Maresca’s Leicester formation and tactics explained with 2023/24 coming
By Nathan Wong
It is the start of a new era for Leicester City, under the exciting leadership of Enzo Maresca. The 43-year-old has an impressive pedigree, having recently worked under Pep Guardiola. Undoubtedly, therefore, his philosophy bears key hallmarks of the Spaniard’s tactics. Yet, it would be crass to brand Maresca simply a ‘Pep clone’ as the Italian will undoubtedly bring his own tactical nuances, which will become apparent as a larger sample of football becomes available during the upcoming season.
Juego de Posicion
A key tenet of ‘Maresca-ball’ is the philosophy of Juego de Posicion or Positional Play, popularised by Pep Guardiola. The aim of this philosophy is to find the ‘free man’ by creating overloads within a specific zone of the pitch. Achieving this allows teams to keep possession and move up the pitch, and when done successfully ensures the creation of numerical overloads as well as overloads in quality.
Considering Leicester City are likely to dominate possession in the Championship, adopting this approach provides the best chance for the Foxes to control and win matches by pinning back the opposition and breaking them down with wave after wave of attacks.