M69 Derby: Dewsbury-Hall Ensures 3 Points for the Foxes

By Simon Mack

New era, new league, new manager, three points.

Arriving at King Power stadium everything seemed very much as normal. A sold out KP saw a tifo unfurled that declared ‘Semper Eadem’…. Always the same.

On the pitch things were a little different though. New faces were on display in a Leicester City shirt: Harry Winks, Stephy Mavidi, Mads Hermansen & Callum Doyle all made their debut along with youth starlet Kasey McAteer on the right side of midfield at the expense of Marc Albrighton.

This starting eleven’s blend of new and old had been sculpted into a new way of playing too by former Man City Assistant Manager Enzo Maresca who sent out his first foxes side in competitive anger. The style of play was a high tempo passing ensemble that included Leicester defender Ricardo being used as an inverted full back. The energetic Portuguese has been transformed into a blend of defender when without the ball and midfield maestro when Leicester are on the front foot. In addition midfielder Wilf Ndidi had also undergone a makeover in a role far more advanced in nature. Wide men McAteer and new signing Mavididi pinned themselves to the touch lines waiting for a pass and the game got underway with the foxes in high energy mode rapidly passing the ball to one another stretching the Coventry defences to the limit.

For the first half of the match Leicester did just about everything but score, and whilst front man and captain Jamie Vardy was barely given chance to go for goal, the only thing that seemed to be missing from hugely positive first half performance was a deserved lead.

The second half got underway with the foxes seemingly still in the dressing room and some wily tactical amendments by Coventry boss Mark Robins saw his sky blues soon take a lead when Kyle McFadzean turned the ball home from a rapid near post corner that left the foxes at sixes and sevens in their own box.

Leicester looked up against it for a while and a shadow of their first half prowess, however as the fans looked on wondering if this would be another surrender in the face adversity (as seen so many times last season) up stepped Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall with a brace of goals that not only secured all three points for the home side but also spelled out a new vigour within the Leicester ranks to keep fighting whatever the circumstances.

The winning wonder strike from KDH secured his name sung around the stands, and no doubt man of the match for most of the departing faithful, and whilst both his high energy performance and result changing goals deserved all the plaudits, there was more to learn than Kiernan’s brilliance from this first game under Enzo’s tutelage.

With Conor Coady out through injury (apparently for the longer term) King Power eyebrows were raised at the inclusion of Danish giant Vestergaard at centre half, yet the often derided defender put in a decent display which was not perfect but did allude to him being able to do a job at this level. Maresca’s decision to include the Dane seemed to stem from his ability to pass the ball effectively when the chance arrived, and whilst his defensive duties were at times less assured you could see Enzo’s reasoning. There will be those that would prefer Soutter to be ahead of the big Dane, but based on this performance that argument now has two valid sides.

Stephy Mavididi’s first game for the foxes was one of quality. Mavididi is a powerful, pacey wide man who is capable of picking a pass or driving infield toward goal, and both were on display to the foxes benefit in this match. His defelooks like duties seem a little less intense in nature however if

the manager has told the wide man to get wide and terrorise the opposition this performance did not disappoint, and unless future opposition find an antidote to his offensive power and direction Mavdidi looks a quality bargain of a signing that will be instrumental in our promotion push.

Harry Winks had looked a little tepid in Leicester’s pre-season build up matches however today the former Spurs middle man was the pick of the first half action, and whilst KDH’s second half masterclass stole the headline thunder Winks continued to display a deft ability to pick the right pass, and it was clear to see his football intelligence and ability to transition the phase of play with a single decision will be key to Leicester’s success in the season to come.

Another player with vital input into our new system was Ricardo. The Portuguese seems to be relishing his new dual role, and allied with Winks and Dewsbury-Hall his play was key to the advancements of the Foxes on the opposition box.

Wilfred Ndidi’s new more forward role was also laced with green shoots of promise. When the tough tackling midfielder got into the box maybe some of his play looked a little uncomfortable and less cultured, however in build up phases he linked well, and the fans will surely be debating Wilf’s inclusion at the expense of Dennis Praet who could fill that berth more naturally than the Nigerian?

Wout Faes strode forward with power and confidence driving defensive situations into attacking opportunities and made largely good decisions in defence, Doyle’s left sided defensive duties looked assured, and new keeper Mads Hermansen made some telling saves during the sky blues second half purple patch. The Danish stopper’s passion to become almost a sweeper at times can frighten a little but seems to be in the new manager’s plans so lets go along for the ride!

I’m sure many Coventry fans will be lamenting the wayward finishing that could have seen a different end result to the match, however as we learnt to a painful outcome last season it is the team that takes their chances that also takes the points, and whilst you could argue that some of the foxes errors of play in giving up the ball and leaving wide gaps at the back would be more severely punished in the Premier League this is early days into a redial new project at Leicester City and based on this performance with Coady to come back (and a couple more additions expected before the window closes) this was a first competitive game under Maresca that even the most skeptical fan would be hard pressed to find anything other than optimism from.

New era and three points without king pins Maddison, Barnes and Tielemans is quite a task, and to be honest whilst a genuine number 10 to assist in providing a striker with opportunities seemed to be missing, as the fans took enjoyment in rubbing in the victory on the departing Cov fans there was a lot to like about the player’s dedication and belief in Enzo’s Maresca’s new foxes dawn to take home with the victory.