RUUD VAN NONELROOY INTERVIEW: Leicester Boss the goal of turning him against a former club man UTD as a relegation station | Football news

Leicester City is now nine points of safety and should seem to be back to the championship if Ruud Van Nonelroooy cannot reverse things – starting with a visit to his former Manchester United club on Sunday night.

Van Nisklroooy managed United for the reverse knot, winning the last of his four games as a temporary boss. He went with the best percentage of the win of any Manchester United manager in history – and went straight for foxes.

Wouldn’t you rather be on the beach somewhere? “You want to accept the challenge,” says Van Nisklrooy Sky Sports. “You can be on the beach, yes. Or you can be in football, in the Premier League. You can manage Leicester. It’s a big challenge.”

Everything is increasing. The Leicester will probably reach short, but Van Nistelrooy is still incorporated into a room that projects positivity. Those close to him tell him about true curiosity, the willingness to learn new ideas that are not always obvious with the once great football players.

“Your playing days are one, training and management is another. If you are open to daily developing yourself, you can do it in this business. It’s my target. I love this game. I like to be a part of a club like a Leicester in the best league in the world.

“The challenges that appear, with which I and we face as a promoted side are huge. Each game is such a battle, such a challenge. It is priceless as you can learn and develop. To prepare my team in the best way possible, this is something I love.”

While much of the fans’ frustration is directed towards those above him – Jon Rudkin, especially the director of the club football – Van Nistelroooy is aware that he cannot avoid all the faults for Leicester’s trouble. Mistakes have been made this season.

There are those who would point to choosing decisions, perhaps the most prominent move to turn to Danny Ward for what could now be considered a key defeat of Wolves in December. Foxes would win eight points away from their opponents with a win.

There was a poorly received replacement by Bilal El Khannouss when in January 1-0 against Fulham and, probably a low point, the Brentford capitulation last time at home – three goals in 32 minutes. Since then, he has transferred the formation.

“We had very good performances without results. But after Everton, Brentford and West Ham, the games where the performances were not as they were supposed to be, when we received too many goals after that, it was time to change something.”

Can this change to 3-4-2-1, one that resulted in a much improved display in Chelsea, came before? “Entering in early December, we decided to continue developing the structures that Tim knew,” Van Niskolrooy explains.

“I also worked a lot with 4-4-2 and three box-three on the ball, so I think it was logical to continue, not to completely change something that the players knew from the championship, from the pre-season and their first months in the Premier League.”

Theoretically, that made sense. “I didn’t want to interfere with it, but to develop it.” There would be a tweet, using Jordan Ayew or Bobby de Cordova-Reid sometimes deeper. “Get down to almost make him five from the ball.” But it became time for a more radical shift.

Luke Thomas and Conor Coady have returned for the first time since the beginning of January in a formation that could suit them both. “Surprisingly good performances, given that they haven’t played for some time. They were great, so it’s something to be built on.”

Leicester They were Better against Chelsea. The change has succeeded. But they still lost. “That was difficult because they deserved the result.” Instead, it was another hammer blow to his players, another defeat to dry out their belief. A different plan, but the same result.

Permanent failures must eventually take their toll on the players. But what about the coach? Especially when someone like Van Nisklrooya, the species of an individual is routinely described as the winner of a friend and enemy. This is not to know him.

These are not just Manchester United and Real Madrid. From his time in Heerenveen and PSV until his last years in Hamburg and Malaga, Van Nisklroooy has never ended up in the lower half. He was a teenager at Den Bosch for the last time he experienced anything like that.

At the highest level, Van Nistelrooy has never passed six home games without scoring a goal yourself. He now has a whole team If I don’t. When he talks about “acceptance that we will lose more games than we win”, isn’t that anatema to one of his mentality?

“It’s also about realistic. Arriving at Leicester City in December, the place where they were, a team where I analyzed and assessed, I saw the options to stay up. So I made the decision to sign and still work [see it]. But I was also realistic.

“One goal was to stay in this league. It was clear. It is the only one. As a promoted team, realism is here. Everyone knows that there are 17 teams above us and we have to beat one, like the other two [promoted teams]to stay up. “

And if they don’t manage it? Van Nisklroooy has long emphasized that this is not a five -month task, that his vision is to help renovate this club, and his huge potential is still obvious to everyone who visits one of the best training sessions in the country.

Talk to the players, with the staff, with those around the football club, it seems that the consensus is that the Dutchman improved communication in Leicester, that his clarity was well received. But with no results during the weekend, he knows that this is counted a little.

“If you just look at the results, you’re dead.” Repeats that line to emphasis. “You’re dead.” But he adds: “We are not in this position. Our job is also to look at the procedure and that is what we do. If you just look at the results, we should not be in this business.

“You can look at the processes, the job we do, the development that looks at next season, what is necessary, standards we try to implement, things I believe will pass this club forward, but everything is colored by results.”

Is there any hope? Just a decade ago, Leicester was also nine points of safety and seemingly for the championship. Then they were the bottom. But seven wins in the last nine games catapult them at the table, and the rest is history.

No one expects to repeat this extraordinary achievement, but it takes 30 points – starting against Manchester United this Sunday. Van Nisklroooy certainly didn’t give up. “That’s a great task,” he emphasizes. “But that is still possible.”

Watch Leicester City VS Manchester United live in the Sky Sports Premier League this Sunday from 6.30pm; Beginning 19:00