Ruud van Nistelrooy was at the end of another defeat with Leicester City as Chelsea secured a 1-0 result against the Foxes.
The relegation-threatened side made it 12 losses from 13 with Leicester now six points off Wolves in 17th place, with Van Nistelrooy having ten games left to save the King Power Stadium side from the drop back down to the Championship.
Despite the result, Van Nistelrooy sprung a surprise tactical change for Leicester as the Dutch manager switched the defensive shape to a three-at-the-back with two defensive fullbacks, a system shift that worked out pretty well against Chelsea despite the lack of attacking quality.
And Premier League legend Wayne Rooney was impressed with what his former Manchester United teammate did for Leicester against Chelsea.
READ MORE: Leicester fans are in agreement over Ruud van Nistelrooy’s surprise tactical change vs Chelsea
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Wayne Rooney predicts Leicester to stick with new defensive system
Speaking on Match of the Day 2, the former Plymouth Argyle manager made the safe prediction that Van Nistelrooy will stick with his new defensive system despite Leciester’s loss to Chelsea, a game in which the Blues struggled.
Enzo Maresca was also a fan of Leicester’s new shape with the Chelsea manager noting that Van Nistelrooy’s tactic caught the Blues by surprise and praising his former side for adapting well to the change.
MORE LEICESTER STORIES
And Rooney is also a fan of what he saw from Van Nistelrooy, with the Leicester manager rolling out a tactic that could help the Foxes win valuable points between now and the end of their season in their bid to avoid the drop.
Rooney said: “In the last few months Leicester have conceded a lot of goals, but Ruud changed it for today’s game and gone to a back five, they were compact, they were getting blocks, they were clearing the ball and heading it out, they made it very difficult for Chelsea and I’m sure that’s something we’ll see again.”
Van Nistelrooy’s tactical change is too little too late for Leicester
Van Nistelrooy deserves credit for switching things up for the Foxes and trying something new that, in the grand scheme of things, worked, with Chelsea struggling to do much against a Leicester side that looked up for the task.
Yet with ten games to go and Leicester about to embark on a terrifying run of fixtures, the change from Van Nistelrooy might be too little too late with how few realistic points are available between now and the end of the season.
Indeed, Van Nistelrooy should have implemented this new defensive system much earlier on in the season, and with so few games left, Leicester need to hope for a miracle or two in their final Premier League fixtures.