Manager has not seen fit to unveil Plan B yet
BUT PLAYING TWO STRIKERS ‘NOT IDEAL SOLUTION’
ENZO Maresca has not yet seen fit to deploy the “new solution” he worked on with his Leicester City players during the international break, despite the club’s stuttering form.
The City boss used the fortnight off at the end of March to review matches where his side struggled, before working with his squad on some fresh ideas.
But despite three defeats in five fixtures since domestic football resumed, Maresca has not felt the desire to tweak things.
The topic of plan B has been a big one among supporters this season, but particularly after last week’s defeats to Millwall and Plymouth.
For most of the game at the Den, and for the latter stages of each half at Home Park, City found it difficult to create clear openings.
At Millwall, Maresca played two strikers together in a 4-4-2 formation for the final five minutes plus added time, and it helped lead to a couple of big chances.
But that’s not his new solution, with two up top labelled “not the ideal situation” by the manager.
Asked if he’d yet seen fit to use the tactics he worked on last month, Maresca said: “No. During the international break, sometimes I used the time to review games where we struggled or I was not convinced how the game was.
“I tried to find, for that game, a new solution against the same situation in case it happened again.
“Fortunately that hasn’t happened, that we’ve faced a team since the international break that are facing us in the same way. So we didn’t use this kind of solution.”
Asked if he could be more specific on the situation he was referring to,
Maresca was tight-lipped, only adding: “When we struggle to find solutions or space, I want to understand why.
“So I review games and I said the solution next time, in case it happens again, can be this one.
“But fortunately it doesn’t happen.”
Although City have lost six of their last 10 Championship matches, Maresca feels they have been performing close to the levels they were in the autumn, when they won nine in a row.
It’s just that the quality of the finishing has fallen.
After the Plymouth defeat, he said: “For sure when you don’t win games, there is always a reason why.
“But off the ball the team recovers a lot of ball, we pressed very high. We were very intense. On the ball, we created chances.
“So I don’t see a big difference between tonight’s game and the previous games, in terms of when we started the season. Tonight, if we win the game, you are probably talking about the performance, the chances we created, the way we dominated, the way we pressed.
“But when you lose, I completely understand that we are always looking for more reasons.
“But again, the team compete. They give everything.
“It is what it is, we need to accept that.”