Ruud van Nistelrooy got the “complete package” as he defied the Premier League norm and fielded his strongest Leicester City line-up for the FA Cup third round.
As a top-flight side at home to an EFL club, heavy rotation would perhaps have been expected of City, especially with a crucial Premier League fixture at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday. But van Nistelrooy named a full-strength team and was rewarded with six goals and the club’s first victory in six.
Explaining his decision, van Nistelrooy said he was keen to continue the development made in recent performances and did not want to disrupt his team. It’s still early in his reign with lots of learning to be done.
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“A performance where you can score six goals is always a good performance,” van Nistelrooy said. “It’s not easy, especially against a QPR side that’s very well managed, on and off the ball and on a great run of form. To be able to score six against them is a compliment to the team.
“I shared with the players that exactly six weeks ago, we started working together. A lot has happened. Immediately we have to step into the Premier League together, implementing new ideas, the way of playing, the way of training, the way we do things in the different phases of the game, getting to know each other there and also off the pitch.
“I wanted to continue in that development with the team and not make too many changes in that sense. I feel we are in a process where we are getting better, doing things better, and in a certain way. That’s why I wanted to continue that.”
While City were second best for large parts of the first half, they were able to take a 3-2 lead into the break and made it 4-2 within a few minutes of the second period. That allowed van Nistelrooy to turn his attention to Palace.
He said: “When you have the advantage of being 4-2 up early in the game, you can start to take players off. That was a big benefit for the games to come.
“The triple substitution in minute 58, it means that we can keep players fresh and get others in good minutes. Kasey (McAteer) came back on after his injury, so that’s the complete package. I’m delighted with the game today.”
