Leicester, Dec 2 (IANS) Ruud Van Nistelrooy faced the media for the first team since being appointed head coach of Leicester City ahead of the side’s first game under his leadership. The 48-year-old reflected on his short unbeaten stint as interim manager of Manchester United.
“It was a good period. It was short and intense but I was happy to help and steady the ship. They’re on a good run of results on top of those four games so that’s great to see. I really enjoyed, being responsible, creating a connection with the team and the supporters, and being able to turn the momentum for the club a little bit. That is our job and that felt great to do. Now I’m in this position to do it again,” said Nistelrooy in the press conference.
Nistelrooy joined Manchester United’s coaching staff as an assistant coach to Erik Ten Hag in June 2024 and was later appointed the interim head coach after the sacking of Ten Hag. Under his tenure, the team went unbeaten in four games, a solid achievement given they were sitting in 14th place at the time of Ten Hag’s departure, with three wins and one draw.
Ruben Amorim’s arrival, alongside his coaching staff from Sporting CP, meant it was an early end to van Nistelrooy’s coaching tenure at the club as United’s interim head coach.
Van Nistelrooy, one of the storied strikers in Premier League history, will now be coaching Jamie Vardy at Leicester City. The English striker had broken van Nistelrooy’s streak for consecutive Premier League goal-scoring during the 2015-16 season when Leicester shocked the world by winning the Premier League title.
Van Nistelrooy joked about the situation saying ‘it’s a big issue’ that Vardy had broken his record.
“It’s a problem, of course, that he broke my record! That’s what I told him straight away. I said listen we have a big issue, get it out of the way before we can start together. No, that was the first thing I said to him. I beat him to it. Back at the time, I posted, wishing him well at the time. So nine years later, it’s weird how things go sometimes, but a good story,” he added.
His arrival at the Foxes was marked by the departure of head coach Steve Cooper after the side’s poor start to the Premier League season.
–IANS
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