Tactics Under Maresca

[Lillehamring]

59 minutes ago, weller54 said:

Substitutions!... delay delay delay.  

When everyone on here (and rightly so) is screaming out for awful individual displays to be replaced he almost stubbornly keeps the player on!... remind you of anyone?

Rodgers had two good seasons, two poor season, so to draw any comparison with his time with us is, at best, unreliable, to parallel the two managers based on enzo not making substitutions late in a couple of games is really desperate.

I'm sure every single manager at some point has angered fans by not taking off an underperforming player, to single out such an action as being the trademark of a certain manager is extremely selective.

 

So, frankly, no, enzo reminds me not a bit of rodgers. 

[LCFCJohn]

8 minutes ago, Lillehamring said:

Yeah, bit odd with the subs, but such an insignificant thing is a lot to base such a comparison on, especially as rodgers had such a jekyll and hyde career with us.

I think you just have to accept and appreciate that as Rodgers did such a job on us, people will not have got over it yet and those comparisons will be quick to come to for some.
 

At the end of the day, Enzo hasn’t proven anything yet. He’s had a positive start but he’s not shown how he will deal with a dip in form (as he hasn’t had to yet). It’s natural for people to remember December 2019 when we had been on a long winning run, started with a couple of bad performances (Everton and Norwich) before losing to a couple of the stronger sides in the league (Man City and Liverpool). We then fell apart. 
 

Hopefully just all very loose and only a connection made by trauma from the Rodgers era and the power of over thinking, and that we come back from the break firing again. But I think that is where the worry comes from basically.

[Lillehamring]

1 hour ago, LCFCJohn said:

I think you just have to accept and appreciate that as Rodgers did such a job on us, people will not have got over it yet and those comparisons will be quick to come to for some.
 

At the end of the day, Enzo hasn’t proven anything yet. He’s had a positive start but he’s not shown how he will deal with a dip in form (as he hasn’t had to yet). It’s natural for people to remember December 2019 when we had been on a long winning run, started with a couple of bad performances (Everton and Norwich) before losing to a couple of the stronger sides in the league (Man City and Liverpool). We then fell apart. 
 

Hopefully just all very loose and only a connection made by trauma from the Rodgers era and the power of over thinking, and that we come back from the break firing again. But I think that is where the worry comes from basically.

Comparing any team with any previous team is meaningless, generally speaking.

This is a tactics thread, if someone wants to talk about specific rodgers' tactics in relation to the current tactics , fair enough - but posters should be specific, other wise it adds nothing to the discussion.  

 

Some wafer thin coincidence that we lost a couple of games whilst making limited substitutions is just knee-jerk paranoia, save it for this mental thread....

 

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/misfiring-leicester-city-narrative-doesnt-8901410

 

Misfiring Leicester City narrative doesn't tell full story as door opens for Tom Cannon
Analysis of Leicester City's 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough, looking at Enzo Maresca's view of the display, the attack, the role of the striker, transfers, and the Championship table

ByJordan Blackwell
07:00, 13 NOV 2023

For Enzo Maresca, there was nothing more Leicester City could have done to beat Middlesbrough bar take the chances they created.

His post-match assessment revolved around the “miss, miss, miss” of his team’s performance, saying it was "quite clear" that the game hinged on those opportunities passing them by. Asked if there was anything else lacking about the display, he again referred to the chances that weren’t finished off.

This was broadly his verdict on the Leeds game too, albeit that was twisting the truth somewhat. Leeds were the better team and, if any side deserved to win that night, it was them.

At the Riverside Stadium, Maresca’s overview is not a distortion of events but it doesn’t quite tell the full picture. In the first half, City were a little rough around the edges and didn’t quite have that control they usually do, in part because there seemed to be more chaos to their set-up than usual, with Jannik Vestergaard pressing high into Boro’s half, Kasey McAteer regularly dropping in at right-back, and Ricardo Pereira, from his advanced midfield role, ending up as the striker fairly often.

The chances were pretty evenly split. However, the flurry of opportunities for Boro just before the break meant that they could feel they had shaded it.

The second half fit Maresca’s description. Boro barely had a sniff. They had three official shots, although one looked more like a cross from the byline from right-back Rav van den Berg. The other two efforts were free-kicks from Sam Greenwood, one into the wall and one into the top corner.

