For just £5 million, buying Mads Hermansen has turned out to be an absolute masterstroke by Enzo Maresca and the Leicester City recruitment team.
There has been a complete transformation in how Leicester play football, from last season to this one. In their final season in the Premier League, they missed a lot of chances, conceded nearly two goals per game, and were a pretty lifeless and uninspiring team to watch.
The same cannot be said for the 2023/24 Leicester side. They’re creating, and finishing, more big chances, and they dominate the ball in every game they play. They’ve got an exciting group of players with a mix of quality and youth. A return to the top 20 sides in the English football pyramid seems destined.
A lot of this can be put down to the new boss, Maresca. He’s implemented a style of play that is both effective and nice on the eye. There is a clear identity and plan at the club, and the recruitment has been excellent.
Of all the new players they’ve acquired, there’s one that stands out from the rest.
For just £5 million, Leicester have arguably bought the best goalkeeper in the league. With the money that is floating around the Championship, that is an incredible move.
The 23-year-old Danish shot-stopper arrived from Brondby in the summer, having impressed in his country’s top division in the 2022/23 season.
In that campaign, Brondby were not the most solid defensive team. Bringing in a young goalkeeper from a middle-of-the-road Danish team was quite a risk but it’s more than paid off. He’s the second most expensive Championship keeper ever, but who can dispute his value now?
When you look at Ellis Simms, who went to Coventry for a similar fee, Hermansen has had a much bigger impact.
Why Mads Hermansen is so good
Maresca came into the King Power Stadium with a clear plan as to how he wanted to play. It involved playing out from the back, and, with Leicester’s previous set of keepers, that was going to be hard to achieve.
His on-the-ball confidence allows the team’s possession to be up near 70% because he’s not a vulnerable point that teams can exploit; as previous Leicester keepers have been.
He’s very good at coming out of his box to intercept balls that come over the top of his defence. In fact, he’s got a 100% successful run out rate, according to Sofascore. This allows the rest of his team to press higher up the pitch, forcing the opposition into more mistakes in worse areas. All of this ultimately leads to the Foxes occupying their opponents’ half for most games.
His overall passing accuracy is at 83%, which is better than Manchester City’s goalkeeper Ederson (82%), who is regarded as one of the best on-the-ball keepers in the world.
What’s most important, though, is the team’s defensive record. Prior to the Preston North End game, Leicester had only conceded nine goals in 15 games, and Hermansen had kept five clean sheets.
It’s hard enough to beat teams that dominate the ball. It makes it even harder when the opposition goalkeeper saves 81% of the shots that they face.
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