Sven vs Sousa

Tomorrow the Sven Goran Eriksson era at Leicester City begins.  After Paulo Sousa was sacked, there were mixed emotions all around: should he have been given longer; wouldn't his managing finally come true soon; should the chairman and owners done it in a better way?  I think we all know the answer to the last one but, for me, there was a real problem with Sousa as a manager.

A good coach he may be but I don't believe that Sousa has what it takes to manage; not in England anyway.  A manager has three main jobs: selection/tactics, morale/leadership and transfer market.  Any good manager will excel in these three, look at Alex Ferguson, Martin O'Neill and Harry Redknapp.  So far, Sven has trumped Sousa on all three!

Tactics

With some strange selections (Ikeme over Wealer/Logan, Vitor over Hobbs, Oakley over King), Sousa stuck to his 4-3-3 formation.  While this gave us lots of shots and excitement, there were little goals and many defensive slips.

It can't quite be said for Sven yet but in his one match in charge in a friendly against Thailand, his selection made sense and the tactics lead Leicester to a comfortable 2-0 win.

Morale

It was clear that the players were not happy with Sousa in charge.  They looked dejected, unexcited and even some put in transfer requests.

Players have been very happy with Sven so far, they have bonded on a tour and have all come out in the press in praise of how the spirit and confidence has been lifted with him in charge.  Lovely.

Transfers

Sousa brought in unknown Portuguese players, Moreno and Miguel Vitor; one from the fringes of a mediocre Portuguese side and one from the youth system of Benfica.  As well came Lamey, from the relegation zone of Germany, ad the before mentioned Ikeme who hasn't really done much but pick the ball out of the net.

In the 10 days Sven has been here, he has brought in Naughton, a proven Championship player who is a hot prospect in the Premier League, and Curtis Davies, another proven Championship player from the EPL.  Finally, a link with Jason Roberts, yet again proven at this level, who, if he comes, would be excellent I think.

All in all, I think I make that Sven 3, Sousa 0.  Tomorrow is going to be packed at The Walkers and I'm very excited!