Another Tough Test Awaits, Says Maresca
With the opportunity to make it four wins from four this Saturday, Maresca has spoken to the media to preview the visit of the Bluebirds to Filbert Way…
Completing a move for Casadei
Earlier this week, Cesare Casadei's arrival was confirmed when it was announced that he would spend the 2023/24 Sky Bet Championship season on loan with Leicester. The Italian spoke about bringing in a fellow countryman who can add something different to the team.
“I know him well,” he explained. “He’s the kind of the player who will give us something different. He’s quite a box-to-box player and he brings a different solution to our midfield.
“Since I arrived, I’ve spoken to Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] and Wilfred [Ndidi] about arriving into the box to score goals, and you don’t need to tell Cesare that because he’s always in the box, so first of all he brings this solution.
“We have four midfielders now which gives us many opportunities to play in the midfield which is what I wanted when I arrived. The only way to score goals is to arrive in the box, like Kiernan did against Coventry, and he is a big guy in midfield who is also able to do this.”
Cardiff City
The second home match off the campaign sees Cardiff arrive in Leicestershire with one point on the board, having drawn with Leeds United on the opening day before more recently losing 2-1 to QPR.
Despite being favourites to keep their winning streak going, the former Manchester City coach labels Saturday’s clash as a tough test, and insists that it’ll be treated just like any other match.
He continued: “It’s a very difficult and important test for us against Cardiff City. They’ve played two tough games, the first one against Leeds where they were 2-0 up at half-time, and I don’t think the scoreline was very fair on them against QPR last weekend. They’re a very good team, and it will difficult again.
“If we win tomorrow then we have four wins in a row which is fantastic, but it won’t be easy.
“The clear message right now is how we play football, as there are still a lot more games to play, and we always just focus on the next game in front of us. Each game will provide a tough test.”
Sticking to the plan
While admitting that sometimes the game can call for a more ‘direct’ approach, the Manager states that he intends to keep building his new Leicester City identity based on possession and patience.
“We create some chances, not playing long ball, but still longer than our short game, because the opponents can give us this kind of solution,” he told the media. “But most of the time, the opposition don’t give us this kind of chance.
“So, we need to entice them to create the spaces for us to be ready to attack into. The main thing for us is that we want the fans of the Club to understand our game of football more and more after each game.
“It’s already our third game in the league, and we've seen many chances created from the back, but we lacked a little bit of quality when taking these opportunities. The most important thing is creating chances. With time, we will learn to take them.”