A Look Back, A Glance Forward!

In their first ever season in Division 1, Leicester City finished comfortably in mid table with 55 points, netting 51 goals and conceding 47. Ciro Immobile made a colossal impact with 19 goals in 23 games before his departure, whilst captain Martin Odegaard chipped in with 5 goals and 15 assists.
Last season though, the Foxes didn’t find the same success. A drop to 16th in the league saw them finish just 2 points clear of relegation, ending on 44 points. The drop is hard to pinpoint. Goals dropped to 45 scored (a drop of 6), with 53 conceded (an increase of 6) with only 1 less win than the preceding season. However, they won a total of 5 less games, a substantial points dropper.
Leading from the front, Gabriel Jesus dragged the team to safety, netting 18 goals and assisting 6 more in the league, earning him the clubs Player of the Year award in his maiden season. The rest of the team struggled to contribute as much though with Odegaard dropping to 4 goals and 9 assists and Havertz only supplying 4 goals and 5 assists in his first and only season. Martinelli did register 1 extra goal contribution, but that came in 11 extra starts, resulting in a drop of G/A per appearance.
One key drop in results can be seen when Odegaard raised concerns about playing on the wing and asked to play centrally, a move which has not boded well for the team.

Despite the struggle, fans and the club have kept full faith in Earle, given his success in the past. With 4 promotions, 1 League Title and 1 Youth Shield and a history of successful recruitment there are no fears that the club remain on the correct course.
In his first season with the club, the squad was the the 96th ranked of all of the 100 clubs with a 216.07 ETOT. Kicking off last season the squad was up to the 8th ranked team with and ETOT of 227.53 showing a meteoric rise during Earle’s tenure.
Despite a drop to 10th with an ETOT of 226.76 this season, the clubs potential has increased exponentially with additions throughout last season and this pre-season.

Even looking back to the first few rounds of recruitments whilst in Divisions 4 and 5, Earle brought in multiple back up calibre players who have since risen to prominence around the league.
Douglas Luiz joined the Foxes almost immediately when Earle joined and played 164 games for the club over the course of 5 seasons. He has since become a prominent player for Division 1 side Aston Villa with interest from a host of top clubs.
Within 2 days of arriving Earle brought in centre back David Garcia from non-competing CA Osasuna. Whilst playing a minor role at Leicester, he has developed himself into a top option at Division 2 AC Milan.
Nicolas Gonzalez was also an early signing, picked up within a month of the managerial change. He remained a back up for a long while, before working up to a starter and netting 16 goals with 10 assists in 50 games. Similarly to Luiz, Gonzalez has become a top player, culminating in a 12 goal 24 assist season for Leverkusen just 2 seasons ago.
In defence Federico Dimarco came in as a back up but grew into a player who was one of the first names on the team sheet playing over 100 games for the Foxes. The Italian is now one of the top full backs in the league and is playing at Real Madrid.
Similar success stories can be seen in the early signings of Enes Unal, Yangel Herrera and Matty Cash.

With this in mind, the fans have trusted Earle’s judgment in this seasons marquee signing, Florian Wirtz. The German gem did not come cheap with multiple starters moving to Levante in exchange, but if he can build on his 12 goal 9 assist season last year then the club will be happy. At just 21, Wirtz will be a long term project for Earle, but is already a guaranteed starter from day 1, slotting in anywhere in the front 4. The early signs look superb, with 1 goal and 8 assists in pre seasons playing on the left flank, stats which will hopefully translate to the league.
Wirtz was joined by Odilon Kossounou in the move from Levante to Leicester, and he will similarly play a vital starting role. The 23-year-old is a natural centre back, but will likely find himself deployed as a makeshift right back allowing Jurrien Timber to play centrally. Kossounou has taken up this role confidently, featuring twice off the bench in the last 2 games of last season and staring there in all of the pre season matches.
These remain the only 2 signings who are likely to make starting impacts, but towards the end of last season a number of depth options were added.
Melo Arthur made a surprise return just 6 months after heading to Shakhtar. The 27-year-old wont return as a starter though, as he will act as back up to Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga.
Mato Joselu was also a surprise arrival coming in from FC Twente. The 33-year-old does not fit the standard model of recruitment, but a back-up striker was a necessary addition in case of any injuries or suspensions up top. He was followed in by Alassane Plea who will add depth across the top, but will be departing prematurely in March.
Further depth has been added in the post season with goalkeeper Stefano Turati returning from Hamburg, Marco Richter arriving from Shakhtar and the versatile Baktiyor Zaynutdinov coming in from RCD Mallorca. With these additions, Earle has said his 1st and 2nd team are set to proceed for the season.
The main focus of recruitment in the past few weeks has remained youth though. After the agreement for Wirtz, Earle launched an intense pursuit of 19-year-old Joao Neves, landing the Portuguese gem from CSKA Moskva who will become a key part of the youth set up, and the 4th choice centre midfielder. Also coming in as a youth team starter and senior back up is Yan Couto. The highly coveted right back was chased by many top clubs, but it was the Foxes who won the race. Tim Lemperle also came in as a starting youth option, as Leicester search for a left winger.
Further additions came in the form of talented forwards Peque Fernandez and Calixte Ligue. Earle was surprised at the lack of competition to bring in Peque, and is excited to see how he and the 18-year-old Ligue can develop.
To bring more numbers into the youth squad a deal was agreed which has seen talented winger Amario Cozier-Duberry arrive ahead of the start of the season, with Petar Ratkov and Aljoscha Kemlein both arriving in March from Valencia.
Further additions in March will be Fin Stevens adding an option at full back, and Martim Neto, who will pair well in midfield with fellow countrymen Joao Neves.

With a lot of business done, it looks unlikely to slow down, with the future of Martin Odegaard currently in question. Earle was not thrilled with the captains decision to refuse playing on the wing, especially after the success he had found out there. A number of teams have discussed signing the Norwegian, but currently nothing is confirmed. Several approaches for Tino Livramento have been entertained, although no final agreement has been reached.

Whilst Earle has not often put much value in the pre season games, the club have taken motivation from their undefeated run. After an opening 0-0 draw with Levante, Leicester won their following 3 games, netting 9 and conceding 1. Tonight they wrapped up with a 1-1 draw against Fenerbahce, who they kick their season off against tomorrow, before heading to title favourited Dortmund for game 2.
A long season lies ahead, with the focus remaining on long term development, but the squad now looks like it is in a place to move forward with very few changes with an eye on challenging within the next few seasons. This season the target is a record top half finish, although with Division 1 strengthening season on season that target could be challenging.