Claude Puel deserves more time at Leicester City

Claude Puel paced along the touchline on Tuesday night, slightly more animated and showcasing a sense of urgency that has been absent from Leicester City this season.

In front of him, a rotated Leicester side was up against Pep Guardiola’s groomed Manchester City – and the likes of Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez were starting.

The Foxes were outplayed for much of the match, but then a moment of quality from Wilfred Ndidi saw him pick out a run from Marc Albrighton in behind the City defence, and he coolly half-volleyed the ball into the net.

Unfortunately for Leicester, their penalty attempts were not nearly as clinical as Albrighton’s goal. Puel should be rightfully criticised for his penalty order, especially after James Maddison and Caglar Soyuncu’s poor efforts. Leicester had an incredible opportunity to advance to a cup semi-final and weren’t able to advance. Winning silverware this season would also help cool off some of the pressure on Puel, and allow him and the squad to work well.

After losing to Manchester City in midweek, Leicester travelled to Stamford Bridge to face high-flying Chelsea. Before the match, it was speculated that Puel had three games to impress the board before they would make a decision on his future with the club. He and the team impressed in this first game, outlasting Chelsea and finally getting luck to fall on their side en route to a 1-0 victory.

For once, Leicester seemed to play to their strengths – a counter-attacking style which culminated in a through ball to Vardy who slotted it home. His goal sent the away fans at Stamford Bridge into a state of euphoria and earned Leicester’s first victory at the Stamford Bridge in over 18 years.

Claude Puel deserves more time

Puel has looked extremely tense in the past few games. He has shown more emotion and has been more defensive of himself in the media room. Perhaps there are signs that he is, in fact, close to the sack, but he should be given more than just three games to prove his worth to the board.

Puel has improved the overall quality of the squad and has developed young players into excellent top level footballers. Hamza Choudhury, Ben Chilwell, and Maddison all fit this profile, while players such as Ricardo Pereira, Wes Morgan and Daniel Amartey have all vastly improved under his leadership.

The former Southampton boss has always been able to get the best out of young players – and especially this week. Choudhury had two great performances against City and Chelsea, and such composed and impressive displayed against two of the best teams in the league should surely get him more playing time as the season progresses.

Chilwell, Demarai Gray, and Maddison have all received England call-ups while Puel has been manager, which speaks to his ability to develop young players.

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That aside, Puel has also been able to put his own stamp on Leicester’s playing style. Puel has adapted an approach that is possession-oriented that promotes attacking football, which may not suit some players such as Vardy but is effective nonetheless.

Puel’s style forces full-backs and wide players up the pitch when in possession, so there is less of a chance of a through ball to Vardy. Players like Chilwell and Pereira have improved drastically and have become more comfortable on the ball, while strikers in particular have struggled in this system.

Another knock on his ways is that he adapts too much to the opposition. If Puel can figure out a way to blend his possession-based style with a more direct approach, Leicester will be able to win more games against teams all over the table and not have a slip-up against a team like Fulham or Crystal Palace. Finding a way to appease both sides will ultimately help him in the long run and potentially save his job.

The January transfer window will be just as crucial. There is a glaring hole in the creative midfield role that Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy have been trying to play in. If Puel wants to keep the same formation and philosophy, one of those two players will either need to be dropped from the side or become more creative – which seems unlikely.

With Adrien Silva left out in the cold this campaign, City need to sign a creative box-to-box midfielder. Therefore, Leicester’s number one priority next month should be identifying someone who can compliment Ndidi and Maddison in the centre of the park and reduce their burden. Signing someone of this calibre will immediately affect Leicester in a positive way and help them compete with the teams in the top half of the table.

Puel was brought in to try to make Leicester a top-six contender, and try and bring European football back to the King Power stadium. So far, that hasn’t quite worked out; however, it takes time to implement a style and have players fit into the style. Now that the players have gotten used to Puel’s style of football, they can start being more effective and efficient while beating teams all over the league.

Claude Puel deserves more time at Leicester because the players deserve stability at the managerial position after multiple coaching changes over the past three years or so. Stability will help the squad grow as well as reassuring players that once they have worked hard to adapt to a certain style, a new manager won’t come in after only a few bad results. Puel should ideally stay at the helm of at least until the end of the season in order to truly see how his style of play has affected Leicester and its players.