5 key decisions for Claude Puel to make as Leicester City manager

Claude Puel was appointed as the new Leicester City manager, replacing Craig Shakespeare who was sacked last week.

Puel was the Southampton manager last season, and guided the Saints to an 8th-place finish and reached the EFL Cup final, losing 3-2 to Manchester United.

He parted ways with Southampton at the end of the season and was replaced by Mauricio Pellegrino.

The Frenchman was handed a two-and-a-half-year contract at Leicester and will have several key decisions to make which will determine his legacy at the club.

Let’s take a look at the 5 key decisions Puel has to make.

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#5 How to give Demarai Gray more game time

England Under-21 international Demarai Gray is one of the most exciting players in Puel’s new squad, but he saw very little game time under Shakespeare.

He has made just one start in the Premier League this season and played only 226 minutes.

The English winger only made nine starts last season, but has shown with his limited minutes and away with the England Under-21s that he can be trouble for opposing defences with his pace and trickery.

Marc Albrighton and Riyad Mahrez are the two wingers that mainly started under Shakespeare and previously Claudio Ranieri, but Gray will be pushing to squeeze one of them out of the lineup.

Gray reportedly was unhappy with his lack of playing time last season and was the subject of several bids from fellow Premier League sides but Leicester wanted to hold onto him, presumably to give him more minutes but under Shakespeare that did not happen and perhaps it will under Puel.

#4 Finding Jamie Vardy’s ideal strike partner

Puel needs to find the right formula to get the best out of his attackers

Jamie Vardy is Leicester’s main man. They have normally operated in a 4-4-2 formation but Puel does have a host of strikers capable of partnering the England international.

Shinji Okazaki has been the man mainly used alongside Vardy, and has produced mixed results this season. Okazaki has scored four goals this season and does a lot of Vardy’s running and pressing for him, which usually results in the Japanese international being substituted after an hour.

However, Leicester spent a reported £25 million on former Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho this summer and have failed to integrate him into the starting side.

Iheanacho had a very good scoring rate at Manchester City, which prompted Leicester to spent so much on the Nigerian, but he has only made two starts in the Premier League this season.

He did score and get an assist in the 3-1 win over Leeds United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday though, and interim manager Michael Appleton said that “he grew in confidence after that.”

In that win at the King Power Stadium, Islam Slimani was also on the scoresheet and he will be another contender to partner Vardy.

Leicester spent £30 million on Slimani the summer after winning the 2015/16 Premier League, but only managed seven goals in 13 starts in the league last season.

#3 The right formation

Puel with Mourinho ahead of the EFL Cup final clash

At Southampton, Puel mainly used a 4-2-3-1 system but Leicester’s famous 4-4-2 formation is similar depending on the players used but also very different.

Last season as Saints manager, Puel’s midfield usually consisted of a holding midfielder in Oriol Romeu, with James Ward-Prowse alongside him with Steven Davis playing ahead of the two.

Nathan Redmond lined up on the left and Dusan Tadic would cut inside from the right, while Manolo Gabbiadini played as the lone striker.

Should Puel want to mirror that system at Leicester, he would definitely struggle.

Vincente Iborra and Wilfried Ndidi are not similar to Romeu and Ward-Prowse, but with the addition of Adrien Silva in January, the two at the base of midfield could resemble that of Southampton’s.

Gray is similar to Redmond and could line up on the left which would also solve the problem of giving the former Birmingham City winger more minutes.

However, at Southampton, Puel used two playmakers in Tadic and Davis, while only Mahrez resembles that style of player at Leicester.

#2 Easing out the old guard

Wes Morgan is 33 Leicester generally have a good squad average age, but several key players have now hit their 30s and are on the back nine of their careers.

Vardy is 30, and has a game that depends an awful lot on pace. Okazaki is 31 and his energy is one of the main reasons he has played so often for Leicester while Christian Fuchs is 31 and Wes Morgan is 33.

Leicester have made a good start in making their squad younger, replacing Robert Huth with Harry Maguire but more work has to be done.

At just 21, Iheanacho could be seen as the long-term replacement for Vardy, and as the two don’t seem to fit stylistically it could see Vardy lose gametime to Iheanacho, but that would be a bold decision for Puel to make and could backfire should the Nigerian fail to produce Vardy’s goal tally.

Fuchs could have a successor in the squad in Ben Chilwell, who has started twice this season and was a starter at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship with England.

However, there does not seem to be ready-made Okazaki and Morgan replacements at the club. The club’s reliance on players over the age of 30 will not please Puel, and it could lead to the Frenchman heading into the transfer market.

#1 Where to spend in January

Puel will need to be tactful in the transfer market

Presumably, discussions will have taken place over how much Puel will have to spend in January, but he will look to make the squad his own.

Leicester lie 14th in the Premier League and are top eight in terms of goals scored but are 14th in goals conceded.

This could mean Puel will want to improve defensively and could look to sign players in defensive positions.

Puel may want to link up with a few of his former players at Southampton. He brought Redmond, Pierre-Emile Hojberg, Sofiane Boufal and Manolo Gabbiadini among others to St. Mary’s last season.