Wout Faes was a key part of Leicester City’s squad that secured promotion to the Premier League last season.
The centre-back arrived at the King Power Stadium from Stade de Reims in 2022, when the Foxes were in the Premier League. Leicester were relegated from the topflight at the end of his debut season.
Faes continued at Leicester in the Championship, where he played regularly under Enzo Maresca, now at Chelsea, last season. He clocked in over 4,000 minutes from 46 games in all competitions.
The Belgium international has been speaking to Le Soir. His comments are relayed by Walfoot, who question whether it was a ‘good choice’ for him stay at Leicester.
The 26-year-old has now explained Maresca’s impact on improving his game. The Italian was in charge at Leicester for one year and left them for Chelsea in the summer.
“I have to say that I didn’t really know much about this competition before last season. Of course, we often talk about the physical aspect and the duels,” he said.
“But that’s not all. What was really important for me was coach Enzo Maresca. He opened my eyes, showed me a lot of images and gave me a huge amount of support throughout the season.”
“Because he looks at football in a different way and has put in place a very clear system. It’s something I’ve never really experienced before. And it’s also the first time I’ve played in a team that played the majority of the game in the opposition half. In fact, I feel I’ve taken a few steps forward in terms of possession.”
Leicester City appointed Steve Cooper as Maresca’s successor and have one win from seven Premier League matches this season.
The Foxes have collected six points and are three points above the relegation zone. The defender has talked about Leicester’s objective when discussing their start to this season.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve had a bad start to the season, because we’ve still managed three draws. Which means we weren’t far off winning. But in any case, our main objective is to stay up this season,” Faes explained.
“That’s because we’re playing in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, and because we all know how difficult it is to string together games at this level. So, we’re going to try and save ourselves quickly, and then we’ll see where we finish.”
