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Ruud van Nistelrooy reveals how Enzo Maresca influenced his Leicester City manager decision
Enzo Maresca helped sell Leicester City to Ruud van Nistelrooy with the new manager consulting his former team-mate before taking the job.
Maresca and Van Nistelrooy played together at Malaga over a decade ago and have remained in touch, with the club’s Championship-winning manager able to provide details on life at the King Power Stadium. He was the first person the Dutchman called when he heard of City interest and it made him excited to say yes to the club.
Van Nistelrooy has been appointed on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He will take charge of his first game on Tuesday, against West Ham, and will watch tomorrow’s clash with Brentford from the stands.
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“I’m proud, I’m excited,” he told the club. “Everybody that I speak to about Leicester City Football Club is enthusiastic, has great stories about the quality of the people working at the club, the supporters, also of course, the recent history of the club is impressive. I’m dead excited to start and to get to know everyone and give everything I can for the football club.
“I have to say, when the interest came, the first one I called was Enzo. He was so positive about it. He absolutely loved his time. When you hear these things, it’s a club you want to be a part of.
"Obviously, with the interest coming, I phoned him and I asked him more detailed questions about the club, the structures, the people that work there, the squad, the stadium, the fans, the town, the surroundings. It was a fantastic conversation. It’s always a pleasure to talk to him.”
That won’t be the only influence Maresca has. Van Nistelrooy said he was able to get an understanding of City in his two matches against them as Manchester United interim boss, and could see the patterns that were built into the side last season.
The 48-year-old believes many of the principles and structures he’s seen from the side fit with his work from PSV and United. In fact, during his year in charge in Eindhoven, the two set-ups used by Van Nistelrooy were those deployed by Maresca last season and Steve Cooper this season.
The new manager also feels he has a well-balanced squad to work with. That includes the “face of the club” Jamie Vardy.
Van Nistelrooy said: “A lot of principles and structures that I see, on the ball and off the ball, are structures that I use a lot myself as the PSV manager and at United. Not all of them, of course, but many of them.
“The way Leicester City played under Maresca, winning the Championship and going into the Premier League, I see also that line continuing in those structures and the idea of playing. I can plug into that. I relate to those structures and way of playing.
“Playing out from the back when we can, going forward in the attack and playing forward, and creating chances is, of course, the main goal when the opponent allows you to. Obviously, you have to see how the defensive structures are.
“I can plug in there and take some new ideas. But a good framework is there, and then it’s about getting better, going to the training pitch and improving altogether and translating it into points.
“Sometimes it will be against an opponent that is better, but you have to find a way to win any game. Sometimes you need to be more defensive and play on the counter-attack. Of course, when you have it, you play, and in other (games), you try to dominate and make the game yourself. We’ll approach every game with one idea – and that’s to win.
“I think the depth of the squad is very good as well. There are two players in every position of good quality. There’s young, emerging talents, with very experienced players.
“Obviously, the captain, Jamie Vardy, has the most experience and the character. He’s the face of the football club. As a former striker, I can’t wait to work together with him as well.
“Preparing those two games against Leicester, that’s where you get to study the opponent, and their qualities – and also where you can hurt them. Of course, that gave a broader picture of the squad and the team, and the behaviours of the players.
“After that, the interest was shown, and I started to look even further into the games and looking to improve. Where can we improve and where do we have to improve to stabilise, to start growing, to start collecting more points? That’s what I did, and I trust the squad that we can manage that.”
