Leicester City appointed Ruud van Nistelrooy as the replacement for Steve Cooper in late November.

The Dutchman was confirmed as boss late on Friday the 29th of November, meaning he did not take charge of the Premier League clash with Brentford the following day. Van Nistelrooy instead watched the fixture at the Gtech Community Stadium from the stands and was likely unimpressed with his side’s showing on the day. Leicester were thumped 4-1 and their defence on the day was, as made obvious by the fact they conceded three goals, pretty dire.

That was not the first time the Foxes have proven to be inept defensively this term, conceding the third-most goals in the top flight and managing just one clean sheet before the latest round of games.

Leicester opted to deploy a back-three for the Brentford defeat, with one of their centre-backs on the day Caleb Okoli. The 23-year-old joined the Midlands side from Atalanta BC over the summer and had featured in nine Premier League games under Cooper.

Okoli was substituted in the first half of the loss to the Bees, but Van Nistelrooy told Leicestershire Live that he ‘was part of team training and looked well’ before his debut against West Ham United. Despite the Italian’s fitness, Ruud chose to leave him on the bench against the Hammers, and he did the same a few days later when Leicester drew 2-2 with Brighton and Hove Albion. The Vicenza-born star has clearly fallen down the pecking order under his new manager, with Wout Faes even getting minutes off the bench under Van Nistelrooy ahead of Okoli despite some poor performances recently. Okoli may now be regretting.

In turn, Okoli may now be regretting his decision to join Leicester and if he continues to be left on the bench in the coming weeks, he could decide a January move is needed.