City, meanwhile, had eight shots, six of which were from inside the area. They had looked a little blunt at the start of the second period, but really started to build momentum and pressure after the hour. Their press was forcing errors and they fashioned good openings. That’s what Maresca was happy with.

But the Football Gods were not shining down on City this time, with Greenwood’s masterful free-kick consigning them to the sort of late defeat they have inflicted on so many of their opponents this season. Coming in the 83rd minute, it was the first time this season City have conceded in the final half-hour of a match.

It’s a game that could have ended as a draw. It wasn’t quite the obvious deserved win Maresca seemed to be implying it was, nor was it as underwhelming as the performance against Leeds.

But there were matches in the first month of the season that could have ended level and City triumphed. This time, it went the other way. Losing 1-0 to a 30-yard free-kick is not a disaster, but the aim for City should be to do enough at the other end so that when those amazing goals do go in, they still come out on top.

They're not quite at that point yet. Maresca should know that. Hopefully he has been bluffing a little in his recent post-match verdicts and does realise City haven't been quite as good as he has implied they have, and is just avoiding any negativity for fear of that being converted into panic.

But he is wedded to his gameplan, and so the worry would be that he can’t recognise when City were only okay, rather than good, just because they had 66 per cent of the possession. His early-season insistence that City would lose games suggests he knows his team have scope for improvement. Now it's about making it happen.

Back-to-back blanks no cause for concern
Two blanks in a row has seen City’s attack questioned. Is it good enough? The short answer remains yes.

Based on the quality of chances they have created this season, they have the second-best attack in the division, behind only Ipswich, while their shot conversion rate ranks eighth in the league. They are overperforming slightly against the number of goals expected of their attacking play.

It doesn’t mean there is not room for improvement. There was a lack of conviction at times at Boro. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall fired over when he should have hit the target, Stephy Mavididi dragged an effort wide, Ricardo Pereira tried to dig a shot out from under his own feet rather than set himself more comfortably, Kelechi Iheanacho lazily tried to place the ball past Seny Dieng rather than taking the chance confidently.

The two really good efforts were Vestergaard’s thumping first-half header and Iheanacho’s dink against the post. For that chance, the Nigerian’s cuter approach worked, and it was just a few inches from paying off.

While Maresca seemed convinced that on another day, one of those efforts would end up in the net, it doesn’t mean City can’t work on their finishing. For the second successive game, Abdul Fatawu got a back-post volley all wrong. That’s one clear area for improvement.

But it is the case that the ability to create chances is more important than the ability to take them. It would be more worrying if City had fashioned one shot from inside the box and scored it, rather than failing to take any of the nine efforts inside the area they mustered against Boro. The former is not sustainable.

While they weren't all clear-cut chances, nine shots in the penalty area is a decent amount, and is only one shy of City’s average this season. Against Blackburn, City scored four goals from 10 shots inside the box. Against Preston, it was three from seven. The swings and roundabouts of football means that for every game where City are ultra-clinical, they will have matches where they don’t find the net. But as long as they keep creating chances, and as long as they are working to improve their finishing in training, then there’s nothing to worry about on the attacking front for now.

 

Door open for Cannon as Iheanacho misfires
However, the lack of goals in the past two games, and the ineffectiveness of Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy over the past four outings does open the door for Tom Cannon. The fit-again striker was left on the bench and so the wait for his debut goes on, but there are growing calls for it.

As Maresca has said, combine the qualities of Vardy and Iheanacho in one player and City would have a complete striker. Neither of them are that by themselves, and so there are always going to be some deficiencies.

But that neither are perfect does allow someone like Cannon to stake a claim. His performances on loan at Preston last season suggest he’s more like Vardy than Iheanacho in his style, but what he may lack in the number nine’s penalty box nous, he can make up in energy.

That’s something Maresca has highlighted and it’s something they perhaps lack with Vardy and Iheanacho. Vardy is not the pest to defenders he was 10 years ago, while Iheanacho’s style is more languid.

The Nigerian looked particularly slow at Boro, and the good parts of his game – his hold-up play and ability to link with team-mates – deserted him for most of the match too. He was persistent enough to get the big chance that he unfortunately chipped onto the post, but that did not make up for a display that was below his best.

Cannon is only 20 and has one half-season of senior football to his name. He’s not going to be perfect. But the door is open for him. If he can bring speed and enthusiasm for pressing, and a finishing touch that his days in Everton’s academy suggest he has, then he can be a serious challenger to become the lead striker while Iheanacho and Vardy are not in their best form.

