Why Ruud van Nistelrooy can save Leicester after wowing Man United’s players

Ask Manchester United about Ruud van Nistelrooy, the coach, and the messages of support quickly pour in.

“He's obsessed,” says a source. Another shared how impressed they were with the way he empowered those around him.

'Ruud is an excellent coach. You can see he is addicted to football,” said Harry Maguire, who will no doubt be quizzed this week by friends at former club Leicester earlier this season.

'He likes to analyze the game. I am very impressed by his ideas.'

Tongues were wagging back in his homeland when he turned down job offers to become No.1 at clubs such as Burnley and become one of Erik ten Hag's assistants at Manchester United.

Initially, it was a move that was greeted with some skepticism at home. Van Nistelrooy was out of work for more than twelve months after quitting his job as PSV boss under a cloud.

The 48-year-old's reign at the Philips Stadium has been overshadowed by rumors of private disputes with his players, many of whom raised concerns about his coaching abilities. Some thought he was stubborn and unwilling to change his approach.

It was a steep learning curve. Open to new ideas, Van Nistelrooy contacted his former coach Marco van Basten for advice before stepping in as interim head coach at Old Trafford when Ten Hag was given the boot.

Van Nistelrooy revived a United group, winning three of his four games – including two wins over his new club – and drawing the other, after Ten Hag's time ended with a run of one win in eight.

He worked closely with Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes, both of whom shone in his short period.

“He wants to bring joy to the players. He brought everyone to the games with a smile, he just wanted us to enjoy it,” said Fernandes, who scored four goals in four games under Van Nistelrooy after failing to score under Ten Hag this season.

Goalkeeper Andre Onana and Matthjis de Ligt gave similar praise. Casemiro wrote him a gushing farewell, despite saying nothing for Ten Hag. They all desperately wanted him to stay.

What won't be lost on Van Nistelrooy is that he walks into a notoriously troubled Leicester dressing room that caused problems for Brendan Rodgers, Steve Cooper and Enzo Maresca.

That should be the most important thing for Van Nistelrooy, although the Leicester selection also needs to look in the mirror. They may never have adopted Cooper's methods, but if they think they can play Pep Guardiola-lite football in the Premier League as they did in the Championship under Enzo Maresca, they are foolish.

Just look at Burnley, who tried to do the same under Vincent Kompany and are now back in the second tier.

Because Leicester were promoted, Maresca's tenure has been rewritten into a schmaltzy love story that ended with the Italian joining Chelsea, leaving heartbroken players behind. Don't believe it.

Although the side largely backed Maresca, there were clear rumblings of his tactical inflexibility last spring as Leicester's 12-point lead at the top fell to one. Some players expressed frustration to executives that Maresca did not have a Plan B.

By the end of his reign, they had also had enough of Brendan Rodgers, even though the 2021 FA Cup-winning manager is one of the most successful bosses in the club's history. There is a common denominator here, and it is not the managers.

If Van Nistelrooy wants to have a chance of keeping Leicester afloat, he must figure out who he can trust both on and off the pitch and create a cohesive, solid unit. Throw away those who are not ready for battle.

Otherwise they will all be back in the championship and he will probably look for another job.

Van Nistelrooy suffers no such fools and has won plaudits for his work with loanees Jarrad Branthwaite and Noni Madueke at PSV, and for playing a key role in improving Son Heung-min's finishing when both were together in Hamburg.

He is particularly interested in motivational videos. Before his first game as interim at United – against Leicester in the Carabao Cup – he showed the United squad a motivational video centered around the chant 'we've seen it all, we've won a lot'.

Despite his hugely successful career as a striker at United and Real Madrid, defensive structure is also a big part of Van Nistelrooy's coaching.

With Ten Hag still in position, Van Nistelrooy would take the lead on most secondary exercises. He also created his own drills, and some of the most popular with players focused on playing from the back.

Leicester have kept one clean sheet in their last eight games in all competitions so a manager 'obsessed with defensive structure' certainly won't do any harm.

United became a thirteenth team in the Premier League to have lost the joy of playing football – something he managed to regain in four games.

This isn't Manchester United, it's not PSV, but it's the highest stakes with risks on both his and Leicester's sides.

At least he has Jamie Vardy. Vardy is a naturally feisty character, but Van Nistelrooy will have immediate respect as a Premier League colleague. Nine years ago, the Englishman even broke the Dutchman's Premier League record by scoring in an eleventh match in a row, in a 1-1. 1 draw against United.

Both wrote their own chapters in the story of English football. Now they have to write another one, this time together.