Zalaegerszegi TE 19/07/25

[John rayner]

9 hours ago, Long Eaton Fox said:

Monga. He's very tricky but is he actually quick?

Yes Monga is quick 

[Groby_Blue]

7 minutes ago, Jacnah said:

what was that tactics video please?

Have a watch of the video in the first post of this thread 

 

Marti Cifuentes - Style of Play, Tactics and Analysis

[LanguedocFox]

Where is Cordova-Reid? I don’t think he’s played in any of the pre-season matches - not that I’m particularly bothered. Just wondering if he’s injured or on his way - hopefully the latter.

[Jacnah]

2 minutes ago, Groby_Blue said:

Have a watch of the video in the first post of this thread 

 

Marti Cifuentes - Style of Play, Tactics and Analysis

ah...my bad..should have checked. Thank you!

[BeaumontFox]

3 minutes ago, LanguedocFox said:

Where is Cordova-Reid? I don’t think he’s played in any of the pre-season matches - not that I’m particularly bothered. Just wondering if he’s injured or on his way - hopefully the latter.

He was at Seagrave for the 4 hours football-a-thon last weekend. I saw him taking photos with a few supporters in the car park.

[Ric Flair]

Disappointed Aluko didn't get either half, he's been our most impressive defender this pre-season.

 

Hopefully he impresses Cifuentes in the coming weeks.

[Claudio Fannieri]

2 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Disappointed Aluko didn't get either half, he's been our most impressive defender this pre-season.

 

Hopefully he impresses Cifuentes in the coming weeks.

Agree pal my only hope is he was using yesterday to guage which 2 of Vesty, Coady and Faes he is happy to bin off. 

[WigstonWanderer]

Thought we looked quite classy albeit against inferior opposition. Still not creating enough chances or converting the ones we get, but probably can’t glean too much from pre-season.

 

Exciting to see our youth talent in action, particularly Monga. Hope he gets every opportunity this season and doesn’t get his flair coached out of him. Potential Mahrez levels of talent IMO, and hard-working too.

[JimJams]

10 minutes ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Agree pal my only hope is he was using yesterday to guage which 2 of Vesty, Coady and Faes he is happy to bin off. 

 Well the noise about the Coady/Rangers move were about it not being sanctioned until MC had a chance to see the players.  Of the 3 Vestergaard looked better, as he's just going back to what he did under Enzo.  Hopefully seen enough to get CC gone at least.

[Merchant_Banker]

5 hours ago, Cincinnati Fox said:

He falls over a little easy, it’s hard for a 16 year old but he needs at little bit of edge (think Rooney) which he doesn’t appear to have naturally 

Don't agree with that. He was bullying his right back and tended to come out with the ball. In another thread he was compared to Daka who fell over a lot and lost the ball. I think both Monga and Evans showed they were strong enough and willing to fight for the ball.

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/marti-cifuentes-picks-out-five-10359972

 

Marti Cifuentes picks out five players as he explains Leicester City's 'interesting mix'
The manager discusses his side's 1-0 win over Zalaegerszegi, with Jordan Ayew netting in the second half to ensure the Spaniard got off to a winning start as boss

ByJordan Blackwell
21:43, 19 JUL 2025Updated06:47, 20 JUL 2025

Marti Cifuentes’ “interesting mix” of Leicester City players provided him with plenty of positives to take from his first match in the dugout.

The Spaniard watched as his new team beat Hungarian outfit Zalaegerszegi 1-0 on Saturday, with Jordan Ayew scoring the game’s only goal.

In what was his first real chance to see the squad in match action, Cifuentes gave minutes to 23 different City players, having previously said he wanted his arrival to feel like a “fresh start”.

 

He was happy with what he saw and seems pleased with the age range in his group, with players aged 16 up to 33.

Five players were picked out, with Jeremy Monga, Louis Page and Jake Evans representing the young group, and with Conor Coady and Jannik Vestergaard two of the more experienced heads.

Cifuentes told the club: “There are a lot of positive things we can bring with us. There are a lot of things to improve, which is normal at this stage.

“The most important thing today was for me to give a proper chance to everyone. We played two teams and we had even more changes in the second half. There were a lot of positives and I’m happy that we won.”

“I like the intention, the attitude, and the application of the team. I like that we wanted to be from day one, a team that is dominant and wants to use possession to attack. The timing of the movement and the rotations, everything will come.

“I like, as well, to see the young boys. I’m very happy with what I see from Jeremy, from Louis, from Evans, from all the young guys.

“And, as well, the application of the experienced players. I liked what I saw from Conor, from Jannik. It’s an interesting mix.”

The victory means City are now three for three in pre-season, with the squad securing wins over Peterborough and OH Leuven under Andy King.

Cifuentes does not subscribe to the “very common” mantra that results in pre-season do not matter.

He added: “What I saw in training we tried to play here. It’s much more fun for everyone, for the fans, for me as a coach, when we can compete (against an opponent).

“I said it was important as well to win the game. It’s a friendly, it’s fine, but we are here to win football games. It’s very common in pre-season to say the result doesn’t matter.

“For me it matters always, so that’s why I’m happy with the application and I’m happy the team is trying to do what we did in training.”

[LanguedocFox]

“It’s very common in pre-season to say the result doesn’t matter.

“For me it matters always,”

 

That is what we need from a manager. Winning matters - always.

[honeybradger]

1 hour ago, LanguedocFox said:

 

“It’s very common in pre-season to say the result doesn’t matter.

“For me it matters always,”

 

That is what we need from a manager. Winning matters - always.

Strongly agree, our downfall as a club began in the 2019/2020 season where we accepted abject performances at the end of the season because we punched well above our weight in the first half of the season and were in the top 6. Then those kind of performances where the players dont apply themselves properly became normalised and we are where we are now.

[BKLFox]

1 hour ago, LanguedocFox said:

 

“It’s very common in pre-season to say the result doesn’t matter.

“For me it matters always,”

 

That is what we need from a manager. Winning matters - always.

 

14 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

Strongly agree, our downfall as a club began in the 2019/2020 season where we accepted abject performances at the end of the season because we punched well above our weight in the first half of the season and were in the top 6. Then those kind of performances where the players dont apply themselves properly became normalised and we are where we are now.

Just Words..

 

it’s easy to say after you’ve won but also if we had lost because he would have said, “yes winning matters to me I always want to win so yes I’m disappointed with the result, that said it’s pre-season it’s about getting match fit and getting my plans into the team which I thought the lads did very well blah blah blah blah blah….so really happy”

 
so wouldn’t read much into what’s said tbh (by any manager) 

[LanguedocFox]

1 hour ago, BKLFox said:

 

Just Words..

 

it’s easy to say after you’ve won but also if we had lost because he would have said, “yes winning matters to me I always want to win so yes I’m disappointed with the result, that said it’s pre-season it’s about getting match fit and getting my plans into the team which I thought the lads did very well blah blah blah blah blah….so really happy”

 
so wouldn’t read much into what’s said tbh (by any manager) 

I’m not sure he would have said that. He seems to be someone who cares (that’s what most QPR fans thought as well), and we can only take him at his word. I’d hope that when we do lose he will show Pearson levels of controlled anger, and translate that into meaningful action. Time will tell, as always.