Leicester City notebook: Manager’s mystery solved, Victor Kristiansen’s fury, pre-season plans

When Enzo Maresca left for Chelsea two weeks ago, six members of staff followed him from Leicester City.

Five of those were household names such as Willy Caballero and Danny Walker, coaches who had been announced as joining Maresca’s side from City last summer. But for Roberto Vitiello, his inclusion in the list of departures was a surprise. This was the first time he was mentioned by the club.

Vitiello was Maresca’s assistant at Parma and was rumored to take the same job at City before Caballero’s arrival. But Vitiello apparently had a role at City.

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It was established that he acted as a development coach, working with the under-21s, giving feedback to Maresca on player performances in games and training and acting as a bridge for those players who could make it to the first team. He will take on a similar role at Chelsea.

Perhaps it was Vitiello’s influence that led Maresca to give Brandon Cover, Tawanda Maswanhise and Arjan Raikhy their debuts last season and also include Logan Briggs and Silko Thomas on the bench.

Kristiansen ‘loses his temper’ after Denmark’s draw

City fans relished the chance to see Victor Kristiansen in action for perhaps the first time in a year when the 21-year-old started for Denmark in their Euro 2024 opener, a 1-1 draw with Slovenia. Playing as a left-back, Kristiansen impressed with his energy, allowing him to contribute in both defense and attack, and he almost got an assist for Rasmus Hojlund.

The game did not go to plan for the Danes, who dominated the first half and scored through Christian Eriksen, only to lose when Slovenia became more direct and aggressive in their pursuit of an equaliser. They eventually leveled the game, Erik Janza’s shot deflected past Kasper Schmeichel.

Frustrated at not seeing out victory on his tour debut, Kristiansen was said to have “lost his temper” with reporters in the mixed zone after the match. Asked if nerves got the better of Denmark in the second half, Kristiansen said: “No, but that’s the story you want. That I played like that. Then something happened in the second half and then you wrote your history.

“I don’t know if it’s true. I think we started the second half well and came forward. I attacked. Slovenia are also good and it is not always possible to close them.

“You can’t dominate a game for 90 minutes and then it’s easy to say you were nervous. It wasn’t the feeling I had on the pitch at all.”

Then asked if there was a reason why Denmark lost control of games in the second half, as they had done in the warm-up games against Norway and Sweden, Kristiansen replied: “Well, it’s the expectation that we will dominate for everything. 90 minutes?”

“These are the questions that are being asked. With the hope that Denmark will dominate the match for 90 minutes. This is how I perceive these questions.

“We had a fantastic start and played a very good first half. And then it changes a bit, and it’s a shame we don’t have three points. That’s it.”

City Women head to Australia as pre-season plans are finalised

There are no confirmed dates or opponents for City’s pre-season yet, but plans are being worked on and it is understood that both games will be in Europe and the UK. It is expected that matches will be announced in blocks rather than as and when each friendly is completed.

But the men’s team will not travel as far as the women’s team. They have been announced as participants in the Perth International Cup, a tournament to be held in late August and early September in Western Australia. City Women will play two matches in a four-team competition with Manchester City, West Ham and PSG.

Who would you like to see City face in pre-season? Let us know in the comments section below.