[Sports] How Maresca took Leicester back to big time - but clouds on horizon?

[Wolf.17]

 

In February, Leicester City lost 3-1 away to Leeds - reducing what had been a 17-point gap to the Whites to just six.

Manager Enzo Maresca came into the changing room and said just one thing: "We will finish ahead of Leeds."

A deliberately timed, measured message with the purpose of spreading confidence.

Three months later, after just one season in the Championship wilderness and in his first full campaign as a number one in senior football, Maresca and Leicester are back in the big time as champions.

But there are clouds on the horizon. Leicester's fate could be set as much by decisions made off the field as those on it.

 

Maresca unimpressed by Leicester issues

The euphoria created by promotion can not disguise the fact that not everything is well.

The news that Leicester face potential financial fair play issues is something Maresca only became aware of after the start of the season.

It is disingenuous to imagine that the club knew nothing about the potential problems they could be facing and not informing their Italian manager earlier is not a good look.

This is evidenced by the highly unsatisfactory January transfer window involving two deals in particular. Cesare Casadei was very much part of Maresca's plans after signing him on loan from Chelsea at the start of the season. Then Chelsea recalled him in the winter window.

Stefano Sensi, from Inter Milan, had come to the UK to help complete the deal once the two clubs had negotiated a fee for the player. Suddenly everything fell apart over concerns surrounding the club's FFP standing.

To say Maresca was unimpressed on both occasions would be an understatement.

Surviving in the top flight will be hard enough even without the handicap of having to start next season with a points deduction.

While Leicester's fortunes are not yet fully known, the one thing that is certain is that Maresca has no intention of changing his way of playing for the Premier League.

He also won't want to make some of the mistakes Vincent Kompany made at Burnley, believing most of his promoted squad could keep them up. Changes to Leicester's squad are required.

Maresca and his family are comfortable in Leicester. His children have stayed in England for most of their lives and any change of location always brings with it a degree of personal drama. But the Italian coach doesn’t see himself having a long career in management, so every step along the way has to be calculated with care.

It is logical that Maresca, with offers from European Cup winners and Spanish and Italian teams, and interest from English clubs, would consider all of his options after listening to the chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha during the squad break in Monaco on the Thai businessman's yacht.

On 3 June, Maresca, as assistant to Pep Guardiola, helped Manchester City win the FA Cup against Manchester United.

The following day, he was speaking to Leicester's owner about becoming head coach. He almost never made the meeting.

The 44-year-old agonised long and hard before attending the appointment, not because he didn't want the job, but because he would miss the 10th birthday party of his son, Paolo.

If he was to choose a business appointment ahead of the celebration of the eldest of his four children, then he told himself it had better be worth it and he left a note on a board behind his desk in the training ground office saying as much.

It became a regular thought during the season. 'It has to be worth it. It will be worth it.'

Chairman Srivaddhanaprabha said he wanted the team to play like Manchester City.

"Not possible," Maresca told him. "Nobody has that level."

He promised though the team would dominate games, would be offensive and brave. It was a way of playing that he fell in love with ever since losing to Guardiola's Barcelona as a player for Sevilla.

Maresca left City with the blessing of everyone. Guardiola had told him from the start he knew he was a number one. He was too capable and ambitious, to settle for being an assistant.

The advice he got from some of the City bosses was not to go to the Championship, it was too risky and demanding.

But Maresca, who had offers from Premier League clubs, wanted one with history and with the potential to re-establish themselves in the top tier. Leicester ticked all the boxes, despite the fact that anything less than returning to the Premier League would be deemed as a failure.

On 16 June 2023, Maresca was appointed manager of Leicester, having signed a three-year contract with the newly-relegated club. He spent his first two months living at the club's training base.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c4n1v47jl42o