Cifuentes wants ‘fearless’ football from Leicester

Leicester City’s new manager Marti Cifuentes says he wants the team to play “fearless” football once more as he tries to reclaim the Premier League on its first try.

The Spaniard, 43, has spent the majority of his first week playing for the Foxes in Austria during pre-season training.

With less than three weeks until the Championship season officially begins, the former Queens Park Rangers head coach describes it as “intense but useful days” together.

Cifuentes claims many of his ideas are already well known at the club now that Enzo Maresca has won promotion to the club in 2024.

Beyond that, Cifuentes are quick to exploit Leicester’s reputation for the swashbuckling strategy they used to win the Premier League title in 2016 and build on it.

Cifuentes, who was training with BBC Radio Leicester at Stegersbach, Austria, said, “There is this foundation from some years ago about the way of playing that feeds very well into my ideas.”

“There is a talented squad, a lot of quality players, that reflect well in my perception of and understanding of football.”

I really want them to enjoy our play, in line with the fearless manner that I have come across in this club.

Cifuentes says it is “very clear” that his job at the King Power Stadium is to “as soon as possible” is to reach the Premier League.

However, the Spaniard has spoken of an effort to strike a balance between short-term and long-term success as a manager whose work at the youth level and his insistence on promoting young talent attracted Leicester’s hierarchy.

He said, “I’m aware of the expectations, and I believe that’s the way it should be.”

We need to establish a foundation and identity that will help us continue that path over time because I am also aware that it’s not going to be simple.

I understand how difficult it can be after being elevated, but I want to share this game-loving side with them.

Ruud van Nistelrooy replaced him with Cifuentes, who led Leicester to a season-low of 13 points and 13 safety points in the Premier League.

The drop resulted in the 2021 FA Cup winners having to compete for a third time in three years.

Leicester’s previous accomplishments in 2024, when they won the second-tier title, are not things that Cifuentes will take for granted in what he refers to as “a beast” of a league.

Under Enzo and many of the players still in place, “this team did really well,” he said, adding that, “of course, that serves as a reference point.”

However, the reality is that every game and season of football is unique, so we must approach it in a very modest manner. We can’t anticipate that the 97 or 100 points will be easy to obtain and that it will be a walk-in’the-park experience.

Leicester’s overall score under Cifuentes is also affected by the allegations that the club made against them for allegedly breaking English Football League financial laws when they won the Championship less than a year ago.

In the upcoming weeks, Cifuentes is expected to shape his squad in light of that charge as well as the club’s need to try to balance the books in an effort to avoid profit and sustainability rule breaches.

He said he wanted to work with a smaller squad and that it would be “trimmed” before the campaign started, but he would not say what kind of business might need to be done during the summer transfer window.

What’s clear is that I won’t make a lot of guesses about untrue information, Confucientes said.