Ruud van Nistelrooy has seen enough already to put his faith in a player who, until a few weeks ago, hadn’t even kicked a ball for Leicester City since their return to the Premier League.
To say The Foxes’ squad has made quite a positive first impression on Steve Cooper’s replacement would be an understatement.
Ruud van Nistelrooy kicked off his Leicester City reign against West Ham in midweek.
And, following a smash-and-grab 3-1 win which does their survival hopes plenty of good, Van Nistelrooy paid tribute to Leicester’s ‘unbelievable’ Mads Hermansen, the spine of Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard, Boubakary Soumare and Wilfred Ndidi, plus those at the top end of the pitch.
The evergreen Jamie Vardy – Van Nistelrooy is a huge fan of Leicester’s living legend – opened the scoring with just two minutes on the clock.
Provider Bilal El Khannouss then turned finisher. Patson Daka, meanwhile, put those months of frustration behind him as a striker who missed the opening stanza of the campaign thrashed past Lukasz Fabianski on only his third Premier League appearance since that long-running ankle injury.
Ruud van Nistelrooy hails Leicester City striker Patson Daka
With Vardy 38 these days, Daka is likely to have an important role to play from now on.
Especially with Van Nistelrooy taking a liking to the £23 million former Red Bull Salzburg forward, hailing Daka’s work rate off the ball and also his threat in the final third.
“You saw his quality. Two [qualities], actually,” Van Nistelrooy said during his Friday press conference.
“Pressing off the ball with intensity, and that makes it easier for people behind him to follow up and get into duels. But also in the goal he scored, with the pace has…
“He can time runs behind defences and hurts them.”
Daka’s emphatic late finish – lamped left-footed past a helpless Fabianski – was his first since February. You would not have guessed, given the way he struck the ball with such confidence and authority, that this was a centre-forward in the midst of a nine-month drought.
At full-time, Van Nistelrooy indicated that the similarities between Daka and Vardy should allow Leicester to attack in a similar manner regardless of the personnel.
Van Nistelrooy thinks Daka can do Jamie Vardy role
“[Daka] is also the profile [of Vardy], with a lot of speed and movement off the ball. So its definitely something I was happy to see in these moments,” the Manchester United legend said.
‘We know Patson with his pace. It’s a great touch, go straight to goal, don’t go back on these angles. It’s a great finish, top corner.
“He created it all on his own, so well done. I was happy for him. He has got good potential, something to develop.”
Leicester host Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday. Successive home wins could take The Foxes seven points clear of the bottom three, presuming Wolves, Ipswich Town and Southampton fail to obtain a much-needed victory.
“I mentioned that in the team meeting today, that the Premier League is so tough that we need all of the players involved and ready to help,” Van Nistelrooy adds. “The mindset is there, with the busy schedule as well.
“Everybody is ready to help the team, starting or as a substitute.”
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