Maresca: A Very Good Performance
- Leicester City overcome Southampton 4-1 at St. Mary’s Stadium on Friday night
- Four different scorers see the Foxes to victory in the Sky Bet Championship
- Manager Enzo Maresca commended the team’s performance from front to back
- Jamie Vardy, Kasey McAteer, Wilfred Ndidi and Stephy Mavididi all among the goals
Four different goalscorers saw the Foxes return from the international window in some style, with Jamie Vardy, Kasey McAteer, Wilfred Ndidi and Stephy Mavididi all finding the net at St. Mary’s Stadium on Friday evening.
The quality of those goals impressed the Manager, as did the quick start, with the opener coming after just 20 seconds, courtesy of City’s No.9. That set the tone for what was to come – only Sam Edozie’s first-half strike dented the visitors on their way to a comprehensive away victory.
“Especially the way we performed, the performance was very good,” the Italian said in his post-match assessment of proceedings. “On the ball, we were good, off the ball we were unbelievable, very aggressive and I’m very happy to be honest.
“It was the perfect start but apart from the goal, since the game started, we showed that we came here to be an aggressive team off the ball and on the ball, to play in the way that we want to play.”
It was the ideal response to suffering a first defeat of the season against Hull City just before the break, but Maresca was also keen to focus on the performance aspect of the first six league games and how the new style of play has been implemented, ahead of another away trip to Norwich City next Wednesday.
The 43-year-old explained: “I also said before the game, I have been very happy since day one because the players are making a big effort to understand how we want to play and every game they try and we are improving game after game.
“The result is important and we lost against Hull but, for me, the performance was good. I know that probably outside we are used to judging the result, but sometimes from the inside we need to make some different analysis.
“We’ve won five out of six, which is important. Now we have a game on Wednesday but then we have a game again on Saturday. Now until probably October, we’re going to play three games a week.”
Academy graduate McAteer netted his third goal of the Sky Bet Championship campaign, while James Justin made his maiden league start this term, coming through 90 minutes. Maresca commended both and welcomed the return of Conor Coady, in the matchday squad for the first time following injury.
The Manager added: “He (Kasey McAteer) was very impressive. I’m very happy for him and I’m very happy for JJ (James Justin) also. He showed how professional he has been since day one, working hard and because the season is very long, all of them are going to have a chance, because they all work very well.”
“He (Conor Coady) is close to being back. He’s around the players, he’s around the squad. He was back on the bench tonight and he is one of the players who you will see for sure.”