Analysis from Leicester City’s victory over Huddersfield, looking at the start to the season, where they need to improve, Wout Faes, Jakub Stolarczyk, and the absent players
Leicester City hoped they would break new ground when they appointed Enzo Maresca as their manager, but they would not have thought it could happen so quickly.
Three wins to kick off the campaign is an impressive start to any season, never mind one following a summer where the club were reeling from relegation, appointed a new coaching team, and had a significant turnover in players.
Leicester City hoped they would break new ground when they appointed Enzo Maresca as their manager, but they would not have thought it could happen so quickly.
Three wins to kick off the campaign is an impressive start to any season, never mind one following a summer where the club were reeling from relegation, appointed a new coaching team, and had a significant turnover in players.
It is just one of the reasons why excitement is building. Their latest win, a 1-0 success at Huddersfield, was not a particularly thrilling encounter, but what it stood for has fans bubbling with anticipation.
Project Enzo is still in its infancy. As Maresca pointed out, it’s been 40 days since he took charge of the team. Watching City play, it feels like they have not yet even shifted into third gear.
But the ideas are there. It is clear what they want to become. And there are occasional glimpses of it. There was one particularly terrific move in the first half at the John Smith’s Stadium where slick passing and movement saw City carve Huddersfield apart, only a poor finish from Dennis Praet preventing an excellent team goal.
That’s why it’s exciting, because supporters are able to envisage how good this team can be when Maresca has truly bedded in, when they can shift into fifth gear and when the free-flowing passing moves come relentlessly.
Added to that, the team feels fresh. Not only are there new signings in the team, but homegrown players too. Seeing academy graduates promoted into the first team will always be a thrill and Jakub Stolarczyk and Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, making their first league appearances for the club on Saturday, did not look out of their depth.
That’s not to say the team is all potential. Three wins from three shows they are delivering, and there are improvements being made each week.
While they did give up a big first-chance that should have been converted, on the whole, City’s defence was much more secure than against Coventry.
They grabbed a second-half winner again too, their patience allowing them to take advantage of a tiring opponent once more. Only once last season did City win a league game they were drawing or trailing at half-time. They’ve already done it twice this term.
One week into the new season feels premature to get too giddy, but when the team are doing things they’ve not done for 100 years, and are going to get better, it’s also quite hard not to.
Stephy Mavididi scores past Lee Nicholls to make it 0-1 during the Sky Bet Championship match between Huddersfield Town and Leicester City at John Smith’s Stadium.
Double signing should help eradicate weakness
The most obvious area for improvement is in attack. It is in converting possession into chances, and chances into goals.
City have averaged two-thirds of possession over their first two games, and yet they have not had two-thirds of the shots. A tally of 37 efforts at goal is only four more than Coventry and Huddersfield had combined. It does feel like there is absence of creativity and efficiency at the top of the pitch.
For all of his eye-catching dribbles and quick footwork, Marcal-Madivadua lacked a clinical edge around the box, and there were a few too many promising attacks that ended without a shot being taken because he lacked composure. But with this being only his third game at senior level, moments like that are to be expected.
There were times too where City did get shots away, but the finishing touch was missing. Praet’s off-the-ball movement was excellent and helped City fashion chances against an organised defence, but he’s not a natural goalscorer, and on the two occasions he was put through, he fluffed his lines.
There were probably too many shots from outside the box too, City trying their luck rather than attempting to make the killer pass to create a clear-cut chance. Eight of their shots were from inside the box, the same number as Huddersfield.
In Cesare Casadei, City will be getting a midfielder who has shown in Italy’s youth teams that he has that goalscoring knack, while Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, if he is the right winger to arrive, has proved he is efficient in the final third at Charlton last season. Maresca’s City will feel more complete if and when they arrive.
Faes imperative after strong start to campaign
There’s still a big list of City players who could leave before the transfer window closes but Wout Faes increasingly feels like he won’t be one of them. After City’s relegation, Belgian media were immediately discussing where next for their City quartet. So far, Youri Tielemans has gone, Timothy Castagne is going, and Praet is a contender to do so. But Faes might stay.
A starter for his nation these days, the feeling in his homeland was that he needed to be playing top-flight football ahead of the Euros next summer. His international manager Domenico Tedesco said that wasn’t necessary.
That’s especially if he is playing regularly, and playing well for City, which he is doing so far. Faes was City’s best player at Huddersfield, shrugging off strikers, ploughing through tackles, and carrying the ball forward with confidence.
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