Latest Leicester City news as we take a look at some of the comments from opposition managers about Enzo

Maresca’s Foxes

 

Leicester City’s start to the Championship this year has been one to remember.

City has won ten of its eleven league games this season under the direction of new manager Enzo Maresca. The

team’s lone setback occurred at the beginning of the month when they suffered a close 1-0 loss to Hull City.

The results have lifted City to the top of the table, and their goal difference means that they have officially had the

best ever start in the history of the Championship. Maresca’s men are two points clear of Ipswich in second place and

10 points clear of third placed Preston North End.

Following the defeat against Hull before the last international break, City have recorded a 100 percent record in the

league. They did though fall to defeat against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

City came out as 2-0 winners against Stoke City in their last outing, thanks to goals from Kelechi

Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy. Maresca will now have two weeks to work with the players who are not on international

duty before the next Championship clash against Swansea City.

So, what better time to look back of the L season so far? What have City’s rivals made of the team under Maresca?

Here’s a look at what Championship teams that the side have come up against so far have had to say…

Mark Robins (Coventry City), following the 2-1 loss vs City (August 6) : “I think Dewsbury-Hall is going to

be one of the best players at this level. He’s found the top corner. You’ve got to say that that is the quality they are

likely to show. Somebody just said to me that they’ve £100m worth of talent on the bench, which is nice.

“It’s disappointing to lose, especially from a winning position, but when you look at the quality of the opposition and

the way we coped with their rotation… There’s a lot of Manchester City in that, with the movement.

“Callum Doyle we know really well, he’s got quality and can switch the play. Thankfully he didn’t have his best game,

because when he starts to grow into this team, he’s going to be a big player for them.

“They move the ball quickly and they move quickly themselves. That ended up running the legs out of one or two.

Gus had to come off, he was feeling his calves, Kasey Palmer stretched his calf as well. You don’t want to have to

make those changes if you don’t need to. The changes came at 1-0.”

Neil Warnock (Huddersfield Town), before the Championship clash (August 12) : What you don’t want

to do against a team like that is give them a head start, because once they get in front they’re so good. They keep the

ball, possession wise, and you can see he’s managed under Pep [Guardiola] – they have similar styles and things. And

they’ve got good players, but I’ve got some good players as well.

Asked where Leicester’s strengths lie, Warnock admitted: “I think everywhere. You tell me where there’s a weakness,

let alone the main threat. They’ve got attacking players, wide players, as good as anything, to international strikers

that would get in anybody’s team in our league.

“[Their] midfield [is] very strong, they paid millions for the midfield players and they’ve been linked with another

player today that we spoke about, another midfield player. Then you look at the back line, and that’s as strong as anything.

After the 1-0 loss vs City, Warnock said : “They’ve got a good squad. The guy who went to watch them for me

last week said ‘they’ve got two teams to get promotion here’.”

Erol Bulut (Cardiff City), before the Championship clash, which ended in a 2-1 win for City (August

19) : “Leicester are a really good team. Just relegated from the Premier League and they have strong individual players.

“I think the whole Championship knows Leeds, Leicester are one of the favourites. Some other clubs can also

surprise. The season is long.”

Matt Taylor (Rotherham United), before the Championship clash (August 26) : “They have won the

Premier League and the FA Cup and have been a Premier League team more than a Championship club and they are

really going for it with the backing and recruitment they have had.

“You cannot do too much about that apart from making sure we get our best version out onto the pitch consistently,

competitively and for a lot longer time.”

After the game, which finished 2-1 to City, he said : “We got a little bit weaker as the game went on, but we

have more than held our own against one of the best teams in the league. We just needed a little bit more in terms of the bench.”

Liam Rosenior (Hull City), after the Championship clash, with Hull coming out as 1-0 winners

(September 2) : “We’re playing an incredible team, a magnificent club in a big stadium. If we’d have conceded in

the last minute, I’d have been just as proud of the group.

“We came here with bravery, we were fearless and wanted to play our way, and that’s why I’m so proud of the

players. We changed our press because they’re an outstanding team and I wanted to take the rhythm away from them.

“Once Leicester get rhythm, it’s very difficult to stop them.”

Russell Martin (Southampton), before City’s 4-1 win (15 September): “I don’t know Enzo (Maresca), but I

think if we sat down and had a chat about the game, I think we would probably believe in quite a few similar things,” he said.

“I’ve been really impressed by them and I’ve really enjoyed watching them. They are early on in the process as well.”

David Wagner (Norwich City), following City’s 2-0 win (20 September): “I think Leicester will finish top

this season and the rest of the teams will be battling for the other positions. It’s tough to take but I have every faith in

this group of players going forwards.”

Nigel Pearson (Bristol City), following City’s 1-0 win (23 September):

“What I’ve seen tells me they’ll be tough opponents to beat,” Pearson said on City. “It’s whether they can find a

consistently high level of performance. But I don’t doubt that will be the case.

“They’re in here because they didn’t perform well enough last season. They’ve made changes but not just any

changes. When you bring new players in you don’t just look at what they can do, they’ve got to be the right people.

It’s evident now that they have a collective again, which is really important.

“People talk about being too good to go down. They went down! But they’ll probably go back up this year and they’ll

have learned who they don’t want at the club any more and will get rid of them. That’s how it should work, it’s what

I’ve done for the last two-and-a-half years.”

Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), following City’s 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat (27 September):

“With all of the quality of Leicester, and we have to admit that as well, they are a super-coached team, they have a

super set-up. You can pretty much see, feel, and smell the confidence they have because of their situation. That made

life difficult. But we kept going and improved during the game as a team, but individually as well.”

Jon Dahl Tomasson (Blackburn Rovers), following City’s 4-1 win (1 October):

“We caused them plenty of problems in the first half with great football and great movements. We gave two soft goals

away in the first half. In the second half, we were in the game, we were on top of the opponent, and we got a big

chance to score a goal. I think they only had four shots on target.

“They get the penalty and I think it’s a soft penalty. You can give it but then you give 10 penalties in each game. Then

the game was over.

“It was a great effort by the lads. We shouldn’t forget this is an excellent side, probably champions of this league, and

a Premier League team.”

Ryan Lowe (Preston North End), following City’s 3-0 win (4 October):

“I thought we were fantastic for 50-odd minutes until they scored the first goal, which was disappointing on our

behalf – we go to ground when we could probably have intercepted it. Leicester have some quality, they are different

class, and we nullified that early on – we caught them out a little bit.

“We didn’t have much possession but I can’t fault the effort. Late on we were out on our feet a little bit, which was

expected. We had the best chance first half – Duane’s had a fantastic opportunity and it’s gone just beyond the post –

but they are a Premier League team in the Championship.

“They have got a player in Dewsbury-Hall who shouldn’t be playing at this level. But we didn’t fear them. We

respected them. They are normal human beings but they have got different qualities to most in the Championship.”

“If we get to half-time and it’s 0-0… Our intention was always late in the game to have a go. You could see why when

we did have a go why you don’t come here and try to go toe-to-toe with Leicester. They’ve got some really good

players. The minute we squeezed the space, we could hear the coach for them saying: ‘They’ve changed.’

“The minute we changed, they brought on pace at the top end of the pitch. If you’re going to squeeze and try to

compress the game, Jamie Vardy at this level is going to cause you all sorts of problems.

“They’ll be one of the best Championship teams in a long time, I think. Just look at the stadium, fans, and players

they’ve got. I think they’ve got four internationals that have played for England, I can’t ever remember that having

happened anywhere else.”