‘Be Resilient & Strong’ – The Message From Van Nistelrooy

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‘Be Resilient & Strong’ – The Message From Van Nistelrooy

Every game between now and the end of the season is one to target in the fight for Premier League survival, says Ruud van Nistelrooy.

2025-02-21T07:00+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

21 Feb, 2025

‘Be Resilient & Strong’ – The Message From Van Nistelrooy

Every game between now and the end of the season is one to target in the fight for Premier League survival, says Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Sam Jones

2025-02-21T07:00+00:00

‘Be Resilient & Strong’ – The Message From Van Nistelrooy

Every game between now and the end of the season is one to target in the fight for Premier League survival, says Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Sam Jones

2025-02-21T07:00+00:00

‘Be Resilient & Strong’ – The Message From Van Nistelrooy

Every game between now and the end of the season is one to target in the fight for Premier League survival, says Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Sam Jones

2025-02-21T07:00+00:00

‘Be Resilient & Strong’ – The Message From Van Nistelrooy

Every game between now and the end of the season is one to target in the fight for Premier League survival, says Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Sam Jones

2025-02-21T07:00+00:00

The 19th-placed Foxes are in the midst of a tense relegation battle as we approach the final three months of the season and City’s Manager is adamant that there is plenty to play for, starting with this week’s meeting with Brentford.

The Bees are set to arrive at King Power Stadium for an 8pm kick-off on Friday night and, ahead of the fixture, the Dutchman sat down with reporters inside LCFC Training Ground, providing insight on the current mood around Seagrave.

‘Momentum will change’

In conversation with the media this week.

Leaving empty handed for the fifth successive home game last weekend, there's still some items to be positive about from the Arsenal reverse, having pushed the title contenders all the way. Continuing to use that in a constructive way is now the requirement, van Nistelrooy believes.

“Especially the players, the effort they put in deserves more but we also believe that if we keep going like this, luck will change, momentum will change and we’ll pick up points from there,” he told the media on Wednesday. “That’s clearly what we’re looking for.

“We also know our reality and, as a promoted side, what position we are in and we have to be resilient and strong in dealing with losses and losing games and pick ourselves up quickly to go again. We know the situation we’re in, but all the team are looking for results, of course.

“I feel that the players react very well after a loss. In the sense that they are very resilient and what we try to achieve on a daily basis is the quality of training session. The pressure we put on them physically and mentally is going to make them become more consistent.

“They are buying into that and the quality of the opposition we face can decide games, but we can turn that around by hard work and that’s the belief. Twenty-four-seven, I’m thinking about improving the team and helping the Club to stay in this league.

“I am also pragmatic enough to understand what position we’re in and what the maximum capabilities are that we’re working with in this situation in comparison to the other teams we compete with. If there’s positives, you have to mention them, and if there’s not, you have to.

“I’m not trying to create fake positives. I think there are real positives. There are also real issues why we don’t get points. Realism and opportunism go hand in hand. We have to push ourselves and go for the best possible results and now we’re looking to turn the positives into points.”

‘Work on consistency’

Down to work in Seagrave.

The situation remains simple, at present. A win would, at least temporarily, lift Leicester outside of the relegation zone and into 17th ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action. A psychological boost which we have experienced in the not too distant past, any positive result must act as a springboard for future successes, too.

“Every game we approach as urgent, we have to,” the former PSV manager expressed. “Every point we can earn is a big one. It always has been since I arrived. One win at Spurs and we were out of the bottom three. We have lost many games so far, but we are very clearly in that fight.

“We’ve had that (being out of the bottom three) for a short bit after the Tottenham win. It was a great win and performance and then we thought we had that momentum, but we had a very harsh lesson at Goodison [Park].

“There’s no mercy in this league. When we do get a result, we know how hard it is to get two or three results or another point. We’re working on that consistency. That’s the word I use a lot.

“One side is the results; and I expected more points. If we look at development and doing absolutely everything possible with what we have, there is development and that’s being glass half-full.

“What’s remaining is there to attack to make sure that we are getting those points that I felt we missed. I look at games where we should have taken points and that’s what we’re looking to do in the next three months.

“Consistency is what I’m looking for and that’s consistency every day. Coming in and knowing the Club and the standards and the way recovery goes and strength and conditioning goes.

“We have to assess everything and implement the changes to get things improved with the way I see it and what I believe in. That’s also a process. In the long-term, it will eventually develop into that consistency and that’s what we’re in the middle of.”

‘We need to be very effective’

The Nigerian is back in the starting XI after injury.

Confidence around the Club has not been lost, van Nistelrooy assured, as he seeks to build the camaraderie within the group at every opportunity. The big task on the pitch, meanwhile, is to find the net on a much more regular basis, especially on home soil.

Without a goal in the last five on Filbert Way, there has been much more solid displays defensively, with the likes of Mads Hermansen and Wilfred Ndidi returning from injury in recent weeks.

He added: “When you look at the table, there’s 14 games remaining and we have to do our bit. It’s about results, performances and, after 14 games, the table will be clear and where we are. For me, we have to do it ourselves, we really have to.

“It’s the spirit of the team, the work they put in every day, the adjustment to what I said, different things that I want to implement and some of the standards that I feel are very important to becoming a better club.

“I see that in the performances on the pitch and I cannot ask for more than that. I cannot ask for more than the maximum and at the end of the season, we will see if that’s enough.

“It’s by working, by preparing ourselves, by believing we have goals in our team and that we can produce results. It’s up to us to show that again. Historically, it’s more important to gain points and gain momentum to do well in this league.

“If you look at three of the last four games, we looked more solid. But we created fewer chances than we did before. In those games, we didn’t create as much for the forwards, so it’s a balance.

“It’s also the opponents we play against. We have quite a few who have scored, but not in double figures. We need to be very effective with our chances. It’s only a matter of time before that changes.

“When we create chances for him (Jamie Vardy) as a team, he will score. He still proves that in a team fighting relegation. He is still our most effective player in the team for goals and assists at 38 years old.

“There’s also some positives with Mads coming back and Wilf playing more games and minutes.”

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