Matchday With The Manager – Have Pride In Our Own Display
The Foxes remain involved in a relegation fight as the season begins to reach its climax in the coming weeks. Seven games await Leicester, starting with Saturday’s 3pm BST kick-off against Wolves.
Ahead of his first match in the home dugout at King Power Stadium, Smith sat down inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground to address the gathered media in his pre-match press conference.
First game reflections
Kelechi Iheanacho scored the first goal of the Dean Smith era, but it came in a 3-1 defeat to the reigning champions at Etihad Stadium last Saturday. Plenty can be taken forward into this weekend, though, Leicester’s Manager believes.
The 52-year-old began: “We knew the Man City away game was going to be quite unique because of the way they play, the form they’re in and the level they are at compared to the rest of the Premier League apart from Arsenal at the moment.
“It didn’t help being two goals down so early, but I thought we defended our box, in general, well and we finished the game really well. The biggest thing that gives us belief is that the players cared. We went 2-0 down after 10 minutes, 3-0 down after 24 minutes.
“The state of the game was different (in the second half). Man City made changes. Although we were three goals down, the big thing was that they hadn’t created big chances against us, that’s a real positive to take.
“The players had a pride in their own performance, in the team’s performance and in playing for Leicester City. The fact that they cared showed that there’s an awful lot of character in the team. We didn’t stay in the game, but we did finish really well.
“It’s still hard to create those chances against Man City like we did. Before the game, there was an excitement about it and a feeling that we could do something that not many teams go and do. Obviously, those flames got very quickly dampened with the goals that we conceded.
“Half-time was a difficult place. The players were feeling a bit low. I didn’t feel it was a performance that deserved to be three goals down. Man City had lots of control, as they do against most teams.
“We had to change a few things. We wanted to be a little bit more aggressive when they were playing between the lines, and I thought we did that by winning the ball back on a number of occasions.
“The feeling after was a little bit of what if. If we’d have stayed in the game a little bit more, if Madders had taken his chance to make it 3-2 it could have been a different game. We’ve learned our lessons from that.
“The players have learned what me and my coaching staff want and we’ve learned an awful lot about the players because we’ve managed to get five subs on the pitch as well and looked at 16 players. We’re not going to be defined by the Manchester City game.”
Analysing the opposition
Unbeaten in their last three, recent form has seen Julen Lopetegui’s men climb up to 13th in the table, collecting 34 points from 31 matches this term. The Midlands side were on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline when the two sides last met, at Molineux, however.
“They’ve got threats all over the pitch,” Smith explained. “[Diego] Costa’s been a real talisman for them, in terms of building off him, running the channels, everything you come to expect from him. They’re on a good run of form as well. They’ve beaten Chelsea 1-0 and Brentford 2-0, so they’ll certainly be confident. We know the strengths that Wolves will have.
“We’ve got to work out first and foremost whether they bring [Rúben] Neves straight back in. They’ve won two games without him. He’s been a permanent fixture in the team since he’s been there.
“They have quality players all over the pitch and we have to make sure that we nullify the threats that they have and take our game to them. They are very well organised. They like to create overloads on the outside and get crosses into the box.
“We’re fully aware of them and we fully respect the football club and the team they are. But we can’t play with any fear this weekend and we won’t.”
Finding a boost
A victory over Wolves could see Leicester move out of the bottom three come Saturday evening and Smith, alongside his coaching staff, has seen promising signs from the way the squad have gone about their business on the training field this week. That will need to be replicated in all aspects of their game.
“Everyone knows how important this game is on Saturday, at home, under new management,” the former Aston Villa manager added. “Hopefully we get to see a lift from the players and start how we finished at Man City.
“What I saw on the training ground was a lift and confidence coming backing some players that had probably been missing over the last few weeks. The players have worked extremely hard so far and with great intensity and the right attitude as well.
“When you’ve got character and spirit, and with the talent that we’ve got, that should be enough to win football games. It’s really important that we’re together in this. We all want the same goal, which is to win games and stay in the Premier League. We can only do that together.
“The fans want to see players who are working hard for each other and are proud to wear the shirt. We need to give them something to shout about. Hopefully we can go and do that. We need the fans behind us at King Power Stadium now.
“These lads will keep fighting for us, as they did last week. But we really need to be concentrated on ourselves - and we have this week - to get the fans behind us. The only way you can do that is being on the front foot and aggressive and that’s what we’re looking to do.
“The games that are coming up now, we can only look at Wolves to start with. It’s a big game because our results at home have not been where they should be. We need to go and get a result. That’ll just really lift the belief of the fans and the city as well.
“We look at the quality that we have on the training ground and we really like the qualities that we’ve got. We haven’t brought that out onto the pitch for whatever reason. Our job is to get that out of them.
“What I saw against Bournemouth was a lethargy. We can’t have that on Saturday. We need to be free and play with confidence. From what I’ve seen so far, I think they can do that.
“You won’t see us sitting in a low block for the majority of the game. We felt that was the best plan to go to Man City with. Hopefully you see more of a side that is demanding of possession, but also providing threats up the top end of the pitch as well.”