Steve Cooper must overcome Enzo Maresca problem as Marc Albrighton reveals Burnley repeat doubts

September 7, 2024 admin LEICESTER CITY, stade brestois 29 0

Leicester City icon Marc Albrighton feels the squad will need time to adjust to Steve Cooper’s plans given the contrast with life under Enzo Maresca.

Albrighton, who announced his retirement last month after leaving City in the summer, has admitted to doubts over whether Maresca’s possession-based style would have been effective in the Premier League. And while he feels Cooper can keep City up, he believes patience will be required after a year of Maresca’s strict drills.

Cooper is not deserting Maresca’s plan completely, and is keeping a lot of what helped City to win the Championship title. But he wants to introduce elements of more direct play and counter-attacking, with a few tweaks to the system and personnel brought in too.

Last season, Vincent Kompany’s Burnley continued to attempt to play the way they had in the Championship, but struggled massively in the Premier League and went down with 24 points. Among supporters, there was a slight concern that City would follow in Burnley’s path under Maresca, and it seems that wasn’t restricted to the fanbase.

Albrighton said on Sam Allardyce’s No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: “If you look at Vincent Kompany at Burnley, they obviously walked the Championship. We got promoted so you can’t question it (Maresca’s tactics). But if he was taking us into the Premier League, would it have worked?
“I look at Leicester now and it will take some adjusting to playing Steve Cooper’s way. You’ve got people like the goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, you’ve got Harry Winks. These players have been brought in to play Maresca’s way. So all of a sudden, they’ve got to adjust.

“Leicester fans would snap your hand off for 17th. I think they can survive. With the managerial appointment, with Steve Cooper, I do think that was a really good appointment because of what he did with Forest. He knows what it takes to get out of a mess. I would hope they manage to stay in the league.”

City have started with one point from their first three matches and sit 15th, but have faced two of the sides expected to challenge towards the top of the table in Tottenham and Aston Villa. In their two fixtures after the international break, they face two of the sides currently below them: Crystal Palace and Everton.

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