Review: The rise of Leicester City’s Claude Puel
By James Lassey
The so-called French Revolution bought about the biggest political shift in Europe to date and now Frenchman Claude Puel is looking to implement his very own change with Leicester City.
Go back two months ago, the Foxes sat in the relegation zone with only two Premier League wins from their first eight.
Roll 60 days onward and they have ascertained back to back wins for the first time this season and are experiencing a streak which has seen them lose once in their last ten.
Since arriving at the King Power Stadium, manager Puel has overcome ill-judged criticism with a brand of attacking football no-one could have predicted.
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Known at Southampton for his defensive tendencies due to guiding his team to 15 clean sheets , Puel has adapted his game to the Foxes’ counter-attacking capabilities.
They have scored eight in his opening six games and with victories over Everton, Tottenham and Burnley – optimism has found its way back to the city of Leicester.
Puel’s only blip came against the league leaders Manchester City and he has created a dressing room atmosphere that even the most supposedly unsettled players can thrive in.
Riyad Mahrez has been linked with a move away from Leicester all season and has continued to voice that a transfer is on the cards.
However his manager has revitalised the Algerian and the player is now looking reminiscent of the days when he won the PFA Player of the Year award in 2016.
Along with Mahrez, Puel has reinvigorated the form of Demarai Gray which is easier said than done as the pair had only collectively scored three before his tenure begun.
They now have four surpassing their season total already and there appears to be a new sense of motivation, especially noticeable the lower the ranks you go.
Puel has added competition for places by incorporating some of the Foxes’ most exciting youth prospects.
The Foxes have a man who is it in for the long haul and is completely invested in the club from the first team downwards.
Academy graduates Ben Chilwell and Hamza Choudhury have featured in recent times with the former looking as though he could and potentially should overtake fellow left-back Christian Fuchs sooner rather than later.
However, it is the fluidity and the interchangeability of the attacking four, Gray, Mahrez, Marc Albrighton and Jamie Vardy that has played evident to Leicester’s rise.
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Seven of the eight goals scored during Puel’s reign have come from one of the quartet and the budding partnership seems to be going to strength to strength.
Although for all the dazzling performances, it is the determination and innovation that Puel has demanded that makes them so hard to beat.
Right from the off, he has showed signs of encouragement. It was a brave switch to move away from the 2015 title-winning formation of 4-4-2 which his predecessors’ Claudio Ranieri mastered and Craig Shakespeare attempted to replicate.
However Puel had other ideas, he came with a vision, a scope and the Leicester board are reaping the benefits of putting trust in a manager who does not shy away from risk.
Especially in a time when so often a new manager can come into a club that are struggling and due to fear of ascertaining results from the off, they decide for a quick fix.
However, his philosophy accentuates around moving the ball up the field quickly while keeping to a specific structure, something that he orchestrates superbly.
The new look allows room for tiresome midfielders’ Vincente Iborra and Wilfred N’didi to form a partnership that has struck interest from the Premier League elite.
A relationship that even the arrival of new-signing Andre Silva may struggle to upset, the Portuguese will act as the latest piece to his manager’s ever forming puzzle. Yet with everything else under the current command, we remain none-the-wiser to the role Silva will play.
As for the revolution, Puel’s masterplan may not yet be complete but the foundations most certainly are and with European football within touching distance, the festive period could well see a Frenchman spearheading the way across Europe once again.
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