Puel: A Fantastic Opportunity
- Claude Puel says he is thankful for the opportunity to manage an ambitious Leicester City side
- The Frenchman was appointed manager on Wednesday, signing a deal until June 2020
- Puel believes establishing confidence and consistency will be vital for the Foxes this term
- He will make his managerial debut for the Club against Everton on Sunday
Puel has signed a contract at King Power Stadium to June 2020 and will take charge of his first Foxes game on Sunday, when Everton visit Filbert Way.
The 56-year-old Frenchman knows City have had a tough start to the campaign, but their last two performances in particular – both resulting in victories – have given his new side plenty of confidence.
Puel Delighted To Be With Foxes
Claude Puel speaks to LCFC TV after being confirmed as the Club's new manager.
“It’s a fantastic thing,” said Puel during his first interview with LCFC TV. “It’s a good opportunity for me of course to come back to the Premier League after Southampton and to come to a good club with good potential and good ambitions.
“This is very important, so thank you to the owners for giving me the opportunity to come here. I’m happy here.
“For the beginning of the season, we can see some difficulties and it’s important to take confidence. The two last results were very important for the squad and for the players and for the fans also.
“It’s important to keep this consistency for the next game. It’s important to build something for the future, but for the moment, it’s a short space between when I’ve arrived at the Club.
“There’s a game on Sunday, but for the moment we must have good quality, good spirit and good confidence like in the last two games.”
Puel believes his short-term target is to build on those two positive displays, while his eventual aim will be to develop a Foxes side that has the capability to face up to a range of different opponents.
He continued: “For the moment, it’s important to stay with this confidence then after, step by step, to have an identity in the squad and to have different systems against different teams also.
“The Premier League is very difficult with a lot of systems and different teams. We can see that the Premier League improves every time.
“It’s difficult to always give a good answer because some teams defend very well with a strong defensive unit and it’s difficult to find space.
“Other teams can play with possession like Manchester City and Arsenal. It’s easier to make a good counter attack. It’s important to have good answers against any teams.”
The former AS Monaco midfielder met City staff on Thursday, while he will get a first look at his squad on Friday when they return to training at Belvoir Drive. The Frenchman says he could already sense the positivity flowing through the Club.
Reflecting on his first day, Puel said: “It was a special day for me because it was a short time and it’s important to take in maximum information to know all of the people at the Club.
“The atmosphere I think is very interesting and very good. It’s a family club. I don’t see all of the people because it is a day off for the players.
“We will see all the people tomorrow (Friday), but it’s an exciting opportunity and there’s a good atmosphere around the team. They’ve had some difficulties at the beginning of the season but I feel a good atmosphere.
Our new manager Claude Puel with a message for #lcfc fans… pic.twitter.com/LT0XAJBaV5
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 26, 2017
“It’s a club that last season played in the Champions League. Now, it’s important to find the good consistency and to see the Club and the team as high as possible in the table.
“It will be interesting to try and find the top half of the table. For the moment, it’s important to give the team a good identity and to find the good consistency in our game, and also to give different opportunities to evolve the players.”
After spending a year at Premier League rivals Southampton in the 2016/17 campaign, Puel got a good understanding of the challenges that face a manager in England’s top flight.
“It’s the best championship of course,” Puel said of the Premier League. “It has great managers and fantastic players with organisation and atmosphere.
“It’s a good opportunity to play these Premier League games. It’s very interesting that we can see in every season all the teams improve.
“The adaptation to play good football against any team is very difficult. It’s a good challenge. There is a possibility to write a good story in the future.”
It will be the first time in Puel’s 18-year managerial career that he has joined a Club midway through the season and while Premier League points on the board will of course be key, he hopes the Foxes can establish a good level of consistency in the coming games.
He added: “I think it’s not easy but I take this as a good opportunity and a good challenge. It’s the first time for me that I take a club in the middle of the season.
“The beginning of the action is the most important and after, we will have time to work and to find a good balance and to write something good with the players.
“Now, we have a short time to have this good relationship between ourselves. It’s important that the players can find consistency and the two last results were very important to see this.
“The game against Everton is another game – a special game because they changed their team, also the manager, and we don’t know what the possibility and the system will be – all these things.
“It’s important to stay with a good concentration about our game. With the support of the fans, it’s important to give a good answer and to make them happy.”