Claude Puel admits there was resentment at Leicester City

Perhaps the most polarising character in Leicester’s recent history, Claude Puel has finally spoke out about some of the details that led to his dismissal.

Player power. An ever-present theme of Leicester City’s post-Premier League title era. With huge personalities, such as, Kasper Schmeichel, Jamie Vardy and Wes Morgan, in the dressing room at the King Power, it is no surprise that many attributed the sackings of both Claude Puel and Claudio Ranieri to the influence of City’s key players.

However, we must assess if these reports of ‘player power’ causing former Foxes managers to lose their jobs are grounded in fact, or simply a narrative conjured by the media. One indisputable reality of Puel’s tenure at Leicester is the rift that was created between fans regarding the Frenchman, as he sought to evolve City’s style of play from ‘a very direct counter game’ to a more possession-based philosophy.

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Speaking to L’Equipe, the former Leicester manager stated that he had ‘no regrets’ about his time with the Foxes:

"“When I arrived,  they had won the title, a year and a half earlier. It was something exceptional, which will remain exceptional. They did it with a high performance style: a low defensive base, a very direct counter game, second balls. But this team soon found themselves in trouble with opponents who had evolved.”“When we change, it hurts players who have been there for a long time. But it must be done, I have no regrets. I’m happy with the job done at Leicester. It was an ageing team that needed to be regenerated. Today it is the second youngest team in England with great players for the future.”Via SportsWitness"

Puel is not wrong when he mentions ‘great players for the future’. The saving grace of his reign at the King Power was his effectiveness at transitioning ageing players, such as Christian Fuchs, Danny Simpson and Shinji Okazaki out, to make room for the talents of Ben Chilwell, Ricardo Pereira and James Maddison.

Despite the varying successes of this young squad under the Frenchman, it has undoubtedly benefited his successor, Brendan Rodgers, who has inherited a talented squad with a superb balance of experience and potential.

A pattern of tensions

Puel’s time at Leicester City had many affinities to his time at Southampton. Both reigns were plagued with similar troubles and criticisms. The results were good enough, but frustratingly boring home performances left large proportions of the supporters disillusioned. Unfortunately, the 57-year-old did not seem to learn from the mistakes that cost him his job at St. Mary’s, while admitting that he put himself in ‘difficulty knowingly’:

"“There was a lot of work to be done on group balance and player profiles. It was necessary to integrate more technical elements to perform in placed attacks and the game on the ground. That’s what we did and yes, there was resentment. In Southampton, Leicester, Nice or in Lille,  I put myself in difficulty knowingly. I took teams with a style of play that needed to evolve and I’m proud of what I achieved in these clubs.”"

Leicester City evolution

As he attempted to evolve Leicester’s style, the most notable casualty was Jamie Vardy, a striker who thrives in a counter-attacking style due to his raw pace and tenacity. Under Leicester City’s new possession-based game-plan, the former England international was visibly frustrated with his manager at the time, to the extent that he was allegedly dropped for swearing about Puel on camera, following a home defeat to Manchester United.

In an interview with Sky Sports in December, the attacker openly admitted that Puel’s style did not suit him, calling the situation ‘frustrating’, via Telegraph. It was comments such as this that prompted accusations of player power at Leicester claiming another manager, as Claude Puel was dismissed. Similarly, around this time, Peter Schmeichel confirmed that his son wanted to leave Leicester.

Puel had this to say with regard to questions about the ‘tensions’ between him and his players at City:

"“When you take players out of comfort or ask something else, there are tensions. It can affect two or three players, but after I left, I received about fifteen messages from players that I did not expect.”"

Overall, it just wasn’t meant to be for Puel at Leicester. His style was neither compatible nor popular with City fans and players alike in the end. The publicly negative comments of his players may have contributed to his dismissal, but ultimately it was a combination of disappointing results and performances that cost him the Foxes job.

Although, his intentions were always for the best of the club, regardless of how they materialised:

"It’s part of the job. When I sign in a club, I invest in a project and I try to bring it to an end. There are sometimes incidents of course or misunderstanding. Or simply, at some point, the results are not good enough. The Premier League is very demanding on the results, the concept of construction does not exist there. I am ambitious and I do not understand my function without the development of a team and players. It needed a minimum of construction. Afterwards, these concepts are shared or not.”"

West Ham United entertain Leicester City on Saturday in the Premier League.