Top, tunes and trust: The biggest positives from Leicester City’s winning start
After TFW’s miserable first year, we’re enjoying the opportunity to revel in Leicester City’s perfect start to this campaign - so what’s making our writers smile, other than winning every week?
A new identity
Helen Thompson
Leicester City feel like a team with an identity again, from top to bottom. How long had it been that we looked rudderless as a side? Last season you’d have been hard pressed to describe what style of play we actually operated under.
No longer a counter-attacking but not really a possession team either, not great going forward and definitely not good defensively. It wasn’t fun to watch, looking at lineups could leave you perplexed and let’s not even talk about some of the substitution decisions.
We must have made horrible watching for the neutral fan given we were sick of it. The Enzo Maresca era isn’t even a month old, the system and the squad aren’t completely finessed but it has a clear objective and set of ideas, uncompromising ideas if the first four games are anything to go by. No need to question who’s driving this boat.
Not every problem around the club is going to be fixed by just having a manager with some purpose and gusto, but it certainly helps. There's still some way to go in repairing some of the damage done last season between the club and its supporters but the approach to the on-field antics will help close that gap. Giving people something they can actually back does make some of the other niggles easier to swallow. And it’s frankly refreshing again to have something to actually get behind and support.
Even the loudest, chant-loving fans struggled to find something to clap for much of last year. Sure, right now you need a level of patience but when we’ve turned it on, it’s been glorious to watch. There’s excitement and while we need one or two more creative players to help balance the squad, we look like a team who have goals across the whole pitch.
There’s even an identity to the types of players that Maresca has brought in too. There’s a focus on youth and up and coming talent, which is what the Championship should be all about. But they’re skilful players, competent on the ball and with some vision. They seem to universally share a forward thinking perspective and want to make things happen. Among the youth there’s been the more shrewd signings to bring in experience.
Harry Winks brings not just experience, but a professionalism and positive attitude that can not only help the younger players but looks infectious (it’s that smile and the freckles isn’t it?). Conor Coady, a natural leader, another solid addition whether he’s played yet or not. Even taking a chance on Stephy Mavididi looks to be smart business.
Not only do I like the current team, and believe that they actually want to play for us, I’m excited by their potential. It’s one thing to have an identity and another to enjoy it.
Big buy-in
Matt Jedruch
For me it has been the collective buy-in from the players for Maresca's 'idea'. We are a club in transition and it was hugely important for us to find a new identity and a platform upon which to rebuild.
Having a core squad who believe in this style of football and enjoy playing it is a massive hurdle to overcome, and was never going to be a guarantee prior to this season. Hopefully we can add a few more like-minded players in the next 10 days to make Maresca's job a bit easier.
Crucially, we need to hope that this backing translates to more of our fans over the coming weeks. The low tempo, methodical build-up play is not what many fans are accustomed to or enjoy watching.
The audible frustration many of us have heard in both home games this season doesn't help the players and frankly demonstrates the ignorance of many match-going fans.
We have to trust Maresca and the players - they've definitely earned it so far.
Hitting the right notes
Andrew Smith
Obviously exciting new signings, emerging young players, a new style and fitness are among many Reasons To Be Cheerful right now. And is it just me, or did Jamie Vardy look more like the Vardy of old in his twenty minutes against Cardiff?
But for my brightest sign of optimism, I’ll opt not for heartening action on the pitch - but a louder noise off it. Because to my ears, 12 words, 3 of them sung over and over again, perfectly encapsulate the new optimism at LCFC: Straight Back Up!
True, there’s an arrogance to singing about instant promotion a few games into a 46-game season. True, it will sound a bit hollow in December if Enzoball stalls and we find ourselves stuck in the marshy wasteland of the Championship midtable.
But it is time for a new anthem. A new belief. One that looks forward to new glories rather than celebrating past triumphs. Straight Back Up demands a return to the Premier League. It tells manager and players - we trust you to do it. Your Way. Enzo’s Way.
The atmosphere at the KP against Cardiff was the loudest heard since we gave up trying to awaken the team from its relegation-bound torpor.
Straight Back Up was at the heart of the improvement, a simple, uplifting tune blasted out across large sections of the crowd, for large parts of the match. Somehow it creates a positive atmosphere all of its own.
Like “Vichai had a dream” and “European Tour” complete with its “Dilly Dongs”, it’s a song which seems right for this moment. Let’s hope it lasts.
Faith in youth
Ryan Hubbard
It's been fantastic to see youth allowed a decent amount of game time so far. That's even discounting the loan acquisitions of Callum Doyle and Cesare Casadei.
Had we stayed in the Premier League, I don't think we'd have seen the likes of Wanya Marcal-Madivadua and Kasey McAteer get their chances this early; and while they've had a mixed impact, it'll only be good for future of the club. Hopefully they'll both gain confidence from the faith that has been put in them, and become an important part of the squad over the season.
I'm also a keen follower of Kuba Stolarczyk, and would never have expected him to become our number two while both Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen were still at the club. My concern with both he and Mads Hermansen, though, is that they'll be jumped on immediately for any mistakes.
With Enzoball already looking like it's filled with risk, cock-ups seem almost inevitable. Both are still very young and have a lot of developing to do; and feeling the wrath of the fans for a simple slip-up wouldn't help either them or us in the slightest.
The man at the Top
Chris Iliffe
The biggest positive for me so far this season is Top - and his decision to (seemingly) rip everything up and give Enzo full control.
At the end of last season Top was one of the first to release a statement about our relegation. Although he didn't make a heartfelt apology or show a general acceptance that he and his people at the head of the club had failed, he did state that they would take constructive criticism on board and that they had many things to learn from.
I remember reading it and thinking "actions speak louder than words Top", hoping he would now lead from the front in the summer. There were also comments from the fanbase that he was not as ruthless or as business savvy as his legendary father.
So to see him sort out the managerial situation fairly early in the summer, well ahead of the other relegated clubs, was brilliant.
More importantly, he didn't stay safe by employing a manager who would have just carried on with the same backroom staff, players and football ideology that we had all lost faith with. He went maverick, choosing an unknown in Enzo Maresca. A wildcard appointment attached with huge risk. It could go either way - it still could! - but it was just the right appointment to get the fans excited again.
As soon as Enzo was announced with his cappuccino in hand, and later shown around Seagrave in his funky jacket and ripped jeans, we saw that we had somebody different. And then, watching footage of his first interviews, training sessions and pre-season matches we found out that Top had boldly appointed a man with the hard stare, determination and focus of Nigel Pearson, the Italian tactical nous of Claudio Ranieri and the passion of Martin O'Neill.
He'd also let him do something unheard of in recent seasons at Leicester - get rid of staff who had been at the club for years in a bid to completely change the ethos and atmosphere around the place. It was exactly what we needed. A refresh not only of the playing staff but of the key leaders around them.
It seems from the outside that Top is 100% behind Enzo's ideas and in giving him full control he's made a massive statement. He has full belief in trying something different and following the mould of a treble winning unbelievable team. His actions have spoken louder than his words.
Of course, he does still need to put a firework up his buddy Jon Rudkin to make him ship out the players Enzo doesn't want. What's taking so long?
We've got a long way to go and errors will be made as we progress through this new chapter (from Top as well) but the early signs are really promising and I'm still massively grateful to have someone like Top and his family at the head of my club.
