Ruud van Nistelrooy set to join Leicester City as Tactics was compared to Enzo Maresca after deal was set to be finalized
The former Manchester United striker and ex-PSV Eindhoven manager is a new name to be linked with the hotseat at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium
Former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is the latest name to emerge in connection with the Leicester City hotseat.
The Dutchman has been out of work since leaving PSV Eindhoven a year ago but is said to be under consideration for City as they look to find a suitable successor for Chelsea-bound Enzo Maresca. Van Nistelrooy is at short odds to be named his successor.
Most know him best as the supreme goal-getter who led the line at Old Trafford for five years, and so may not be aware of his record in the dugout. Here, we run down his managerial credentials, his tactics, what players have said about him, and more.
What’s his track record?
Like 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, but 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 on the right flank, and the Belgian has gone from strength to strength since, and could be a player to watch at the Euros this summer.
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. But that had to be adapted midway through the season.
In the first half of the campaign, a full-back would tuck inside, as happens 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.
