It is early in the Ruud van Nistelrooy era at Leicester City but already it is clear he has a way he wants his new side to play. The Dutchman even revealed his plan in his first press conference before the 3-1 win over West Ham United earlier this month . “It will be 4-4-2 out of possession and a 3-box-3 with the ball,” he told reporters.
Advertisement Sure enough, against West Ham at the King Power Stadium in his first game, that was exactly how his side shaped up, despite having just two training sessions to work on it. Here we take a look at how that has looked in practice. As we can see in the opening two minutes against West Ham, Leicester moved to a back three when they had possession, with Victor Kristiansen moving high on the left to provide the width on one flank while Kasey McAteer stayed wide on the other side.
In the middle, summer signing Bilal El Khannouss , who began the game on the left but came inside, formed the top left of the box alongside Facundo Buonanotte , who started as the No 10 in behind Jamie Vardy , on the right. Behind them were the two No 6s — Boubakary Soumare and Wilfred Ndidi — who sat in front of the back three at the bottom of the box. This is to provide the insurance of a defensive five should attacks break down and a counter-attack is launched.
In this example in which the box is formed, Kristiansen was the outlet and received the ball and he can play a simple pass inside to El Khannouss in space, who then releases Vardy. The stri.
