Leicester City are looking at an immediate return to the Premier League under Enzo Maresca, with England defender Conor Coady believing the Italian’s plan has set the Foxes on the road to success – can Wayne Rooney stop them at St Andrew’s?
Even without Jamie Vardy, Wayne Rooney and his Birmingham team will have a difficult challenge against Leicester.(Photo credit: Getty Images)
Birmingham City’s 1-0 triumph over Cardiff City in midweek snapped a sequence of eight straight losses away from St Andrew’s.
But now, Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City presents maybe the greatest challenge for Wayne Rooney and his Blues in the Championship.
Following the Watta Christie libel trial, Rooney avoided a date with Jamie Vardy of Leicester because the former England forward is dealing with a knee problem. But he understands that in order to win anything from the soaring Foxes, his team must perform to the highest level.
“Leicester is one of the best teams in the division,” acknowledges Rooney. However, our victory over Cardiff boosted our confidence and self-belief. We’ll be prepared.
Vardy will skip out, but Conor Coady, another former England player, will take on Rooney. Coady has already followed the plan for success in the Championship and feels that Leicester’s success in the upcoming months will depend on how well they continue to follow Maresca’s blueprint.
Five years ago, Coady led the Wolves to victory in the Championship title as Nuno Espirito Santo’s lieutenant. After the Foxes were demoted last summer, Coady decided to go from West Midlands to East after Bruno Lage judged him superfluous.
But he asserts that manager Maresca has a strategy that is effective. And if it is followed, Leicester City will ultimately finish in the same spot.
“I think having a plan is so important,” he stated. There won’t be continuity if your rhythm and style of play are altered every game. Confidence increases if you are following a plan and seeing results. We are aware of the manager’s setup and his expectations of us. We are being true to that.
We do occasionally make small adjustments, but the fundamental principle of controlling the ball and the game remains the same. We should take that action because, in my opinion, having a strategy and following it through are crucial components of leaving the division.
It’s important to aim to exit this league every game, like I was fortunate enough to do in the past.
Conor Coady of Leicester CityĀ (Ā Image:Ā MI News/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock) Leicester and fellow pace-setters Ipswich Town set a record by reaching a half-century of points after only 21 Championship games. They both hold a 10-point lead over third-placedĀ Leeds United, but Coady is aware that any suggestion that the Foxes have done the hard work needs to be stamped out. He added: āYou have to recognise that yes, weāre a good team but weāre coming up against other good football teams and they want to beat us. āPeople are looking at Leicester at the moment and think weāre just going to beat everyone. Itās not like that. Thatās never going to be the case because weāre coming up against sides that prepare and plan to play against us. āSo when those little blips come, itās important we bounce back as quickly as possible. We go back to what we know and how weāre going to play and build from there. I think youāve seen that in the past couple of weeks.ā
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