Emile Heskey has heaped praise on Enzo Maresca and Leicester City in an exclusive chat with FLW

Maresca has successfully implemented an expansive style of play, leading to regular wins and attractive football.

Despite squad turnover and key player departures, Leicester is performing well with Maresca’s guidance and playing like a Premier League team.

Former Leicester City striker Emile Heskey has hailed the “fantastic” job that Enzo Maresca has done in turning fortunes around for the Championship leaders, in an exclusive interview with Football League World.

Maresca, a former assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, was appointed in the summer after the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League and has them top of the second tier after 16 games – with a remarkable 39 points to their name already

Those are not the ideal circumstances for a new coach as they try to introduce a new expansive style of play but Maresca has managed to get Leicester winning regularly while also playing attractive, expansive football.

Those facts are not lost on Heskey. The former England strikers came through at the East Midlands club and went on to make more than 150 appearances for the Foxes before leaving to join Liverpool in 2000.

Now back at Leicester as women’s head of development and an U18s coach with England, Heskey appreciates the work that has gone on behind the scenes to help the Championship leaders make a fast start in 2023/24.

“I think he’s done fantastic,” Heskey said of Maresca in an exclusive interview with FLW.

“When you look at the summer, it probably wasn’t ideal for what he felt pre-season should look like but he never complained, he got on with it. He’s worked with the team, he’s worked with them tirelessly, to get exactly what he wants and that’s exactly what you’re seeing on the pitch.

“They’ve got a Premier League squad but you’ve still got to go out there and perform, you’ve still got to be the best you possibly can, and they’re showing that. They’re playing football that you love to see so it’s been really, really good.”

Leicester suffered a rare setback ahead of the November international break – losing to Leeds United and Middlesbrough in consecutive games – and will look to bounce back against Watford later this month.

The Building Foundations Fund

Heskey was speaking to FLW at the launch of The Building Foundations Fund, which will see Sky Bet provide £6 million for community causes at EFL clubs over a six-year period.

An initial £10,000 has been made available for all 72 clubs this season, while across the next five years, grants of between £5,000 and £100,000 will be available to help teams to boost their current community programmes or launch new initiatives.

Sky Bet managing director Dan Colton hopes that their investment will help clubs remain “the beating hearts of their communities”.