The manager discusses the biggest victory of his tenure thus far, outlining his reasons for being so happy as well as the players he felt did particularly well.
Although Leicester City scored four goals for the first time under Enzo Maresca, the manager believed that their off-the-ball aggression was the “key point” in their victory over Southampton.
Jamie Vardy, Kasey McAteer, Wilfred Ndidi, and Stephy Mavididi all scored for City, who had not scored more than two goals in any of Maresca’s first seven games in charge, but they made excellent use of the space the Saints provided against their promotion rivals on the south coast to record their biggest victory under the new manager.
It was a frantic first half which ended with City 3-1 up, and while Maresca admitted he does not like chaos, he did not agree it was that way for his team thanks to their work out of possession. James Justin and Jannik Vestergaard were among those highlighted by the manager.
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He said: “I don’t like basketball games. But I don’t think it was a basketball game for us. When we analyse the game, we see an opponent that wanted exactly the same as us, to keep the ball and try to win so we could not think that we could control for 95 minutes. But the way we work off the ball, the way we were aggressive, it was a key point tonight.
“I’m very happy. A win is always important. It’s never easy. Then for the performance. The way we worked on the ball and especially off the ball, I think was very good.”
“JJ (Justin) was very good, Jannik (Vestergaard) was very good, Harry Winks was very good, Macca (McAteer) was very good. Stephy, Jamie. Tonight, overall it has been a good performance from the players.”
Maresca expressed his need for improved decisions in the final third before the game, and he received it as City not only scored four goals but also produced numerous chances.
The manager continued, “On nights like tonight, we were more clinical and also clearer in our decision-making. “I stated yesterday at the press conference that we arrive very well in the last third but fail to make the proper decision and fail to be more patient. It functions better tonight. We must enhance our efforts and introduce fresh ideas.
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