisions made by Van Nistelrooy and the result was a 3-1 victory that leaves Leicester 15th in the Premier League table and four points clear of the relegation zone. This is what he did.
Dropping Faes, starting El Khannouss and Buonanotte
Wout Faes had played every minute of every league game under Steve Cooper and then caretaker boss Ben Dawson, but the first big decision Van Nistelrooy took was to drop the Belgium international to the substitutes’ bench.
Faes had been struggling for form this season under Cooper and had made two key errors in games that had led directly to goals conceded but this was the first time he had not started a league game for 13 months.
Both Cooper and his predecessor Enzo Maresca had been reluctant to team the duo of Jannik Vestergaard and Conor Coady together in a back four, concerned about their lack of pace.
They had only been paired together six times last season in the Championship, but what they lacked in athleticism, the duo make up for in experience and in Coady’s case the organisational skills and leadership that had been so glaringly missing.
Coady demonstrated his ability to smell danger by getting back on the goalline behind keeper Mads Hermansen to make a vital stop to deny Crysencio Summerville after Bilal El Khannouss had put Leicester 2-0 ahead. The one caveat on the performance is that Leicester still allowed West Ham 31 shots and an xG of 3.14.
Van Nistelrooy also chose to pair the squad’s two most creative players, El Khannouss and Facundo Buonanotte, together as the two high number tens. Cooper had preferred to play one or the other behind Jamie Vardy, but Van Nistelrooy was bold in his approach.
“Bilal had a great performance” Van Nistelrooy said. “He started on the left and came inside when we had the ball, and linked up with Victor, and played Jamie in for the first half.
“In the second half he played as a central ten with Facundo off the right coming inside. That he joined the break and got a good near post finish.
“That characteristic of winning the duels from a defensive block and getting our players from deep runs and creating chances – we did that well today.”
Tactical promise realised and Vardy scores under tenth manager
Van Nistelrooy made no secret of how he would set up his side, stating confidently in his first press conference they would adopt a 4-4-2 out of possession and move to a 3-2-2-3, with a box of four in central midfield when they had the ball.
He said they would try to adopt an aggressive press which would require energy and fitness, and he was absolutely true to his word.
The actual shape of the formation was the same as previously under Maresca and Cooper, with left-back Victor Kristiansen proving the attacking width down the left, as he had under Cooper, but there was certainly more energy and focus about Leicester’s play.
Defensively, Leicester tried to be aggressive and press high, but when the press wasn’t on they dropped into a mid-block, although Van Nistelrooy felt they dropped too deep in the first half and they were higher in the second period.
El Khannouss and Buonanotte sometimes moved into the same spaces and got in each other’s way, but as the game progressed their understanding began to grow.
El Khannouss improved his understanding with Buonanotte as the game progressed (Photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
With 23-year-old Kasey McAteer also included, there was plenty of youthful energy and endeavour in attack, and plenty of pace on the counter attack, which substitute Patson Daka added to, but there was still the ever-green Jamie Vardy adopting a familiar role of playing on the shoulder of the last defender rather than dropping deep to link play. Those trademark runs in behind brought him the opening goal and nearly a second.
Vardy has now scored for Leicester under 10 different managers: Nigel Pearson, Claudio Ranieri, Craig Shakespeare, Claude Puel, Mike Stowell/Adam Sadler (caretakers), Brendan Rodgers, Dean Smith, Enzo Maresca, Steve Cooper and Van Nistelrooy, even scoring the first goal under six of them.
“The defensive shape is important and to get pressure on the opponent,” he said.
“The timing of the press with two or three is quite difficult, and it needs time and coordination to get that right. We did it a couple of times, when we won the duels and played forward, but many times we missed the moment to press and got pushed back too far, and let them into our box quite often.”
Timely substitutions
One criticism of Cooper from some in the fanbase was that he left his substitutions very late in games and often they had a detrimental impact, such as at Crystal Palace when a 2-0 lead slipped away in the second half.
However, Van Nistelrooy made a double change on the hour, replacing Vestergaard and Vardy with Faes and Daka. A minute later Leicester scored the second. Coincidence? Maybe, but the pace of Daka added another dimension to Leicester’s attack, scoring the third.
Then it was El Khannouss and McAteer, who had both put in a huge shift, who were replaced on 74 minutes by DeCordova-Reid and Stephy Mavididi, and DeCordova-Reid was unlucky to see his goal chalked off for an off-side earlier in the move.
Touchline presence and celebratory beer
There is no question there is an aura about Van Nistelrooy that has given the players and the supporters a boost.
He even dressed as if he meant business, with a long black wool coat over a dark blue gilet. He was calm in the technical area throughout the game, occasionally giving instructions by pointing where his players should pass or press, and calming them down when they were under pressure themselves.
He would discuss the game with first team coach Ben Dawson and his new assistant and goalkeeper coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar, who worked at Manchester United, on a regular basis too.
He didn’t challenge any decisions made by the officials, only showing his alarm at a tackle by Vladmir Coufal on Vardy near the touchline.
He came out at the start and left the pitch at the end to a long chant of ‘Ruuuuud!’ which can sound like a boo but was the same chant granted to Christian Fuchs and Roberth Huth, two fan favourites.
At the end he strolled out onto the pitch to salute the fans and said afterwards that following a whirlwind first three days at the club he was going to enjoy a beer and reflect.
He has certainly deserved it.
(Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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