 

Time for transfer assessment
For the second straight game, Maresca made just two of his available five substitutions. City were on top for most of the second half, and weren’t trailing for long, so it’s not quite as eyebrow-raising as the lack of changes against Leeds, but it still gives the impression that Maresca doesn’t feel he has the players he wants.

City’s situation is about to improve. After the international break, he may be able to call on Wilfred Ndidi, Yunus Akgun, and Dennis Praet. Maybe then there will be more changes late in games to freshen City up.

But the international break also marks a period of downtime where the club can start thinking about January transfers. They will be discussed behind the scenes and it’s possible City will make moves. Maresca will know far more about what this squad still needs than in the summer window.

 

Rivals' wins breed nerves but fixtures bring promise
Back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, and wins for the three sides immediately behind City means supporters are at the most tetchy they’ve been this season. In three of the past four campaigns, they’ve watched their team hold a position, whether it’s a Champions League berth or Premier League safety, and then let it slip, so nerves of a repeat can be forgiven.

But while the past two games have been a reality check, they are not a major cause for concern. Leeds and Boro are, statistically, two of the best teams in the division, even if the latter’s league position doesn’t quite show it.

After the international break, not only will City have three players close to returning to the squad, they have a run of seven fixtures in which six are against bottom-half sides. Against the teams from the bottom half they’ve already faced, they have a 100 per cent record.

While nobody wants to be stewing over a defeat for a fortnight, everybody would have taken being eight points clear of third going into the November international break. With the games coming up, there’s good reason to think that cushion can at least be maintained.

[norwichfox]

I think I'll revert to my old tactic of hiding behind the sofa...

[Les-TA-Jon]

decent and measured article from Blackwell that. Think this whole idea that we were 'simply a cut above' the rest of the league can be abandoned now. And if Maresca is smart he can use it to his advantage to ensure no complacency sets in. Bad week or so for us, but given the relegation we had, the club being in shambles and all the work we had to do in the summer, we'd have all taken 8 points clear of 3rd at this stage!

[Oldblueyes]

16 hours ago, Lillehamring said:

There's a difference between 'forecasting a defeat' and trying to keep our feet on the ground.

I don't think it's a case of him knowing best - it's a case of having managed 16 games and trying to keep some consistency and to, let's face it, get Plan A to stick before he starts trying to introduce modifications to the system.

I would love to stick with plan A,  I do like that style.  But at this time, the team seem to struggle implementing it.

[PhillippaT]

2 hours ago, norwichfox said:

I think I'll revert to my old tactic of hiding behind the sofa...

We need a 'watching from behind the sofa' emoticon

[tickler28]

I don't care how we achieve it but we must get ourselves in more goalscoring positions and quicker...reduce the time we spend in our own half passing it around like keep ball

[fuchsntf]

4 hours ago, norwichfox said:

I think I'll revert to my old tactic of hiding behind the sofa...

Best place, with some fronts, being taken under the bed covers... 

AND not turning out the lights. 

[sacreblueits442]

3 hours ago, Oldblueyes said:

I would love to stick with plan A,  I do like that style.  But at this time, the team seem to struggle implementing it.

...we do implement it well, we are steeped into this possession game!!!

  Getting to understand and master and carry out the Manager's ideas was part 1, part 2 now needs to be, being braver on the ball and not see going all the way back to the CB's and then the keeper as the way to build to go forward.

  If either winger has the ball and pass back into midfield, then it goes back to Justin or other defender and he is on the half turn,  where the easier and safer option is to go back towards our goal,  as opposed to stepping in and make a forward pass, where we are going to be on the front foot. The players might now have tired of the process, they need to be challenged going forward with something else for them to learn and conquer. 

  Things do become repetitive after awhile. 

[Dr Marco]

"playing football, the Enzo way!"

[Royston.]

All 3 league defeats have been 1-0 which I think Maresca would have expected after the number of games played and the tactics we use.

 

I liked it better when we were HMS piss the league but hello darkness my old friend..

[Sionnach gorm]

So two poor games.  The idea that Maresca has “only a plan A” (what journalistic moron came up with that anyway?) is rubbish.  Certainly all managers have a style they prefer, but it’s way too early to say he’s a one trick pony.  Honestly, I thought the players were at fault.  They’re getting way too confident and not hungry enough.  We’ll see if Maresca has good man management, which I believe is the current problem.

