Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca defends decision to heavily rotate team
Foxes of Leicester have our say after a poor away draw amid heavily rotation of the Leicester City team by head coach Enzo Maresca. The Italian attempts to justify his decision to field a weaker starting lineup against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium. In addition to covering the Owls stalemate, FoL look at what the ex-Parma gaffer said about striker signing Tom Cannon. The former Everton man is yet to make his LCFC debut after joining in the previous transfer window.
Maresca made six changes to his XI as Leicester faced a desperate Wednesday, even though he knew it would be a difficult game. So, what did the 43-year-old say after the most recent match?
"The idea with six changes was playing every three days becomes difficult. It’s just refreshing the team.
- Enzo Maresca
At the end, if you make changes and we win the game… I don’t think (the draw) was because of the changes. It was to allow players to recover for the next game. Also the players who played deserved to. For me, when you play every three days and in this league when first against last is complicated, you need to refresh.
Tonight probably we could do many things better on the ball and off the ball. At the end, we created some chances where we need to become more clinical. I think at 2-0 the game is finished."
Enzo Maresca on Leicester City attacker Tom Cannon
Cannon, who signed a five-year contract with the east Midlands outfit, is highly regarded. He has already featured on a few occasions in the Premier League for Everton. The 20-year-old's £7.5 million reported fee signifies that. But, mainly due to his own injury and a now fitter LCFC squad on the whole, Cannon has not played competitively for his new side. That may change soon if Leicester continue to score fewer goals than expected.
In spite of Jamie Vardy's heroics versus Watford recently, the King Power club often fail to take a lot of their chances. In fact, Maresca's men are creating fewer clear opportunities for their forwards, too. Could Cannon enter the fray soon?
At his pre-match press conference, prior to an underwhelming draw with Wednesday, Maresca talked of Cannon. The Foxes boss said that his player must be patient with three other top strikers in the squad. And told him to work hard. However, the one-time Toffees man is fully fit. Maresca cited the centreforward's energy and finishing as well.