By admin 
Seven games into the Enzo Maresca era has revealed plenty about the Leicester City manager’s tactics and the potential of his team, but most significantly it has told us which players are going to be critical to the club’s success.
Here, we have our first City power rankings of the campaign, putting together the top 10 most important players. It will be a list that changes week on week as new players come to the fore later in the season, but as things stand, these are the leading members of Maresca’s squad…
10. Kasey McAteer
It is difficult to single out any particular winger as being significant to the team’s success because Maresca has so many options there. It feels like, with McAteer, Stephy Mavididi, Wanya Marcal, Abdul Fatawu and Yunus Akgun that there’s going to be rotation throughout the season.
But right now, it’s McAteer who looks like he will be the most prominent. It’s been some rise for the City academy graduate, who had not played any regular football above League Two level before this season.
However, of the wingers available, he seems to best understand Maresca’s tactics. He is making himself a threat and he has the benefit of being able to play on both flanks. It should mean he gets plenty of game-time.
9. Conor Coady
An odd choice perhaps given he hasn’t played a single competitive game yet, but Coady’s influence around the club should not be underestimated. He has been praised to the hilt by Maresca for how he’s continued to go wherever the squad has gone, even in a protective boot.
From what was seen of Coady in pre-season, he will be very important when he is fit later this month as he will be directing City’s play, both on the ball and verbally too. He’s got a loud voice and he’s not afraid to use it.
But Jannik Vestergaard’s solid performances in Coady’s absence, particularly with his passes through the line, show that the summer signing is not integral to the team winning games.
8. Jamie Vardy
He may not be a starter but he has played in every game so far and it is how his attributes compare with Kelechi Iheanacho’s that make him a threat.
City can’t have a striker coming deep for a whole match, particularly if they’re camped in the opposition’s half. Then, they need someone with better penalty-box movement to give the opposition defenders something new to think about, and Vardy still has those qualities.
He has made an impact in most of his appearances off the bench this season and continues to cause trouble inside the area. Once City’s wingers and midfielders have a better grasp of Maresca’s plan, it should mean he gets more chances.
7. Wout Faes
One of only two players to have played every single minute under Maresca, Faes has shown his importance not only on the right of the back three, but as someone who can drop into the middle position too.
He has composure on the ball and carries it forward well too, which means he can confidently draw in the opposition before offloading, allowing City to disrupt an organised side.
He’s got a bit of pace too, so while his surges forward can leave him out of position, he can race back to help shut down opposition counters. So far, he’s shown a cool head in defence too, and has limited the rash moments that popped up occasionally last season.
6. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Those two goals in the opening game against Coventry means he’s still City’s top scorer, level with McAteer, albeit his efforts to add to his tally have been a little wayward.
But it’s not Dewsbury-Hall’s goal threat that makes him important. His energy is key in the box-to-box role, and while it has felt like his touch and decision-making has let him down at times in recent weeks, he is still making an impact.
He carries the ball forward with enthusiasm and he is creating chances at an excellent rate. Only Norwich’s Gabriel Sara has set up more shots than Dewsbury-Hall in the Championship this season, with the midfielder’s total of 21 three times more than the next best City player.
5. Kelechi Iheanacho
As a goal threat, it’s not been the season Iheanacho wanted so far, with his sole strike coming in the Carabao Cup at Burton. But he remains in the team because of his all-around play.
To help their attack, City need to move the ball into promising areas and keep it there. With Iheanacho, they have a player who is comfortable dropping deep, receiving it to feet, and either spinning his marker or offloading to a winger or midfielder. It keeps City’s attack flowing.
He showed his eye for a pass too with the assist for McAteer’s first at Rotherham, but City do need to see more from him in and around the box.
4. Callum Doyle
Along with Faes, Doyle is the other player to be ever present under Maresca, and while the game against Hull showed he has weaknesses in his defensive game that he needs to improve on, he has been mostly solid at the back.
But it’s not his defensive performances that make him important, it’s his passing ability. As the only player to have featured under Maresca previously, Doyle understands the manager’s ideas and is constantly serving good forward ball.
Only three players in the division have played more progressive passes than Doyle, while he also leads the City squad for passes into the penalty area, despite playing deeper than the midfielders and wingers. His crossfield pings are a weapon too.
3. Mads Hermansen
He may not have kept a clean sheet yet but Hermansen has been mightily impressive in his first month as a City player.
It feels like the club have moved into the modern era by bringing in a goalkeeper who is so calm and adept on the ball. He doesn’t mind coming 30 yards out from his own goal to give the defenders an outlet, and he will thread passes through the opposition’s front-line to find midfielders’ feet, even when under pressure.
But equally, he’s been decent with his hands too, particularly against Coventry. It’s given City supporters a goalkeeper they no longer have to fret about, a rarity after last season.
2. Ricardo Pereira
Playing in the most-tactically-interesting position in the team is Ricardo. He is the man tasked with stepping forward from full-back and playing in the midfield, essentially operating in two roles at once, and needing to flip from one to the other depending on whether City have the ball.
What makes him so important is that it’s hard to imagine anybody else in the City squad being able to do it. He has the technical ability to play quick passes where things get intense in the heart of the pitch, but he can also stand up wingers in one-on-ones when defending. He’s making a tough job look not at all difficult.
1. Harry Winks
Leading the way after the first month is City’s first summer signing. Winks is at the heart of the team in more ways than one
He’s the link between the defence and the players further forward, and that often means he receives the ball under pressure, but the way he plays the game means he always looks like he has plenty of time. He has played 55 passes into the final third this season and only Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney (57) and Southampton’s Ryan Manning (56) have played more.
He’s also covered for team-mates well in defensive areas and has made charges on the ball when the space has opened up. He’s done that all pretty consistently too, and is yet to have a bad game.
Plus, like with Ricardo, his importance is exaggerated because there is nobody in the squad who could do what he does to the level he does it.