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Leicester City comment by Nev Foulger column: New signings allow fresh start
By LCFC | September 6, 2010
The short trip down the M69 to Coventry followed by back-to-back home games offers Leicester City the perfect opportunity to show their expectant fans that the season starts now.
Manager Paulo Sousa and the players need to rewind, delete August from the memory bank and begin again at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday.
The stunning signing of Martyn Waghorn on transfer-deadline day plus the arrival of Japan World Cup star Yuki Abe has gone some way towards lifting the disappointment and frustration that engulfed the Blue Army after the worst start to a league season for 16 years.
And the news filtering out of the City camp is that Sousa has not finished yet. There seems to be every chance he could further strengthen the squad with at least one more loan signing.
What is required now are results on the pitch.
A couple of wins from the next three games really would have the feel-good factor returning to the Walkers Stadium.
So far City have spluttered like a car with ignition problems.
If they are going to be part of the Championship promotion race this season, they need to start moving up through the gears.
They have shown glimpses of what they are capable of in most of the games, and victory at Leeds in the Carling Cup suggested that the ability is there.
They were a good side last season and there is no reason why they cannot remain so, once they have come to terms with the style of football Sousa wants.
Hopefully, the two-week break for internationals will have allowed City the time to put in some hard work on the training ground and iron out the faults that have undermined performances so far. Elementary defensive errors have cost them dearly and their finishing needs to become more clinical.
The return of Waghorn, and the signing of defensive midfielder Abe, should help in that respect.
Waghorn's energy, enthusiasm and commitment will be a major asset up-front, as it was last season when he scored 12 goals while on loan.
And, if 28-year-old Abe is as good as reports from Japan suggest he is, he could be the player to provide added security to City's defence.
A word of caution, however. The Japan international is clearly a quality player – but he has never played in English football before. So it is doubtful whether he will have experienced anything quite as fiercely competitive as the Championship. He will need time to settle down and adjust to his new surroundings. The M69 derby could be a real eye-opener for him.
But the acquisition of Abe does offer Sousa an interesting alternative formation as he looks to make City more difficult to beat without reducing their attacking potential.
He could play him alongside Moreno, another defensive midfielder, to give City a two-pronged shield in front of the back four.
That would allow the likes of Andy King, Matt Oakley or Richie Wellens the freedom to push forward in attack in what would be a 4-2-1-3 system.
The signing of Waghorn also creates a real battle for places up front. Until he was injured last season, Matty Fryatt formed a formidable partnership with Waghorn, so it will be interesting to see if Sousa pairs them up again.
And Lloyd Dyer must surely start – he has been City's best player so far this campaign. It promises to be a selection headache for Sousa, but one wants.
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