Claude Puel’s admiration of Pep Guardiola leading Leicester City to a 4-3-3

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports’ Simon Ormiston back in December, Leicester City manager Claude Puel said that his football philosophy had been influenced by Pep Guardiola. Puel admired his counterpart’s attacking style and his team ethic when defending.

There are now indicators that Puel’s approach to the 2018/19 season could mirror the intentions of the Manchester City manager. Three of these indicators are examined below:

Young, quick wing-backs

Last summer, Pep Guardiola traded in his four ageing full-backs for younger models Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo. Guardiola’s aim was to bring the average age down in this position and inject pace into a key area.

When Claude Puel arrived at Leicester City, he could still call on the services of 2015/16 title-winning full-backs Danny Simpson (31 years) and Christian Fuchs (32). Puel’s preference on the left though, was England U-21 International Ben Chilwell.

Leicester City’s first signing of the summer is right- back Ricardo Pereira. An attacking player with solid defensive attributes, Pereira is just 24 years old.

Last season, Manchester City’s full-backs often pushed inside diagonally to sit as a defensive midfield three. They sat either side the holding midfield player (often Fernandinho).

The reasoning behind this is closing the space available for the opposition and preventing the possibility of quick counter attacks. When Manchester City attacked, they became wing-backs. They reverted to their wider starting positions to offer support to the attacking midfield players and wide men.

For Leicester City to model this, they needed youth, pace and an attacking intent from either full back position. They now have this with Pereira and Chilwell.