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Ruud van Nistelrooy to Leicester City: Tactics compared to Steve Cooper and player comments
Ruud van Nistelrooy has emerged as the favourite to be Leicester City's next manager and take on the challenge of keeping the club in the Premier League.
It would be a brave move on City's part, with the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker's experience as a senior manager limited to one season in charge at PSV and four games in interim charge at Old Trafford. But in both of those jobs, he did pretty well. Here, we run down his managerial credentials, his tactics, what players have said about him, and more, to see how he might fare at City.
What’s his track record?
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Like Enzo Maresca, Van Nistelrooy spent much of the first few years of his coaching career as an assistant or in youth football, working at PSV or with his national team. His first big test was as head coach of Jong PSV, the reserve side to the Dutch giants, who play in the second division in the Netherlands.
Under Van Nistelrooy’s guidance, they finished 12th of 20 in the 2021-22 season. But working with a squad whose average age was under 20, Van Nistelrooy impressed the hierarchy enough to be selected to take the senior job at PSV from 2022 onwards.
In his first season in charge, Van Nistelrooy’s PSV finished second in Eredivisie to new Liverpool manager Arne Slot and his Feyenoord side, and they did go on to win the Dutch Cup, beating Ajax on penalties in the final. They also had the best attack in the league.
A week before the end of the campaign, Van Nistelrooy stepped down. In a statement put out by PSV, it was said that the former striker believed “there was not enough support within the club to continue longer”.
Van Nistelrooy has a good record of bringing through youth players as well. When Noni Madueke was sold to Chelsea, he gave Johan Bakayoko, a player he’d worked with for Jong PSV, a more prominent role on the right flank, and the Belgian has gone from strength to strength since.
How do his teams play?
PSV predominantly played in a 4-2-3-1 shape under Van Nistelrooy, but what is most interesting is that, in attack, that shape changed to a 3-2-4-1, which was how City lined up under Maresca and Steve Cooper. However, that had to be adapted midway through the season.
In the first half of the campaign, a full-back would tuck inside, as has happened with Ricardo Pereira at City. But when first-choice wingers Cody Gakpo and Madueke were sold to Liverpool and Chelsea in January 2023, Van Nistelrooy tinkered.
He then opted to play Xavi Simons on the left wing out of possession, but as an attacking midfielder in possession. The left-back, most regularly former City loanee Patrick van Aanholt, would then move forward to become a left-sided winger. The right-back would tuck in to form a back three. That is exactly how City played under Cooper, with Jordan Ayew or Facundo Buonanotte moving inside from the wing, and James Justin or Victor Kristiansen getting forward.
Both with Jong PSV in 21-22 and PSV in 22-23, Van Nistelrooy’s teams ranked fourth in their leagues for possession. There was an element of aggressive defending with plenty of tackles and interceptions won by PSV, especially given their average possession, but not a lot of those were in the attacking third, and were more likely to come in the centre of the park.
What have his players said about him?
Before Jarrad Branthwaite was impressing for Everton and earning call-ups to the England squad, he was on loan at Van Nistelrooy’s PSV. As an excellent striker, Van Nistelrooy knows how to make defenders better too.
Branthwaite said: “As a striker Ruud knew what defenders didn't like so he was always giving me little tips, about body positions and how to defend against different kinds of strikers, which helped me massively. The whole experience matured me as a player, as a man as well and I came back a much better player than I had been 12 months previously."
Of course, he can coach finishing too, having scored 349 goals in 592 club matches across his career. Madueke said shortly after joining Chelsea: “Ruud van Nistelrooy helped me out a lot, obviously in front of goal.
“He's a great player and a great coach as well and a great person. If you went and spoke to him right now, you would not feel like you're speaking to the legend Ruud van Nistelrooy, you'd just feel like you're speaking to Ruud the man.”
He made a big impression in his short stint at United too. It seemed all of the players were keen for Van Nistelrooy to remain as part of Ruben Amorim's staff.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana said: "He is a very good guy and a very good coach. He has so much experience and he has done amazing since he has been here. We've had him for a few days as a head coach and the players are happy."
Why did he leave PSV and what does he want?
Late into the season, there were reports that Van Nistelrooy had a strained relationship with his two assistants Fred Rutten and Andre Ooijer, something the manager denied. There was also said to be tension with players, with senior members of the squad speaking to the club about it. This led to a club meeting with Van Nistelrooy, after which he stepped down.
A club statement said that “after several discussions about internal affairs that have taken place in recent weeks… Van Nistelrooy reported this morning that in his opinion there was not enough support within the club to continue longer. He immediately explained this to the players and staff.”
Van Nistelrooy then spent a year out of work, but always hoping to return to the dugout. He said in the summer: “I would really like to work in Spain and I have had conversations with Spanish clubs. But also the other leagues in which I have played, I want to coach there too. In the Premier League and the Bundesliga.”
He then got a gig as part of Erik ten Hag's coaching staff. After his sacking, Van Nistelrooy stepped up to be interim boss, and was unbeaten in his four fixtures. He guided the team to two wins over City, 5-2 in the Carabao Cup and 3-0 in the Premier League, big scorelines that perhaps flattered United, even if they were the better side in both games. He also managed the Red Devils to a home draw with Chelsea and to a 2-0 victory over PAOK in the Europa League.
