Incoming Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is “obsessed” with defensive structure, the club’s former captain Jonny Evans has said.
Van Nistelrooy is set to become the new City boss and one of the tasks he will immediately face is to tighten the team up at the back. They’ve conceded the third-highest number of goals so far this season and only kept one clean sheet.
But while Van Nistelrooy was all about goals when he was a player, and with his PSV team renowned for their attacking play rather than their defensive strength, Evans says organising a back-line is the Dutchman’s big focus. Indeed, the one team to stop City scoring in the Premier League this season was Van Nistelrooy’s United, albeit that was perhaps as much to do with their own poor attacking quality as the Red Devils’ solidity.
Speaking to FourFourTwo in September after a couple of months working with Van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford, Evans said: “He was a deadly striker and for him to pass on his knowledge straight away meant he had everyone’s respect immediately. Joining United is a great move for him and for the club.
“He seems very open and wants to improve people. You can see that he’s early enough in his career that he’s hungry to do well and pass on his abundance of knowledge. He’s quite obsessed with defensive structure.”
Van Nistelrooy’s standing in the game should earn him plenty of respect from the City players. The squad were always impressed by Enzo Maresca’s commitment and addiction to the game, and that’s something Van Nistelrooy shares, Harry Maguire believes.
The former City defender said: “Ruud is an excellent coach. You can tell that he’s addicted to football. He loves analysing the game. I’ve been really impressed by his ideas.”
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