[Happy Fox]

4 minutes ago, Sionnach gorm said:

So two poor games.  The idea that Maresca has “only a plan A” (what journalistic moron came up with that anyway?) is rubbish.  Certainly all managers have a style they prefer, but it’s way too early to say he’s a one trick pony.  Honestly, I thought the players were at fault.  They’re getting way too confident and not hungry enough.  We’ll see if Maresca has good man management, which I believe is the current problem.

I think it’s a mixture of both, both the players and Maresca for not rejigging the players hardly any substitutions these past two games is a bit daft tbh.

[Guest Sideshow Faes]

6 minutes ago, Sionnach gorm said:

So two poor games.  The idea that Maresca has “only a plan A” (what journalistic moron came up with that anyway?) is rubbish.  Certainly all managers have a style they prefer, but it’s way too early to say he’s a one trick pony.  Honestly, I thought the players were at fault.  They’re getting way too confident and not hungry enough.  We’ll see if Maresca has good man management, which I believe is the current problem.

 

1 minute ago, Happy Fox said:

I think it’s a mixture of both, both the players and Maresca for not rejigging the players hardly any substitutions these past two games is a bit daft tbh.

Firstly hardly any teams have a plan b. It's a nonsense thing for people to complain about.

In terms of personnel and subs we don't really have any game changers on the bench. Who could be have brought on that would've fundamentally altered things. He did chuck vardy on with nacho near the end but before their goal we looked the more likely victors. Enzo clearly doesn't rate his options, which I agree with him about, which hopefully night lead to some January business being done.

[slymunn]

I think there a players who are too one footed in the team at the minute. This style won't be able to work fully till it can flow quicker than it does currently.

 

Too many times there's a play on but there's an extra touch or two to set it up..in that time it's gone, or at least closed down in time/space available. So that leads to the passes backwards because of pressure. 

[cityfanlee23]

23 minutes ago, slymunn said:

I think there a players who are too one footed in the team at the minute. This style won't be able to work fully till it can flow quicker than it does currently.

 

Too many times there's a play on but there's an extra touch or two to set it up..in that time it's gone, or at least closed down in time/space available. So that leads to the passes backwards because of pressure. 

Too often we go for the easy pass. 
Harry Winks is a perfect example, he’s miles above this level, and we’ve seen the sort of goals he can score and the passes he’s capable of making, and I know that he’s integral to the way we play, but as much as he’s been the standout player, even now we are completely wasting the talent in his locker IMO. 
He has the ability to be far more progressive than he is, this season in the league he’s been brilliant and we all talk about his amazing pass accuracy stats, but he’s made almost 1500 passes, roughly 300 of them have been forward. Almost 1200 have been backwards or sideways. 
 

So much obvious talent in his locker going to waste, he’s one of the best players in our system but he’s very clearly hampered by it also. 

[Wymsey]

I dont think he's being 'found out', just that certain players are underperforming at present.

Edited 14 November 2023 by Wymsey

[Lambert09]

1 hour ago, cityfanlee23 said:

Too often we go for the easy pass. 
Harry Winks is a perfect example, he’s miles above this level, and we’ve seen the sort of goals he can score and the passes he’s capable of making, and I know that he’s integral to the way we play, but as much as he’s been the standout player, even now we are completely wasting the talent in his locker IMO. 
He has the ability to be far more progressive than he is, this season in the league he’s been brilliant and we all talk about his amazing pass accuracy stats, but he’s made almost 1500 passes, roughly 300 of them have been forward. Almost 1200 have been backwards or sideways. 
 

So much obvious talent in his locker going to waste, he’s one of the best players in our system but he’s very clearly hampered by it also. 

no offence but i think you are way off. The reason for winks playing that way is largely to attract the press for us to break the lines. 
 

It might seem frustrating at times as we watch what seems like a lame safety pass but that’s because sometimes the opposition don’t take the bait. But the one moment they do, we break the line… and he’s done that near on perfect all season. 

 

This game absolutely suits him and he’d probably tell you that himself.  I don’t understand why our own fans can’t see that it’s a methodical move not a safety play. 

 

it’s always going to seem terrible when we have an off day and it doesn’t bear fruits. 

