Ruud van Nistelrooy could side with Enzo Maresca if forced to choose between Jakub Stolarczyk and Danny Ward against Wolves this weekend.
With first-choice goalkeeper Mads Hermansen potentially out with a groin injury he sustained at Newcastle, Leicester City may need a new man between the sticks. Ward was substituted on at St James’ Park, but Stolarczyk made a timely return from a long injury absence earlier this week, playing 90 minutes for the Under-21s.
Under Maresca last season, Stolarczyk was preferred to Ward as Hermansen’s deputy. The Pole showed he’s very adept with his hands, but Maresca’s focus was on how he played with his feet. While not in Hermansen’s league, Stolarczyk was confident enough on the ball to win favour with the Italian and was preferred to the more experienced Ward.
In van Nistelrooy’s first few matches, there have been signs that he is taking the same approach as Maresca. Against West Ham and Brighton, Hermansen had more touches and attempted more passes than he did in any game under Steve Cooper.
As under Maresca, van Nistelrooy plans to use him as an outlet to beat the opposition press and build City attacks. And so, van Nistelrooy may also follow Maresca’s lead and, provided Stolarczyk is now considered fit for first-team absence, bring in the 23-year-old to start against Wolves.
Speaking about his use of goalkeepers last week, van Nisterlooy said: “It’s important for us that we can outplay the high pressure of opponents. What we saw against West Ham was that we couldn’t get out of our own pressure and we couldn’t get out of our own half. That was a problem in that game.
“Against Brighton, we got out of the press and created moments for us with more possession, even more possession than Brighton. That was very positive, given Brighton’s characteristics.
“Mads is very good in doing that, making these decisions to play out of the press or when it’s impossible to do so, don’t take too many risks and go for the clever long option. He has the vision to make good decisions on that.”
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