An examination of the first month under manager Enzo Maresca to determine which players have emerged as crucial to the club’s success.
Seven games into the Enzo Maresca era has revealed a lot about the Leicester City manager’s tactics and the potential of his team, but most importantly, it has indicated which players will be crucial to the club’s success.
Here are our first City power rankings of the season, with the top ten most crucial players. It will be a roster that evolves week by week as new players emerge later in the season, but for now, these are the key members of Maresca’s squad…
10. Kasey McAteer
It is difficult to single out any particular winger as being significant to the team’s success because Maresca has so many options there.
9. Conor Coady
An odd choice perhaps given he hasn’t played a single competitive game yet, but Coady’s influence around the club should not be underestimated. He has been praised to the hilt by Maresca for how he’s continued to go wherever the squad has gone, even in a protective boot.
8. Jamie Vardy
He may not be a starter but he has played in every game so far and it is how his attributes compare with Kelechi Iheanacho’s that make him a threat.
7. Wout Faes
One of only two players to have played every single minute under Maresca, Faes has shown his importance not only on the right of the back three, but as someone who can drop into the middle position too.
6. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Those two goals in the opening game against Coventry means he’s still City’s top scorer, level with McAteer, albeit his efforts to add to his tally have been a little wayward.
5. Kelechi Iheanacho
As a goal threat, it’s not been the season Iheanacho wanted so far, with his sole strike coming in the Carabao Cup at Burton. But he remains in the team because of his all-around play.
4. Callum Doyle
Along with Faes, Doyle is the other player to be ever present under Maresca, and while the game against Hull showed he has weaknesses in his defensive game that he needs to improve on, he has been mostly solid at the back.
3. Mads Hermansen
He may not have kept a clean sheet yet but Hermansen has been mightily impressive in his first month as a City player.
2. Ricardo Pereira
Playing in the most-tactically-interesting position in the team is Ricardo. He is the man tasked with stepping forward from full-back and playing in the midfield, essentially operating in two roles at once,
1. Harry Winks
Leading the way after the first month is City’s first summer signing. Winks is at the heart of the team in more ways than one.
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