Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is adamant he has seen signs of serious Manchester United improvement under Ruben Amorim.
United have had their struggles for the reason that Portuguese took over following Van Nistelrooy’s short but successful spell as interim manager, which included two victories over his latest club.
The 2 sides met within the FA Cup in February and United needed an offside goal in the ultimate minute to earn a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
There look like green shoots of recovery under Amorim – they reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday night – and Van Nistelrooy insists they’re a greater side than the one Leicester played last month.
‘It’s essential to grasp that we played the cup game away, not so way back,” he said ahead of Sunday’s visit of United.
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‘I feel United is in a greater place than on the time that we played within the cup.
‘They’d a superb game against Arsenal and yesterday, they were very strong. Obviously, it’s an ideal boost that they’re within the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
‘That’s an ideal boost and a superb win.’
Skipper Bruno Fernandes has come under-fire in recent weeks in his role as captain, but Van Nistelrooy has noticed the United captain’s form appears to be mirroring that of his improving side.
‘Bruno (Fernandes) is in great form, scoring a hat-trick after which scored the free-kick against Arsenal, so very decisive in that team,’ he said.
‘So, it’s a team that I feel got some momentum going, especially after yesterday. It’s definitely a team that’s in a greater place than once we played them within the FA Cup.’
Leicester’s plight is just not looking as positive as they’re on a seemingly-irreversible slide to Premier League relegation.
They’ve lost 12 of their last 13 games and are six points adrift of safety.
But Van Nistelrooy admitted results weren’t matching performances.
He added: ‘We showed against Chelsea, we showed up, we were there. I feel in the event you saw us playing and also you don’t know any context, you then would see a team and say, ‘OK, it is a proper team”
‘A positive result would do us really good. That is absolutely clear, it’s what we’re working for and what we took from the Chelsea game.
‘It’s what we’ve worked on this week to develop the structures we’ve put in place. We were capable of construct on that and convey it into Sunday’s game.
‘With the (international) break, it will give a superb boost to get a positive result.’
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