A Performance To Build On, Says van Nistelrooy

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A Performance To Build On, Says van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy took away plenty of positives from Leicester City’s 3-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Boxing Day.

2024-12-27T09:00+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

27 Dec, 2024

from Anfield

A Performance To Build On, Says van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy took away plenty of positives from Leicester City’s 3-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Boxing Day.

Sam Jones

2024-12-27T09:00+00:00

A Performance To Build On, Says van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy took away plenty of positives from Leicester City’s 3-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Boxing Day.

Sam Jones

2024-12-27T09:00+00:00

A Performance To Build On, Says van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy took away plenty of positives from Leicester City’s 3-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Boxing Day.

Sam Jones

2024-12-27T09:00+00:00

A Performance To Build On, Says van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy took away plenty of positives from Leicester City’s 3-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Boxing Day.

Sam Jones

2024-12-27T09:00+00:00

Leicester City were beaten 3-1 by Liverpool on Boxing Day
The Foxes took the lead at Anfield before the Reds fought back
Ruud van Nistelrooy assessed his team's performance on Merseyside
There were satisfactory elements in spite of the defeat, he said post-match

The Foxes led through an early Jordan Ayew goal – cancelled out by Cody Gakpo on the stroke of half-time, before Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah took the game away from van Nistelrooy’s men in the second period.

Speaking straight after full-time at Anfield, the Dutchman outlined his pride in many elements of his side’s performance, including a first top-flight appearance for young goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk, who made several impressive stops between the sticks.

“There were many [positives],” the 48-year-old commented. “I think it was an excellent defensive performance from the team and the goalkeeper, of course, making his debut in a great way.

Praise for the young Polish goalkeeper.

“It was a very good performance. He was focused, he did his job, made some excellent saves and above all, he was calm on the ball and made excellent decisions. It’s a big compliment to him.

“We were in the game for a long time, which is credit coming to this place. We handled different situations really well as a team and on the break created a couple of good chances and scored a good goal. It was definitely a performance we can build on.

“It was a great start. It was a fantastic moment there to score in front of our fans and celebrate it together. That was a big positive but it was a shame we couldn’t get the 1-0 into the dressing room at half-time.

“They did a quick re-take of the goal-kick and on the break [Cody] Gakpo scored, which was a shame. It was a blow but we were okay at half-time. We felt we were in control and we were handling the situation well.

A battle at Anfield.

“Liverpool put us to the test but we did it well. The bigger blow was after half-time when we conceded the second one. But we still reacted from that and had the Patson [Daka] chance after an hour to score the equaliser.”

Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City await on Sunday and Leicester must carry that same character and spirit back to King Power Stadium when they take on the Citizens, according to the Manager, who travelled to Merseyside without the likes of Jamie Vardy, Wout Faes and Mads Hermansen.

Van Nistelrooy continued: “I have to say, the players did everything they could. Overall, it was a positive performance. I wasn’t surprised to see that. I’ve seen it from day one. Wolves was individual mistakes – we know it wasn’t a structural defensive problem – that’s what we showed today and it’s something to build on.

"We have to recover now and look ahead to Sunday. We have some players injured back home who are doing everything they can to recover for Sunday. That’s Jamie, Wout and Mads. Hopefully we can get them fit and the others from the game will be assessed, but there’s no major issues at the moment.”

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