Talking points from the final game of the season against Blackburn, looking at the performance and trophy lift, Maresca’s interesting tweak, Albrighton, Vardy, and a goodbye to the Championship.
Eleven months before the confetti cannons went off and Jamie Vardy hoisted the Championship trophy into the air, Leicester City met with Enzo Maresca for the first time, undoubtedly with this moment in mind.
After nearly a year of dedication from hundreds of people, including players, management, and behind-the-scenes staff, City received the desired prize. So it’s not surprising that the game felt like a distraction.
The City fans in the stadium were there for more than just 90 minutes of football. They were there to pay tribute to Vardy and Marc Albrighton and to see their team receive another trophy. The players felt like the match was just a warm-up for the main event.
Perhaps the players were finally feeling the effects of their week-long celebration. Despite the late nights and beers consumed following the Leeds defeat that secured their promotion, City were able to put on one of their best performances of the season, ripping through Preston and winning the title. However, with more partying since then, their adrenaline levels may have dropped and tiredness had caught up with them.
It wasn’t the worst performance, but it had a distinct end-of-season feel to it. City started slowly, and if it hadn’t been for some valiant interventions in their own box, they would have fallen behind a Blackburn side that was eager to catch them hungover early on.
Once City settled, they created a few opportunities, but there was little urgency. The carrot of reaching 100 points and becoming the first second-tier team to win 32 games in over a century did not seem like enough.
Sammie Szmodics’ opener sparked them into action, and they probably created enough good chances to feel they deserved an equaliser, with Aynsley Pears making a particularly impressive save to tip Harry Winks’ drive over the bar. Szmodics scored again, and City lost. ‘Ah well’ was probably the most negative emotion fans could muster at the final whistle.
Although the 90-minute match did not go as planned, City excelled in other areas and provided memorable moments for supporters.The tifo, brilliantly put together by Union FS, was a thrill to see for those in the two stands not playing their part in creating it, and hopefully a joy for those underneath the foil sheets to know they helped celebrate Vardy’s goalscoring heroics in such a spectacular way.
There were plenty of moments throughout the day that gave Albrighton a memorable send-off, from the standing ovation as he warmed up to Vardy handing him the armband as he walked onto the pitch for his final appearance. Vardy also called on Albrighton and fellow deputy captain Ricardo Pereira to assist him in lifting the trophy, creating a moment of camaraderie that warmed the hearts of those in the stands.
The city has had its fill over the last fortnight. The joy of victories over Southampton and Preston places those games among the best nights in the club’s history. Even without the added benefit of the outcome, Saturday was a pleasant way to conclude.
Maresca looks to the future with experiment in defence
Maresca’s post-match assessment may have given the impression he wasn’t too fussed about the scoreline either. The Italian pointed out that as well as Blackburn, the other three teams going into the day battling to survive all won. Rovers had a lot more riding on the game and that showed. Maresca refuted the idea that losing took some gloss off the day.
But he definitely did care. His stomps of frustration when Winks received the ball from his defence in space but didn’t turn out, instead playing it backwards, proved as much. Even with the objective complete, Maresca was staring intensely from his technical area throughout.
Because the job’s never done. There’s next season to think about now, and Maresca got a head-start on preparations by trying something new.
It was a twist on the usual defensive set-up. This season, City have lined up with a back four when out of possession, but with one of the full-backs moving into midfield when they do have the ball, with the rest of the defence shuffling into a back three.
The same principles were there, but this time Hamza Choudhury started from centre-back before moving into midfield. That meant James Justin, starting on the right, got to be more of a traditional full-back, allowing him the opportunity to advance down the flank and show off the athleticism and dynamism that made his name a few years ago.
The tweak to the tactics didn’t work especially well. There definitely felt like a greater disorganisation at the back as a result, while Justin wasn’t able to influence the attack as much as perhaps he and Maresca would have liked. But to see the manager experimenting with different solutions was promising.
“I’m thinking already about the future,” Maresca said after the match, “Today’s game was important because games are always important. But it’s good to start to think how we could improve next season.
“Hamza could be an option there, Wout (Faes) could be an option, Wilf (Ndidi) could also be an option to do that kind of job. Today is finished, we can relax and start to think about next season.”
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