Match of the Day presenter and Leicester City fan Gary Lineker has praised Enzo Maresca’s ‘teriffic’ work at the club.
The Italian arrived at the King Power Stadium from Manchester City in the summer. As an assistant manager, he assisted Pep Guardiola’s team to a historic treble last season.
Maresca has led City to the top of the Championship table in his first few months at the club, a record-breaking start to the season. The team is currently one point ahead of second-placed Ipswich Town and eight points ahead of third-placed Leeds United.
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“I think he’s doing a terrific job,” he said of Maresca on The Rest is Football podcast. “He was one of Pep’s (Guardiola) graduates, if you will, and he’s done a fantastic job.”
“It’s a very possession-based football style, and we tend to wear a lot of teams down and score a lot of goals late in games.” We’re playing some good football, and it’s encouraging that we’re at the top of the table. Long may it last until we’re back in the Premier League.”
Following his arrival, some pundits and supporters were concerned about Maresca’s lack of managerial experience. But the Italian has allayed those fears.
“I think Leicester were mostly a passing team under Brendan Rodgers in particular, but I wasn’t worried necessarily about the style of play, but slightly concerned because I didn’t know much about him,” Lineker said in a statement. “I knew he managed in Italy, and it didn’t work out for him – I think he only lasted four or five months.”
“I think most Leicester fans were like, ‘let’s see what we’ve got,’ because you go, ‘well, he’s worked with Pep Guardiola,’ but just because you’ve worked with Pep Guardiola doesn’t mean you’re going to be good, even if you’ve worked a lot.” We are overjoyed at the moment.”
Following the start to the season and the gap that City has created, Lineker believes that hope for an immediate return to the Premier League is growing. “You look at Leicester’s squad and it is a squad that should come back up,” he went on to say.
“Yes, we lost a few players in the transfer window, which is unavoidable when you get relegated, particularly (James) Maddison, (Harvey) Barnes, and (Youri) Tielemans, but they have a lot of good players, certainly for the Championship.” I am fairly certain, but as we all know, it is hope that kills.”
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