We’re halfway through the first half of Leicester City’s first game of the 2026/27 season. Will Alves has just lifted a fine finish into the roof of the Northampton Town net to put Leicester 3-0 up.
All 22 players wander over to the far touchline for a hydration break that is entirely necessary and yet, as the World Cup continues across the pond, feels incomplete without accompanying jeers from the crowd. It’s necessary because it’s 25 degrees just past midday at the best training ground in the third division and it gives Russell Martin the chance to praise his players for their first efforts of his spell as manager of Leicester City. Fleetwood Mac starts playing over the tannoy. Everybody’s smiling.
It’s worth capturing this moment for two reasons. Firstly, there hasn’t been much to smile about over the past few years so while this may be a meaningless friendly against weak opposition, the positive tone is noteworthy. Secondly, not a huge amount happens after this point. Which is often the way with pre-season games.
Martin’s first starting lineup featured a first start for the lesser-spotted Fran Vieites in goal, behind a back four of Bade Aluko, Caleb Okoli, Ben Nelson and Luke Thomas. Hamza Choudhury began in the holding midfield role with Will Alves and Louis Page feeding a front three of Stephy Mavididi on the left, Kirsten Otchere at centre-forward and Riley Carr on the right.
Otchere and Carr will be new names for some, both having impressed for the Under 21 side last season. Both impressed here too, Carr with his direct running and Otchere dropping deep to link play in a role similar to the one filled by Patson Daka or Jamie Vardy in Enzo Maresca’s sole season in charge.
The first half’s chief tactical touchpoints were Choudhury and Page switching roles halfway through the first half, Aluko given licence to drift into central midfield from right-back and the high and wide positions taken by Mavididi and Carr in possession.
The first goal, laid off by Otchere for Mavididi to curl into the far corner, was made possible by great work by Alves, who appeared to draw lots of attention and praise from Martin. It was perhaps fitting that, a couple of hours after Jeremy Monga’s move to Manchester City was confirmed by both clubs, the original boy wonder showed his new boss what he can do.
Alves turned 21 a couple of months ago and it’s now or never for his Leicester career. Successive relegations have pushed his boyhood club into the division in which he’s just played 15 times for Huddersfield Town. Alves will have wanted to progress more in the four and a half years since his senior debut, but Martin could be the manager he needs to kick on. It’s been baffling that his close control in tight areas and ability to create aren’t qualities previous managers have sought to bring to a turgid first team setup.
There followed a brief interlude which can only be described as very Leicester, during which: Luke Thomas was twice bodied by Northampton attackers in the lead-up to chances for the away side; Caleb Okoli was caught in possession to gift a chance to Tyrese Fornah who shot wastefully wide; Northampton fashioned an open goal after Okoli collapsed in a heap and Fran Vieites was sent back to Seville only for their journeyman striker Harvey Saunders to blaze the ball over the bar; Louis Page overhit two corners straight out of play to bring grumbles from the small crowd.
But then Brussellball kicked in and Leicester quickly added two goals. Choudhury’s sharp touch allowed Page to drive a low ball across for Alves whose shot was deflected into the net. Five minutes later, Otchere’s lovely lay-off put Alves through on goal for an accomplished finish.
One of the few interesting things about pre-season games is the opportunity to hear how a new manager communicates with his players. Martin was encouraging to Otchere, whose one-touch passes when coming back into midfield helped Leicester to build attacks. There was also an urge for Choudhury to move out into space more quickly when the midfield became congested: “Hamza, outside! Quicker!”
The pace of the game was the main focal point. Primarily, of course, it’s vital for fitness that players try to replicate the urgency of a competitive game. But also because the pace at which Leicester play Martin’s style will determine not just how effective it is but how well it is received by supporters wary of slow possession football in the defensive half. Here, Leicester played quickly through the lines before the break and the response from supporters was positive.
At half time, the outfield starters were subjected to a variation on the bleep test, which some (Louis Page, Caleb Okoli) found easier than others (Luke Thomas, who by the end had done a good impression of a supporter being asked to take part). It may have been performative but even if so, at least Martin recognises the importance of showing us his players will be worked harder than they have been for a number of years. Forgetting the style of play for a second, mere fitness to get through games and get through seasons is a massive factor for this football club.
The team for the second half saw Jakub Stolarczyk replace Vieites in goal, a back four comprised entirely of returning loanees that sums up Leicester’s wild jumble of promising youngsters learning their Football League lines and signings-gone-wrong they’re now attempting to scatter throughout Europe: Jayden Joseph (Tranmere Rovers), Wout Faes (Monaco), Tom Wilson-Brown (Swindon Town) and Woyo Coulibaly (Sassuolo). Oliver Skipp moved into the holding midfield position behind Sammy Braybrooke and Bobby Decordova-Reid. The new front three from left to right was Lorenz Hutchinson, Nathan Opoku and Jake Evans.
The second half lineups showed the growing connection between the two clubs with Evans lining up against the team he played for last season in League One and Northampton fielding a current Leicester player, loanee Logan Briggs, on the left wing and a former Leicester player, Academy graduate Joe Wormleighton, at right-back.
An early chance for the visitors was wasted after Joseph was drawn into midfield and Evans failed to track the runner from left-back. But at the other end, Evans looked Leicester’s most likely source of a goal for the entire half, particularly when linking with the dynamic Braybrooke. There were also a couple of glimpses of Hutchinson’s talent but his fierce shot was beaten out for a corner while a wicked ball in from the left after a clever piece of skill failed to find a blue shirt.
The question about the jumble of youngsters and misfits is how well-suited any of them are to the reality of life in League One. Can players like Joseph, Wilson-Brown and Opoku, all coming off loans in League Two, make the step up? Wilson-Brown was aerially dominant here but Joseph was hesitant and Opoku not as effective as Otchere.
Meanwhile, the likes of Faes (whose first ball straight out of play drew a couple of boos) and Coulibaly simply look like they’d be better off somewhere else regardless of whether they’d be able to play third division football, as long as Leicester can find a taker. It seems they have found a home for Harry Winks, who stood behind one goal on his phone – presumably to a Sardinian estate agent.
The much-needed Leicester City reset needs to come from trust in youngsters. Despite a less impressive overall second half, the busy duo of Braybrooke and Evans in the right channel showed what this team could become if the less busy duo of Rudkin and McCarron are able to shift the overpaid deadwood. With five senior centre-backs (Vestergaard, Faes, Okoli, Nelson, Souttar) still at the club, there’s a lot of business to be done before players like Wilson-Brown, who was impressive in the air here, and unused sub Kevon Gray can start to look like squad members.
That raises another issue with this side which must be addressed by Martin, Glover and those upstairs (quite literally in the case of this game, with Srivaddhanaprabha and Rudkin watching from a gantry). Outside of the centre-back pairing, have we got enough height in the team? None of the most likely youngsters to start – Braybrooke, Page, Evans and Alves – will offer aerial dominance in either box. The only signing which appears to be on the verge of completion, Danny Ings, is a couple of inches short of six foot. Hopefully this need isn’t forgotten in Rudkin and McCarron’s pursuit of players suited to Martin’s preferred style of play.
These are early days. This was the earliest day. It’s impossible to know how many of these players will still be at Leicester City by the time the league season kicks off and remain at the club after the transfer window closes at the end of August.
But it’s pretty clear which ones Leicester fans are hoping will stick around and play a big part in the long season ahead. And Will Alves just moved towards the top of that list.