Edited 14 November 2023 by Lambert09

[cityfanlee23]

6 hours ago, Lambert09 said:

no offence but i think you are way off. The reason for winks playing that way is largely to attract the press for us to break the lines. 
 

It might seem frustrating at times as we watch what seems like a lame safety pass but that’s because sometimes the opposition don’t take the bait. But the one moment they do, we break the line… and he’s done that near on perfect all season. 

 

This game absolutely suits him and he’d probably tell you that himself.  I don’t understand why our own fans can’t see that it’s a methodical move not a safety play. 

 

it’s always going to seem terrible when we have an off day and it doesn’t bear fruits. 

I do understand the purpose, it just is not working very well in terms of end result. The teams often either aren’t taking the bait because it’s very obvious how we want to play, or we pass the ball to death and are too hesitant to make the progressive pass when the opportunity arises. The main frustration though is that when we get the ball on the break we default to this same style where we turn a 3vs3 counter into an 8vs11 parked outside their 18 yard box with no way in. 
 

I appreciate dominating the ball, I love watching Man City play, the key difference is though we don’t seem yet to know when to press the button.  
As I’ve said I think Winks is doing an amazing job, but I think he has so much talent that is not being utilised for the sake of the perfect passing goal. Would love to see him getting forward, taking more shots and putting some more penetrating passes in. 

[Pliskin]

It is a situation as simple as score the goals and we win the games. When we score, we win…. When you look at the Boro game in its entirety it wasn’t actually that bad…. The fact they scored late on with an absolute world beater doesn’t tell the whole story. 
 

We missed plenty of clear cut chances, and this is something we’ve got to remedy…. I’ve got a good feeling about Cannon, I don’t know why because I don’t know much about him, but he looked pretty decent in front of goal whilst at Preston…. 
 

We need the two high 8’s to be more clinical and a striker that’s going to average a goal at least every other game, then we will be laughing. Defensively we’re fine, it’s just the attack that’s hindering us at the moment. 

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-maresca-talks-through-leicester-8907360

 

Enzo Maresca explains Leicester City plan for international break before 'starting again'
Leicester City arrive at the November international break at the top of the Championship table but having lost their last two fixtures 1-0 to Leeds and Middlesbrough

ByJordan Blackwell
08:00, 15 NOV 2023

Finding “new solutions” and then “starting again” is Enzo Maresca’s plan for the international break.

Leicester City arrive into the third international period of the season in an excellent position in the Championship table, sitting top with an eight-point cushion inside the automatic promotion places. But they also come into the fortnight break on the back of two 1-0 losses to Leeds and Middlesbrough.

Maresca won’t have all of his squad available to work with as many of his players are representing their countries over the next week. But his troops will be bolstered by the imminent returns from injury of Wilfred Ndidi, Yunus Akgun, and Dennis Praet.

 

With those staying behind and those close to fitness, the plan is to work on individual development, as in previous international breaks, and on how collectively they can find “new solutions”. The attack is likely to be the focus, with City having scored just three goals in their last four games, the fewest of all of the sides in the top half.

“We have many players who are away with their international teams,” Maresca said. “We have some players who are going to be with us. Always, like we have done in the past, we try to focus with the players we have to try to work with them, improve them and give them some more solutions.

“Then hopefully after the international break we will recover some players from injury. We’ll also recover the players in terms of energy. We’re going to try to start again. We always try to look for new solutions.”

City return to action against Watford in a fortnight’s time, the first of a run of seven fixtures in which they play six bottom-half sides. That will then take them to the halfway point of the campaign, with the huge Boxing Day clash against Ipswich to follow.

[SouthStandUpperTier]

I think we have to accept that this is the way football is evolving now and I don't think there is any going back. In a couple of years time I wouldn't be surprised if 95% of teams in the top 2 divisions are playing some form of possession based inverted full-back system (the obvious exceptions being throwbacks like Dyche). It will then simply be a matter of who can do it better (i.e. who has the better players).

Edited 15 November 2023 by SouthStandUpperTier

[bmt]

20 minutes ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

I think we have to accept that this is the way football is evolving now and I don't think there is any going back. In a couple of years time I wouldn't be surprised if 95% of teams in the top 2 divisions are playing some form of possession based inverted full-back system (the obvious exceptions being throwbacks like Dyche). It will then simply be a matter of who can do it better (i.e. who has the better players).

Pep will have made something new by then!