Ruud van Nistelrooy has been announced as the new manager of Leicester City.
The Manchester United legend takes over from Steve Cooper, who was dismissed by Leicester last week following a poor string of results.
The Foxes find themselves with 10 points from their opening 12 Premier League games, and now face two crucial fixtures against Brentford and West Ham that proceed a very tough run of games.
Van Nistelrooy steps into the role having left his caretaker position at Man United, following the Red Devils’ appointment of Ruben Amorim.
Luckily, he’s already seen Leicester in action twice this season. As interim boss at United, he beat them in the Carabao Cup and Premier League. Both coming at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman faces a stern test to keep Leicester safe from relegation this season. The club may currently find itself outside of the bottom three, but there are clear issues that need addressing.
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Hit the ground running
Van Nistelrooy will be in the stands for Saturday’s trip to Brentford before the visits of West Ham and Wolves to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday and next Sunday, respectively.
All on paper are winnable, but any trip to the Gtech means goals this season – for and against. West Ham continue to be inconsistent and Wolves appear to have turned a corner after a difficult start to the season.
The Dutchman has a decent set of games to assess his squad and see who’s up for the battle. After four games without a win under Cooper, four to six points from the next three fixtures would be a fantastic start for Ruud.
Seek clarity from the board
Leicester successfully evaded a points deduction earlier this season for the club’s alleged PSR breaches, but questions remain over the long term financial situation.
Whether the Foxes are in threat of further potential breaches remains to be seen, the answer to which would go some way to clarifying if they can invest further during the January transfer window.
Leicester splashed a reported £70million on new players over the summer – bringing in the likes of Oliver Skipp and Bilal El Khannouss for significant fees.
As the current squad adjusts to the step up in quality and a mounting injury list, Van Nistelrooy getting assurances over available funds and existing transfer plans would be a huge boost.
January window
Van Nistelrooy has a month to assess his squad ahead of January. Before his departure, talkSPORT understood that Cooper wanted two new signings to improve his starting line-up.
Defensive reinforcements were believed to be the priorities, but the Dutchman may look at things in a different way. It remains to be seen whether Leicester have the finances to splash in January.
The summer window, in full hindsight, looks to have been a poor one, with no permanent signings making a significant impact, although Jordan Ayew’s role as ‘super sub’ is one of the brighter spots. He’s scored three times coming off the bench this season, including the winner at Southampton last month.
Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte – with his 3 goals and 2 assists – has been the player of the season so far. For Leicester’s sake, let’s hope he doesn’t pick up too many more yellow cards.
Repair the relationship with fans
Since Leicester’s relegation in 2023, tensions between the club and its fanbase have been on the rise.
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The summer appointment of Cooper – formerly manager of Leicester’s rivals Nottingham Forest – alongside a hike in ticket prices and additional fees for things like pre-season live streams and physical season tickets only added to the feelings of discontent.
The atmosphere inside the King Power Stadium for Cooper’s final game in charge, a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, was largely flat. Something that would have concerned Leicester’s chairman, Khun Top, who reportedly personally made the decision to relieve Cooper of his duties.
Cooper spoke well in press conferences and was broadly accepted by fans as a likeable character, but his inability to fix fundamental tactical issues and constant bemoaning of poor officiating wore thin with supporters.
Earn the players’ respect
It’s not just the fans who need convincing, either. The players’ opinions on Cooper were also believed to have had an impact on the decision to sack him, with a handful of the dressing room’s members left unconvinced by his coaching methods.
Van Nistelrooy would bring a new approach – one likely more focussed on a possession-based, front-footed philosophy – which is something many of Leicester’s players enjoyed about Enzo Maresca’s spell at the club, who led them to the Championship title last season.
Of course, playing an attacking, expansive game at Premier League level comes with risks for any newly promoted side, but with players like Harry Winks and Jannik Vestergaard, who’re far more comfortable in possession as opposed to out of it, Leicester have the players to give it a fair crack.
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Fix defensive frailties
Leicester, to put it bluntly, look poor at the back.
Too many errors. Too little quality. In the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United before the international break, they started with four defenders that were part of the squad relegated to the Championship last year.
Leicester have conceded 23 goals so far this season. Only Southampton and Wolves have let in more, with 24 and 28 conceded respectively.
Add to that the fact Leicester’s goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen, has arguably been their best player this season and it’s clear this is an area that needs sorting out.
Stemming the sheer volume of chances and shots at Leicester’s goal will be a big priority, especially those coming down their right-hand side, where many of the opposition’s opportunities have arisen from.
Cooper chopped and changed his centre-back partnership between Vestergaard, Wout Faes and Caleb Okoli, but settling on a consistent system and personnel will be critical to any potential success.
Make the academy a focus
Leicester have called Seagrave – the club’s state of the art training facility – home to their men’s team and academy for the last few years now.
It was a huge outlay for the club to build, and Leicester have begun to see the fruits of their labour, with many promising academy prospects starting to emerge including Will Alves, Ben Nelson and Sammy Braybrooke.
Homegrown talent is something every football club is proud of as it ties the team back to its local roots, and with Van Nistelrooy’s history of working in the youth ranks at PSV Eindhoven, developing Leicester’s burgeoning starlets should be high on his agenda.
That remit would become even more critical, too, should Leicester fail in their survival bid this season, given financial limitations would likely dictate that more academy players would need to step up into the first team.
