Ruud van Nistelrooy praised Danny Ward for his handling of targeted boos from the Leicester City crowd and said he did not consider substituting the Welshman.
Ward, in the team with Mads Hermansen injured, was jeered by City fans after each of Wolves’ three first-half goals and then ironically cheered when he completed passes or collected loose balls in the second period. For van Nistelrooy it was “hard to see”.
Despite Ward’s difficult first half, in which he made poor attempts at saves for the first and third goals, and contributed to a moment of miscommunication for the second, van Nistelrooy did not consider making a change. He wanted to stand by the Welshman.
Asked about the boos towards his goalkeeper, van Nistelrooy said: “It doesn’t make it easier for him and for the team. We all understand disappointment from the crowd but it shouldn’t go to one player.
“Booing and being disappointed with a result, I think it’s a right of a supporter to show your emotions. We all do that. But when it goes to one person, that is hard to see for me personally.
“I think he kept his composure very well over the course of the game. It’s not easy when something happens like that, when you catch a ball and people start cheering, and boo you, when it gets personal like that. I think he handled it very well.
“He’s the first one to look in the mirror. They all want to do well and perform and do their best for the club. When it doesn’t work out, it’s good to stick together as a squad and as a club.
Asked if he considered a substitution, the manager added: “No. I’m sticking with players in these moments. You have to address certain situations in your team selection, but no it didn’t cross my mind. He handled himself really well. It must have been hard. We all felt that. Hopefully he can turn things around quickly.”
City will have Jakub Stolarczyk available for Liverpool on Boxing Day, and maybe even Hermansen, but for van Nistelrooy there are bigger problems at play. Individual mistakes in the defence will be his focus ahead of the trip to Anfield.
“If you look only at the result, then it was a very bad performance,” he said. “If you look at the goals and how we conceded them, as individual incidents, and look at the rest of the game, it was not as bad as the result said.
“It’s clear if you look at that fact (seven goals conceded in two games), it’s way too much. Today, three goals conceded, but it’s only one goal for expected goals.
“Against West Ham we won and we had three expected goals. You take the points and everybody is happy, but we addressed that it was too much. Overall today we defended better, how weird it sounds. But individual mistakes let in the three goals. Over 90 minutes, those incidents we couldn’t overcome.”
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