Leicester City have won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt after Leeds collapsed to a shock 4-0 thrashing by QPR yesternight. Goals by Ilias Chair, Lucas Andersen, Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field have severely damaged Leeds’ own hopes of earning promotion, with Ipswich now in the driving seat to finish as runners-up behind the Foxes
Leeds had to win tonight to suspend Leicester’s promotion party and ensure they themselves remained in the hunt for a return to the Premier League. Instead, Leicester’s place in next season’s top-flight was sealed before Enzo Maresca’s side take to the field against Preston on Monday night.
Former midfielder Maresca was the surprise choice to lead Leicester back to the Premier League. The Italian had enjoyed the best possible coaching education as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Leicester’s style has taken inspiration from the reigning Premier League champions.
Maresca’s previous experience as a head coach included an ill-fated 14-game reign at Parma. He had also overseen City’s U21 side in the first of two spells on the Etihad campus. The 44-year-old credits Guardiola for his understanding of the game.
“I’ve been lucky, I’ve worked under Carlo Ancelotti, Marcello Lippi, Manuel Pellegrini, all fantastic managers, but in terms of understanding the game, Pep has 100 per cent had an impact on me,” Maresca said last August.
“It helps a lot having worked with the kinds of people [I have worked with]. You learn things and at the end you create your own idea as a manager and as a person. It’s just something gradual.
“The first idea was probably born when I faced Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team as a player, that was the first time I realised something different happened and I was curious to understand, so I started analysing games and from there taking things from different managers. In the end you create your own idea.”
Although a solid performer in the Premier League, it was not especially clear that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall would emerge as Leicester’s most effective performer in the Championship.
But the 25-year-old has struck 12 goals and provided 14 assists in the second tier and has been one of the best players in the division. Had Leicester failed to win promotion, it seems inconceivable that the academy graduate would have remained.
Leicester may even need to fend off competition for Dewsbury-Hall in the summer, regardless of their promotion. A box-to-box midfielder with a penchant for perfectly-timed runs into the opposition area, Dewsbury-Hall will be one to watch next season.
