Mavididi role, Maresca change – Steve Cooper first Leicester City tactic analyzed vs Shrewsbury

Steve Cooper’s Leicester City were exposed for the first time on Tuesday night as the Foxes beat League One side Shrewsbury Town 2-1. Stephy Mavididi and Kasey McAteer were on the scoresheet in City’s first pre-season friendly ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Results, as they say, don’t matter in the summer games. Cooper would have wanted an encouraging performance from his side and for part of the Shropshire clash, he got it after two weeks on the training ground.

It was the first time we saw Leicester under Cooper in the flesh, for the first time. After 12 months of Enzo Maresca’s slow style, the Foxes have implemented a faster approach to their game with a completely different system.

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Tactics, especially in football, can often be quite complex and difficult. Last season, in particular, was a task in itself to get to grips with Leicester’s interchange system under Maresca, despite how successful it was in the Championship.

But five minutes into Steve Cooper’s first unofficial game in charge of the club, the idea behind the game plan was pretty clear. On the ball, Leicester settled into a 3-4-3 formation. Ben Nelson, Conor Coady and Luke Thomas made up the back three, with Ricardo Pereira (right back), Wilfred Ndidi, Harry Winks and Abdul Fatawu (left back).

Kasey McAteer and Stephy Mavididi took on very narrow roles to leave room for the two full-backs, with Patson Daka leading the line through the centre. When they didn’t have the ball, the players were quick to get into a more structured formation.

A 4-4-2 – or 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1, depending on what you want to call it – is used out of possession, with Pereira dropping to full-back and Mavididi playing close . at Dhaka in the advance line. Watching it from the press box, there were a few things that were quite noteworthy at Shrewsbury.

One thing noted was the role reversal for two of Leicester’s most dangerous players. Fatawu, who has been involved in 20 goals in all competitions in the last term from the right wing, has been placed on the left wing. He was still a nuisance for full-back Luca Hoole, but his trademark movement of repetitive runs inside was minimal.

Mavididi, who was a regular on the left last year, played through the middle in a shadow striker type role. He stayed in the hole throughout, working closely with Fatawu, while McAteer took on a similar role on the right.

In terms of team play and any hints of it, Leicester played with more tempo than we were used to under Maresca. The ball was almost never distributed to the backline in slow form, instead the aim was to play through the lines through the defense to Winks and then to one of Mavididi or McAteer.

An interesting element of the first half was the use of Pereira. The Portuguese resumed his right-back role and often found himself with acres of space due to Leicester’s constant decision to focus play on the left. Leicester didn’t involve him as much as they would have liked, which visibly frustrated Cooper.

There was a list of changes at half-time with Harry Souttar, Wanya Marcal, Tom Cannon, Caleb Okoli, James Justin, Boubakary Soumare and Hamza Choudhury replacing Coady, Fatawu, Daka, Nelson, Pereira, Winks and Ndidi.

The changes saw Mavididi move back to the left, similar to the role Fatawu played in the first half, with Marcal being the inside forward on the left. It also offered a glimpse of a brand new medium with partners Choudhury and Soumare.

Soumare, back from his loan spell with Sevilla, continued to be composed in the middle of the park and had moments of class that reminded Leicester fans why they paid £25m for him in 2022. If he has a future in Cooper’s plans remains to be seen. seen, but there’s certainly an argument for him to stay.

New signing Okoli fit into the system quite well despite conceding an unfortunate own goal. The 6ft 3in centre-back was strong, aggressive, measured and lovely in all elements of his place. Early signs are that he is a good deal for Leicester.

Of course, the Foxes have only played League One opposition. Upcoming matches against Augsburg and RC Lens will present a tougher test before the start of the season. Early days right now, but the signs are more than positive.

What did you think of Leicester City’s tactics and performance against Shrewsbury? Have your say in the comments below….