Ruud's role: seven urgent things Van Nistelrooy must address as new Leicester City manager

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been announced as the new manager of Leicester City.

The Manchester United legend replaces Steve Cooperwho was sacked by Leicester last week after a bad series of results.

The Foxes find themselves with 10 points from their first 12 Premier League games and now face two crucial games against Brentford and West Ham that precede a very difficult run of games.

Van Nistelrooy takes over after leaving his interim position at Man United, following the The Red Devils name Rubén Amorim.

Luckily, he has already seen Leicester in action twice this season. As United's interim manager, he beat them in the Carabao Cup and the Premier League. Both will arrive at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman faces a tough test to keep Leicester safe from relegation this season. The club may currently find itself outside the bottom three, but there are clear issues that need to be addressed.

Start working

Van Nistelrooy will be in the stands for Saturday's trip to Brentford before West Ham and Wolves' visits to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday and next Sunday respectively.

On paper, everything can be won, but any trip to Gtech means goals this season, for and against. West Ham continue to be inconsistent and Wolves appear to have taken a step back after a difficult start to the season.

The Dutchman has a decent run of matches to evaluate his squad and see who is ready for battle. After four winless games under Cooper, four to six points in the next three games would be a fantastic start for Ruud.

Seek clarity from the board of directors

Leicester successfully avoided a points deduction earlier this season over the club's alleged PSR violations, but questions remain over the long-term financial situation.

It remains to be seen whether the Foxes are in danger of further potential breaches, the answer to which would help clarify whether they can invest more during the January transfer window.

Leicester spent £70m on new players over the summer, signing the likes of Oliver Skipp and Bilal El Khannouss for significant fees.

As the current squad adapts to increased quality and a growing injury list, Van Nistelrooy gets assurances on available funds and existing transfer plans It would be a great boost.

january window

Van Nistelrooy has a month to evaluate his squad before January. Before his departure, talkSPORT understood that Cooper wanted two new signings to improve his starting line-up.

It was believed that defensive reinforcements were the priority, but the Dutchman may see things differently. It remains to be seen whether Leicester have the finances to spend money in January.

The summer window, in retrospect, appears to have been poor, with no permanent signings making a significant impact, although Jordan Ayew's role as a 'super sub' is one of the brighter spots. He has scored three goals off the bench this season, including the winner at Southampton last month.

Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte, with his 3 goals and 2 assists, has been the player of the season so far. For Leicester's sake, let's hope he doesn't receive too many more yellow cards.

Repair the relationship with fans.

Since Leicester's relegation in 2023, tensions between the club and its fans have been increasing.

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The summer appointment of Cooper, former manager of Leicester's rivals Nottingham Forest, along with an increase in ticket prices and additional fees for things like pre-season live streams and physical season tickets, only increased the feelings of discontent.

The atmosphere inside the King Power Stadium during Cooper's last game in charge, a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, was largely monotonous. Something that would have worried the president of Leicester, Khun Top, who supposedly personally made the decision to relieve Cooper of his duties.

Cooper spoke well at press conferences and was widely accepted by fans as a likable character, but his inability to solve fundamental tactical problems and his constant complaints about poor officiating wore on fans.

Earn the respect of the players

It's not just fans who need convincing, either. Players' opinions of Cooper are also believed to have had an impact on the decision to sack him, with a handful of members of the locker room left unconvinced by his training methods.

Van Nistelrooy would bring a new approach, one likely more focused on a front-foot, possession-based philosophy, which is something many of Leicester's players enjoyed during Enzo Maresca's time at the club, who led them to the Championship title last season.

Of course, playing an attacking, expansive game at Premier League level carries risks for any newly promoted team, but with players like Harry Winks and Jannik Vestergaard, who are much more comfortable in possession than without, Leicester have the players to give it a fair chance.

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Correct defensive weaknesses

Leicester, to put it bluntly, look poor at the back.

Too many mistakes. Very little quality. In the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United before the international break, they started four defenders who were part of the team that was relegated to the Championship last year.

Leicester have conceded 23 goals so far this season. Only Southampton and Wolves have conceded more, with 24 and 28 conceded respectively.

Add to that the fact that Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen has been arguably their best player this season and it is clear that this is an area that needs addressing.

Stopping Leicester's high volume of chances and shots on goal will be a big priority, especially those coming from their right side, where many of the opposition's chances have come from.

Cooper has cut and changed his central defensive partnership between Vestergaard, Wout Faes and Caleb Okoli, but establishing a consistent system and personnel will be critical to any potential success.

Make academia a focus

Leicester have called Seagrave, the club's state-of-the-art training facility, home to their men's team and academy for the past few years.

It was a huge outlay for the club to build him, and Leicester have started to see the fruits of their labour, with many promising academy prospects starting to emerge, including Will Alves, Ben Nelson and Sammy Braybrooke.

Local talent is something every football club is proud of, as it links the team to its local roots, and to Van Nistelrooy's history of working in the youth ranks of PSV Eindhoven, the development of Leicester's burgeoning stars It should be a priority on your agenda.

That mandate would also be even more critical if Leicester were to fail in their survival bid this season, given that financial constraints would likely dictate that more academy players would need to be promoted to the first team.