Harry Winks started every Championship match but one last season. Had he not been suspended, he would probably have started the game he missed too.
In short, he was one of Enzo Maresca’s most important players, perhaps challenging Jannik Vestergaard and Mads Hermansen for the title of the most important player in the squad. To make Maresca's plan work, Leicester City needed Winks in their midfield.
Ruud van Nistelrooy has spoken regularly of making progress on the work that Maresca did and building on the ideas he introduced. It feels inevitable, then, that now Winks is available, he will come straight into the City starting line-up this weekend.
After suffering a groin injury in Steve Cooper’s final match, Winks missed out on the chance to make an immediate impression under van Nistelrooy. Wilfred Ndidi and Boubakary Soumare started the Dutchman’s first two games and as two physical presences in front of the back four, they seemed to provide what he wanted.
But Ndidi’s injury has opened the door for Winks to play, as have the deficiencies City showed at Newcastle. Aside from their struggles at defending set-pieces, van Nistelrooy felt the big problem was giving up the ball too readily and letting the Magpies counter-attack.
He said: “In open play, our defensive organisation, we didn’t give much away. I think the most chances we gave away to Newcastle were when we had the ball and we lost it. It was the three or four counter-attacks that Newcastle placed on us that we had a good look at (in team meetings).
“It has to do with the decision-making on the ball but also the structure on the ball, which we worked on the training pitch after evaluating these chances. We have to protect ourselves better to prevent counter-attacks.”
While van Nistelrooy does not want possession for possession’s sake, as it sometimes felt Maresca did, he does want his team to have more of the ball than they typically had under Cooper. His favourite performance so far, the 2-2 draw with Brighton, saw City have 56 per cent of the ball.
Their possession was down to 41 per cent at Newcastle. As soon as City tried to play the more adventurous passes and get themselves onto the attack, they gave up the ball, either allowing Eddie Howe's side to control the play or rush forward with their pacy attack.
They needed to be more patient, as full-back James Justin pointed out after the game. He said: “The manager gave us a good structure to play from and we didn’t execute it as well as we know we can. We have to look to get into the structure earlier and be calm on the ball and be slow in possession.”
There is nobody better in the City squad at dictating tempo than Winks. When a game gets frantic, he is the best in the group at wrestling control and stabilising City.
Van Nistelrooy won’t want his team to be slow all of the time. They showed against West Ham that they can counter-attack themselves. Those direct, speedy forays forward are needed too.
But it’s a matter of knowing when to be fast and when to be slow and Winks gets that right better than anybody. He could have a key part to play on Sunday, and going forward.
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