During his pre-match press conference ahead of today’s clash with Stoke City, Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca called out defender Wout Faes for switching off at crucial points in games.
Having been relegated last season in unprecedented fashion, the Foxes are looking to bounce back to the top-flight at the first time of asking under Pep Guardiola’s former assistant coach Maresca.
Leicester are playing scintillating football in the Championship so far, and despite huge turnover of the squad during the summer, the team are sitting top of the table.
No team have scored more than Maresca’s men and the former Premier League champions have also conceded the fewest number of goals in England’s second-tier this term.
However, the Italian coach has still managed to find a flaw in his team in the form of £15 million defender Wout Faes. Speaking to the press before today’s fixture against a struggling Stoke City, Maresca has called out the Belgian for losing focus in games [quotes via Caught Offside]:
“I’ve spoken with Wout (Faes) many times. For me he has the potential to be a big-team central defender. But at the same time he needs to understand that the only way is to always be on the game, to be focused, and every time to give 100 per cent.
“Because you can see there are some moments during the games where he looks a little bit like he’s not present in the game. If he can be able to be focused for 95 minutes, for sure he’s a good central defender.
“The difference between a top central defender and a good central defender is that they are able to be focused for 95 minutes in the game.”
Writer’s View
Faes switching off during the games was an Achilles’ Heel of Leicester City last season during their relegation and Maresca knows this. He will want to avoid silly errors if the Foxes are to escape this unforgiving division.
The Belgium international is a very good defender and can be one of Leicester’s most important players this season but errors through losing focus need to be cut out of his game.