Leicester yesterday took the lead after two minutes. The creation of the goal was just fantastic to watch. Of course expectations goes through the roof and we all hope for this to continue.
Then in some way what Enzo Meresca describes as “The Idea” is blocked by the opponent and everything looks stuck for a while, and also massive chances spoiled. The missed opportunity from Patson Daka in the first half, comes with a fantastic play in front and also a massive run from Daka himself to get into position, but in some way cannot set the final finish to it all as his touch fails. Leicester are just 1-0 up at half time, as missed chances can be blamed for that.
Another massive annoying part of “The Idea” is when passes are crossed in and out of the penalty area and it often ends up with Mads Hermansen kicking the ball out of play or straight into the feet of the opponent.
Watching this part of “The Idea” is no fun. It makes it difficult to understand why Enzo Maresca cannot win football games with a traditional goalkeeper act, and not mess around, giving away points to the opponent, making massive errors in this department.
Another negative part of “The Idea” that looks out of order is the love for a back pass, with no pressure just passing the ball backwards.
We believe that Enzo Maresca do have a massive advantage in this league, having a very special squad to his disposal. The fact that he can leave out players such as Conor Coady, Kelechi Ihenacho, Harry Souttar, Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton and Dennis Praet and still play a strong first eleven, shows that he needs a reality check.
The fact that Leicester are ten points in front of the next team, is more a factor of having a fantastic group of individuals, that knows their football and should be much more credited, than “The Idea” that is just a word for it all and never explained in detail.
“The Idea” looks to be all about possession, and if you cannot go forward, play backwards and play with a low risk of missing the ball, but to see so much passing in your own penalty area and own half, is a result of too little creativity in midfield, all down to Harry Winks not capable of getting the ball forward on a great number of occassions as well as having less quality in a long pass that is needed to get this system to work as well as it should. Players with this passing capacity is not found below £40million valuation.
Positional play comes with a great number of advantages, but do also have their disadvantages. So far it looks as if Leicester copes and will certainly be back in Premier League next season. There are still improvements to be made and it will be very interesting to watch the progress as a new group of players will be on the way in during the summer.
The fact that the club has won the FA Cup and Premier League in recent time, also shows the quality Leicester fans are used to. Last season was a disaster and with the quality the squad had, should have been miles away from relegation. But it happened and Enzo Maresca got the job to get the club back up, and he looks to achieve that, and we are of course greatful to see it happen.
Enzo Maresca needs to know that fans are fully aware of the level of the players he have to his disposal, a squad of high Premier League quality. The fact that you can keep Patson Daka out of your team for long periods of time, tells a story of a spoiled man.
We have not seen the action we would like during the January transfer window, and the wait for Stefano Sensi is still on, as he most likely will be the only signing. Sensi looks a good addition and hopefully will bring more quality to the squad.
The fact that the manager of this football club distance himself from transfers of his best players, makes it easy to understand that he is more of a coach than the “old school” manager, looking on as others do decide on sales and signings. This is of course something that brings a number of questions to the surface, regarding “The Idea” as it always comes down to the quality of the individual player.
We are pleased with results and of course individual players doing a good job, but the real test for Enzo Maresca will come next season when “The Idea” will be introduced in Premier League. Also a great test coming up in the 5th round of the FA Cup, playing Bournemouth.
The job is to get this team out of the Championship. So far it’s going as planned with a good gap to the teams below, that is fantastic. We all know the place to compete for this club and that is not in the Championship, with a wage bill and squad equipped to be a level above.
We have seen action and play in recent years at King Power Stadium that builds expectations, and trying to explain something else, looks difficult.
Keep up the good work and if someone else comes to offer Enzo Maresca a new job in management, and he feel that is a better place to be, take it and move on.
