Leicester City may have the strongest set of players for one position in the Championship and it’s something they need to take advantage of to boost their promotion chances
Building a team around one player is a risky move. All it takes is one injury and the gameplan unravels.
But what about building around a position? If the squad depth is there, covering for any injuries or suspensions, then it could work.
When Leicester City come to prepare their tactics for the new season, there’s an argument to say they should use their wingers as a starting point.
As things stand, City look like having the highest-quality set of wide-men in the Championship. There’s only Ipswich, with Omari Hutchinson, Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke, who could also make that claim.
In Stephy Mavididi and soon-to-be-fit-again Abdul Fatawu, City have two wingers who have proven they can deliver in the Championship. Between them, they registered 37 goals and assists en route to the title in 2024.
Both are them are exceptional in one-on-ones. Mavididi’s footwork and Fatawu’s speed can flummox full-backs.
If they stay at the club, they should be City’s starting pair. But what happens if they’re ruled out through injury, or even get tired late in games?
Well then City can call on Jeremy Monga or Will Alves. That’s two more players who can operate out wide and can use trickery to beat their men.
City have further wide options in Kasey McAteer, Jake Evans, Wanya Marcal, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid but in Mavididi, Fatawu, Monga and Alves, they have four players who can almost be guaranteed to get past their full-back.
So how do City build from there? Well, first, it’s by ensuring they select a formation that allows for wingers to be involved. The wing-back system deployed occasionally by Ruud van Nistelrooy should be forgotten.
Then it’s about selecting players that are going to help the wingers’ cause. Maybe that means choosing full-backs who get forward to prevent teams doubling up on City’s wide-men. It might mean opting for a centre-back who can ping crossfield passes.
It might affect transfers too. If City are going to play to the wings, they need a striker who can profit in what is perhaps the most important transfer for the club this summer.
That might mean finding a player who is good in the air to connect with floated crosses. It at least means bringing in a forward who knows how to find space in a cramped box.
In attacking midfield too, perhaps City would need to sign a player who qualities are in their off-the-ball work – barrelling into the box to provide another target centrally – rather than necessarily someone who is silky on the ball.
It feels like City are going to have promotion-worthy wide options next term, players that are going to get a lot of joy. They can’t let that go to waste, and that means making signings that are going to complement the wingers.
