Van Nistelrooy on Leicester's 2-0 City defeat and lack of goal threat

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Van Nistelrooy on Leicester's 2-0 City defeat and lack of goal threat  02/04/2025  Etihad stadium, Manchester, UK

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00:00Hi, Ruud. First place to start off a disappointing night in terms of a result,

00:04what did you make of the way your players acquitted themselves tonight?

00:09Yeah, of course, I think the form that we're in, the sequence of games that we're in,

00:16if you have a start of a game like this, it's not only hard in any situation,

00:23but especially in the situation that we're in it makes it extra hard.

00:27Of course you come in with positives after a long break,

00:30after a good couple of weeks of training.

00:34Of course you want a way at City, you want to have a good start,

00:39get through the first 10 or 15 minutes where they come for us and at us.

00:44But of course with their own ball loss in midfield, with the turnover,

00:48and of course communication between keeper and centre-back for the second,

00:53then before the half-hour we're 2-0 down, and it's going to be a long night,

00:59looking for more goals, looking like they're coming and more chances,

01:07so we had to really fight to go in with a 2-0 result at half-time,

01:10so that made it very difficult for us.

01:15Because of the position, at what point do you have to accept

01:19that going down looks very likely, is that this point?

01:23Of course, we live in reality, we know what the situation is in the table,

01:29points-wise, 12 points, we have eight games to play.

01:33Mathematically, as I said before, it's not over,

01:36and we have the responsibility to keep going,

01:39and there's no other way than doing that.

01:43Root, how do you motivate yourself?

01:46Because in your playing career you've never experienced anything like that,

01:52most of the players, although some were relegated two years ago,

01:57even this kind of form wasn't there.

02:00How do you retain motivation?

02:02Yeah, I think it has something to do with your personal pride and honour,

02:09by doing the job as good as you can in any circumstance.

02:15That is my drive, and that's how I get up every morning.

02:21That demands character, resilience in dealing with the situation that you're in,

02:31and accepting that, accepting reality, and look in the mirror,

02:38and go back to the players and staff to do better,

02:43and get the best out of people around you.

02:47That is how I try to do it.

02:51Jorrit, just two shots today, do you feel like this system is going to work eventually

03:00in terms of getting that goal and creating more of an attack?

03:04Yeah, you have to look at the bigger picture of course of the season,

03:09not only this system where we use three games.

03:12I don't think you can take it into the discussion of a system or not.

03:18We've tried different options in different moments,

03:22with tweaks in the way we played,

03:26also the different personnel in different positions.

03:29I think overall you can take the conclusion that we struggle to score in any system.

03:40So it's something that is not down to a system, I think.

03:46Seven games in a row defeated, seven games without a goal,

03:51what can you say to fans to make them want to keep coming back

03:55and keep coming to support your team?

03:56Because the situation does look pretty bleak.

04:00It does, it does.

04:03As I said before on the previous question,

04:05for me the most important thing is that I stay at it and evaluate the games,

04:17and be the best manager I can be within this situation with the team and with everybody at Leicester,

04:25working with this team to manage that the best way possible.

04:31That is my job.

04:34In an extremely difficult moment we're all in there together,

04:39and I expect myself to be the first one to react in a good way,

04:48to keep working, doing the best I can with the people around me,

04:53and that's my focus at the moment.

04:56Just to check a couple of players, Harry Winks not in the squad today,

04:58is that an injury or just a selection?

05:01And Jamie off at half-time, any reason behind that?

05:04No injury, of course it was a game where we are defending a lot,

05:09and in a sense you could say I was arresting him.

05:18Thank you, guys.

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