Brentford 4 Leicester 1: Van Nistelrooy has work cut out for him as he watches Foxes get thrashed with Schade hat-trick
FOR once, nobody could accuse Ruud Van Nistelrooy of having a long face.
Before his eyes, the Manchester United thoroughbred was shown the huge task he has in front of him if he is to pull around Leicester’s gallop down the table.
Kevin Schade was the main tormentor, with a brilliant hat-trick made up of the sort of finishing Van Nistelrooy used to produce in his days at one of the Premier League’s greatest goalscorers.
Not a rookie manager with a lot on his plate, it seems.
Nevertheless, each time the cameras cut to the Dutchman sat in the directors’ box sat next to chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha the pair seemed to be smiling.
Possibly, the serious business for the new Leicester manager does not begin until he is the one taking the reins.
But it was clear that on, as well as off, the field, he is inheriting a mess.
That situation had not been helped when the players had decided to mark the departure of Steve Cooper after the defeat Chelsea last week by sticking to their festive plans and heading off for a Christmas party in Copenhagen.
The Danish capital is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, so perhaps a difficult week for the east Midlands club might have been blessed with a fairytale ending.
Not a bit of it. It was just very, very Grimm.
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Having put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal before kick-off, Van Nistelrooy chose to let caretaker Ben Dawson take charge in a bid to improve on a return of just one point from the last four Premier League games.
Van Nistelrooy’s appointment seemed linked more to brief uplifting magic he brought to Manchester United in his brief spell as interim manager than to footballing logic.
And that same sparkle seemed to be working when Leicester took the lead in the 22nd minute.
Ethan Pinnock was knocked off the ball far too easily by the ever-wily Jamie Vardy and the former England man squared to give Facundo Buonanotte the easiest of tap-ins.
That after the winger had already tested Mark Flekken inside two minutes after a poor clearance from the Brentford goalkeeper.
However, the appointment of a goalscoring legend as manager remains an interesting one.
The one positive feature of the season has been the ease with which Leicester were generally able to find the back of the net.
The team had scored in 11 of the 12 Premier League games this season – a tally which could not be bettered anywhere else in the top flight.
But, oh the defending! England international Conor Coady and Luke Thomas were given their first starts of the season in a revamped line-up.
However, Leicester held onto their lead for less than three minutes and were on their way down and out within six.
Schade burst into far too much space down the left channel, centred across the six yard box and the Leicester defence could only watch as Yoane Wissa strode ahead of them to tuck the ball into the back of the net.
Then they were at their hapless worst as the ball pin-balled around the Leicester penalty area crying out for somebody in blue to put his boot through it.
Instead, it fell to Schade and he steered it into the net to turn the game on its head.
From then on, it was one way traffic.
Simple diagonal passes cut Leicester defence into blue ribbons far too easily with Thomas Frank’s cruel decision to field three out-and-out strikers paying dividends with the quality of some of the finishing.
Brentford had to wait until an extended period of first-half stoppage time to earn themselves a cushion – and again it was so, so easy.
Mikkel Damsgaard had time to thread his pass through for Schade again and the German barely broke stride as he swept the ball into the net from a tight angle with his left foot.
Brentford continued the second half as they ended the first, sweeping Leicester before them in wave after wave of dominant attacking football.
It took them just 13 minutes to get the fourth, when Nathan Collins curled his cross behind the Leicester defence.
Schade left blue shirts in his wake to chase it down and took the time he needed to fire low past exposed Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.
A glut of substitutions for both sides did nothing to change the balance of play, with Brentford knocking the ball easily around the edge of the Leicester penalty area to the “Ole”s of their delighted fans.
“This is embarrassing,” sang the corner packed with Leicester fans hoping for so much better from this new dawn.
Even Van Nistelrooy himself had lost that smile, rubbing his chin thoughtfully at what he was watching.
Brentford, with their organisation, understanding and stability under Franks have after all become the benchmark for all teams of limited budget wanting to make their way up the table to compete with the big boys.
Van Nistelrooy has just three days to address the issues before West Ham come to what could be a powderkeg atmosphere at the King Power Stadium.
And when the final whistle blew he was already sat in his chair making notes.
It was as if the Beatles anthem they play at the end of the game at Brentford was just for him.
“Hey Ruud! Take a bad team and make it better,” the Fab Four seemed to be singing.