Maresca must find a place for James Justin in Leicester starting XI

Leicester City’s perfect start to the season finally came to an end after six games, with an uninspiring 1-0 defeat to Hull City. Whilst a defeat was coming, LCFC played no worse in this game than in most of their others and probably created enough to get something out of the game. Only this time there was no late goal to save the Foxes from defeat. This defeat has galvanised the ‘4-4-2 brigade’ into vocal dissent against Enzo Maresca’s tactics, which for some are too slow and ponderous.

With tough away games to come against Southampton and Norwich, Maresca may be tempted to make changes, especially with the Foxes’ defence likely to be tested against some of the Championship’s best attackers. Many critics of Enzo have focused on LCFC’s vulnerabilities in defending against counter-attacks. A key factor in this has been the lack of pace at the back, with Jannik Vestergaard being often singled out.

Despite the Dane being an important component in possession, his athletic limitations are unavoidable. There are many clips where it looks like Vestergaard is jogging, but in fact, that is just his top speed. He is just really that slow. More importantly, Vestergaard’s (and also Faes’) lack of pace impacts the way that LCFC play. Whilst Maresca would probably want to play a high line, doing so with such a slow defence is probably unwise, hence why there have been such big gaps between the midfield and defence as a reactive measure.

Equally, these transitional problems could also be down to issues around how Leicester City press; on evidence the Foxes prefer to block space over a high-press approach. As a result this has meant Leicester City struggle to get the ball off a competent possession-based side and make it quite easy for opponents to play through the lines. Therefore, this approach is problematic for several reasons, which would require another article altogether. However, it remains to be seen whether this is a tactical decision or something that Enzo has simply not got around to yet.

Fortunately, there is a potential solution to this defensive conundrum that stares Enzo Maresca right in the face. That man is James Justin, once good enough to get into the England side. Despite his recent injury woes, most LCFC fans will acknowledge the quality this man still possesses. Enzo holds James Justin in high regard. In a recent interview, the Italian was especially complimentary to Justin’s versatility saying that “he is going to play a lot of games for us”.

Justin himself then went on to say that whilst he prefers to play on the left, he is equally willing to fill in wherever he is needed. In LCFC’s current system, you would say that Justin is most likely to play as the ‘RCB’, providing pace alongside a slower but more composed partner.

Let us hope that things improve after the international break with Conor Coady set to return and potentially Justin to partner him. Otherwise, the next few weeks could see optimism drained out of a notoriously impatient fanbase.