Ruud van Nistelrooy has hailed Jamie Vardy as a leader by example after the Leicester’s captain scored in the club’s 2-1 win at Tottenham.
Vardy equalised just 57 seconds into the second half in North London, as the Foxes came from behind to claim a crucial win. Bilal El Khannouss got the winner for Leicester, who responded to Richarlison’s first-half header to earn the points and climb out of the bottom three.
HUGE from the boys! ✊ ✊
Delivered by @bcgame #TOTLEI pic.twitter.com/NpZxfvBqCJ
— Leicester City (@LCFC) January 26, 2025
Vardy’s goal was his eighth of the Premier League campaign as the 38-year-old continues to lead the line for Leicester. Van Nistelrooy was full of praise for the forward, who he said keeps ‘delivering’ for the Foxes.
“He is a leader by example. He is still producing,” Van Nistelrooy said to Premier League Productions.
“The respect from the team and the staff at this club for him is huge. He is also delivering.”
Leicester’s win was their first since December 3rd and ended a run of seven straight defeats. Van Nistelrooy believes the squad are beginning to adjust to his methods and improve.
“The performance was excellent, the shape and the way the players were defending together,” he said.
“On the ball we tried to play like we always try. We went behind but the way the team reacted to going 1-0 down, they took the ball and started to play. At half time they were calm and the way they came out of the dressing room was tremendous. I think that won us the game in the end.
“The last 10 minutes we switched to 5-3-2, we had to because Tottenham were going with everyone forward. We managed to survive.
“The effort, the dedication, the blocks and the clearances, the tactics we made it was a joy to watch. It got us a massive three points away from home.
“The players also feel we are improving. They feel the way we want to play suits them. We will keep pushing to do these things. The players are buying into it. I can only be very proud of this team.”
