by It was on the 4th of June last year that Enzo Maresca’s dream to build a football team with Leicester City first started.
Maresca was part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City, preparing for the Champions League final, while Leicester had just been relegated and faced an uncertain future.
The setting was Knightsbridge, at the flat of Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, and Maresca can recall the meeting with pin-sharp clarity.
“One of the first things the chairman mentioned was that he was looking for a different style of play,” he says.
Less than two weeks later Maresca was appointed as head coach, the renovation was underway and the change has been significant since then.
Leicester are top of the Championship, 12 points ahead of their nearest rivals Leeds, and a quick return to the Premier League seems inevitable.
Maresca has introduced an exciting brand of football that has captured the imagination, reinvigorated players and energized fans disillusioned after the recession.
With his vision of complete dominance of games, inverted fullbacks and overloads, where small details are crucial, Maresca is building a great reputation.
“Promotion is the main goal but we’ve already done a lot of important things that will form the basis for the future,” he says, sitting in an interview room at Leicester’s large training ground.
“When I started, the synergy between the fans and the team was not perfect, because of the relegation and many other reasons before I came here.
“The main aim is to feel like we’re building something and improving for the next two or three years.”
This is a rare opportunity to enter Maresca’s world, and over the course of 40 minutes he provides a fascinating insight into what he calls “the idea”.
To fully appreciate the impact of the Italians, Leicester’s season so far needs to be put into some context: their 78 points would have already secured a play-off place by mid-February in six Championship seasons.
They have the best offensive and defensive records in the division [68 goals scored and 24 conceded]. The 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night was their 25th win in 32 games.
With 14 games left to play, Leicester need just 28 points to match Reading’s 2005-06 total of 106 points, with 42 still available.
“All the stats are good during the season but they can become great if you achieve the ultimate goal. Unfortunately we have to win more,” he says, laughing.
“The trajectory and path is good and we were first in 26 of the 32 games. That shows you the attitude of the players.
“Southampton and Leeds are doing great. I’m sure Ipswich will also fight to the end.
“We’re still there. There’s not much difference between us, Southampton and Leeds in the last 25 games.”
‘We are nowhere near what we can be’
Perhaps unfairly, there is a sense among many of Leicester’s rivals that promotion should be the minimum promotion.
It is argued that with parachute payments, a huge wage bill and one of the best squads to ever play in the division, anything below the top six would fail.
Those theories only diminish Maresca’s achievements so far, as the rebuilding may have become obsolete.
After relegation, Leicester sold their best players in James Maddison and Harvey Barnes. Regulars including Youri Tielemans, Jonny Evans and Timothy Castagne also left.
Maresca’s new playing style was a gamble in such a crazy division, but she managed to deliver beyond all expectations.
“It’s not easy at all. We don’t have that feeling. If you analyze the changes from last season, a lot has happened,” he says.
“Important players left last year and we are playing with players who have played more minutes than in the last two seasons.
“We’re not close to what we can be yet. We are happy with the way we are playing but there are many things we can do better.
“We will be even better next year, if we can keep the same squad.”
Maresca players are flourishing. Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and midfielder Harry Winks are key summer signings.
Jamie Vardy, 37 last month, is the main goalscorer, although the revival of defender Jannik Vestergaard is one of the stories of the season.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was also excellent with 10 league goals and 12 assists. When Brighton held discussions about a possible deal to sign the midfielder in January, the response was strong.
“Kiernan came to me when there was all the noise about it and told me he had no intention of leaving the club,” says Maresca.
“He said he had an obligation to get Leicester promoted. He feels responsible for last season and wants to bring the club back to the Premier League.
“All the other players are the same. Pride is important and they want to be back where they have been for many years. I love having that commitment from them.”
Maresca is completely dedicated to his philosophy and will not make fun of it. He regularly listens to the Italian musician Pino Daniele, who is famous for his great Ballerina hit ‘Yes I Know My Way’.
‘It’s easy to analyze what we do…there’s so much information’
The title could sum up Maresca’s approach to management, where long days and regular meetings are the norm.
Training sessions and team meetings are carefully planned. One aspect of Maresca’s coaching that has surprised some players is how he insists every pass be delivered to the right foot, as it saves precious seconds in games.
He reckons 90 per cent of Leicester’s games have been played with three at the back, with Winks as a midfielder and Ricardo Pereira – normally a full-back – who has moved inside to play as a duo.
“Unfortunately I never stop thinking about football, and I have four kids! I love football and I feel it is my duty to give solutions to players,” says Maresca.
“Management is so tough these days. If you want to do the right things, you have to spend hours and hours.
“What we do is so easy to analyse: there is so much information, statistics and numbers available. You can clearly see what any team does so you have to find new things.”
Maresca is very proud of the way his team works and at one point in the interview we look at the 54 pass goal against Rotherham in December.
Every Leicester player gets involved with the ball, before Chelsea loanee Cesare Casadei delivers the final contribution with a simple header.
What is most striking is the calmness and patience of the past, the Leicester players behaving like sharks preparing to attack their prey.
Maresca stops the video and highlights Rotherham’s fatigue and one player marking Winks leaves Dennis Praet free as the overload. “We have to find the right moment, and it is coming.”
Another of Pereira’s favorite goals was at Watford on February 10. It also reveals that Faes’ long diagonal pass to Dewsbury-Hall against Wednesday, which ended in Vardy’s goal, was the 25th time this season.
‘Pep called me to ask Huddersfield everything’
With Leicester adopting a possession-based style of play, there is some audible frustration from a minority of fans at home games. Maresca sees it as part of the process.
“I understand that the fans go to the stadium and they want to see the team play a certain way. They want to ‘attack, attack, attack’ but it is impossible,” he says.
“The problem is that some people think we don’t go forward sometimes when we keep the ball, but you can’t do it for 95 minutes.
“Sometimes we use the ball to defend, or we’re recovering our energy to go again. This is what some people struggle to see or understand.
“I was at Manchester City a few weeks ago and the fans were saying the same thing to Pep. It’s normal.”
There is no doubt that Guardiola has a great influence on Maresca, and they still speak regularly.
He remembers facing Guardiola’s Barcelona teams when he was a player at Sevilla, an experience he says made him look at the game “with different eyes”.
Maresca then worked under the Catalan master at City, and she believes he has been there for two years [in two separate spells] it was a gift.
“Pep is a hard worker, he’s incredible. He spends almost 24 hours thinking about football and finding solutions,” says Maresca.
“When Man City played Huddersfield in the FA Cup in January, he called me to ask all about how they played. How they attacked and defended.
“This is the manager of Man City who has won everything, who is considered the best in the world, taking all the information about Huddersfield. It’s the little details, always.”
Manuel Pellegrini, former City manager, is another important figure in Maresca’s coaching journey.
“He was my manager for two years [at Malaga] and I worked with him at West Ham. We know each other very well and when I was 28 he told me that when I finish as a player I should think about being a manager.
“I always say he’s my professional dad! If I have any doubts or need suggestions, I talk to him.”
Maresca is preparing for the visit of Middlesbrough – one of four teams Leicester have beaten this season – and still believes there is hard work ahead.
However, it looks like Leicester are going “straight back, playing football the Enzo way”.
