Analyzing Leicester City’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, looking at the approach, the performances of Maresca, Conor Coady, Harry Souttar and another goal from Kasey McAteer It takes a superstar decision
Enzo Maresca spoke very clearly before Leicester City’s away trip to Liverpool:
Their progress under his watch cannot be measured by their performance at Anfield, unlike the pre-season match against the Red Devils two months ago.
One side is a competitive match and the other side is a friendly match on the other side of the world, which cannot be compared.
And yet, because of City and Maresca’s approach, the Carabao Cup tie on Merseyside felt more like a practice match than an actual match.
Coaches often talk about judging their teams on merit, not results, but the scoreline here seemed more trivial than ever.
To start, there have been 10 changes.
While this is not unusual in the Carabao Cup, the players signed by Maresca have shown that it is more than just rotation.
He gave Conor Coady his first match after two months on the sidelines due to injury.
He gave Harry Souttar his first appearance of the season and Marc Albrighton a rare outing.
Patson Daka got his first minutes of the season on the bench.
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The focus then turned to style of play, with Maresca revealing after the match that his aim for the 90 minutes was simply to see his team try to do what they have done all season, but before a better opponent.
He didn’t want them to forget the game plan just because it was Liverpool
Then, at half-time, with the club halfway to their first win at Anfield in nearly a quarter of a century and the famous upset looming, Maresca said he was still “out of practice.
” Focus on results”.
It felt a lot like a pre-season game.
It also demonstrates his undying commitment to his style of play.
Therefore, with this approach, it doesn’t matter if Man City loses.
It won’t matter if their perfect, record-breaking run ends.
The aim is clearly to win promotion out of the Championship, no matter how much Maresca tries to downplay that.
If they do, City hope to be in a place where they can go to famous grounds in cup matches with the aim of winning, not for training.
Man City’s Premier League potential is still unclear
So, judging City on their performance, rather than the result, the best that can be said is that, as Maresca says, they were brave.
Even with countless moments where they were robbed of possession in their own defensive half, or when Jakub Stolarczyk almost had the ball clipped off his toes, they continued to try to attack from the back.
But the promising moments City had when moving the ball up the field were never long enough for them to create many chances.
And their loss of possession often leads to big opportunities for Liverpool.
The number of shots in the whole match was 29-4 in favor of the home team.
City went into half-time with a clean sheet, but their goal had lived a charmed life until then.
The fact that they scored within three minutes probably didn’t help City’s cause.
The energy and efficiency that Marc Albrighton, Yunus Akgun and Kasey McAteer showed in recovering the ball and running past Liverpool was excellent, but it reminded Jurgen Klopp’s side that this was not a game in which “they can win right from the start.
” Then they increased their efforts.
But it’s always a struggle.
Last month, Maresca said City were 10 to 20 percent of the way to getting the team to where he wanted them to be.
To have a chance of competing on par with Liverpool, the best possession-free team in the world according to Maresca, they will have to be close to 100%.
It was like being thrown into the middle of the ocean when the armband was taken off.
It’s like participating in the Tour de France when you had stabilizers fitted on your bike two weeks ago.
You will get unstuck.
Ideally, City would attract a mid-table team to the Premier League, which would give a better indication of their progress and how far they need to go to be ready for the elite competition.
There’s always the FA Cup.