The Zambian striker made his first start since April in Leicester City’s 4-0 win over Plymouth with Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy unavailable and scored the second goal of the game
Enzo Maresca told Patson Daka he didn’t expect him to play well so was delighted the out-of-favour striker got himself on the scoresheet in Leicester City’s rampant win over Plymouth.
Making his first start of the season with Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho unavailable, Daka scored the second of City’s four goals as Maresca’s side recorded their biggest win of the season. It keeps them on top in the Championship.
Daka has been out of the picture for much of the season, a “straight situation” for which Maresca is “very sorry”, but he was needed on Saturday and stepped up. Having only afforded him 20 minutes of pitch-time over the first few months of the campaign, Maresca told the Zambian to not put pressure on his own performance.
“The situation with Pat has been a bit strange,” Maresca said. “Since day one, he works fantastic and he behaves fantastic. Because I play with one striker and we use Jamie, we use Kele, he didn’t get minutes. But it was not because he trained bad or behaved bad.
“I always said to him that in these three or four months: ‘Pat, I’m very sorry for the situation.’ But it is what it is. He has continued to work in the right way.
“Now we had Kele ill and Jamie with a small problem. It was a chance for him and he took it. I’m very happy, especially for him, because he completely deserved it.
“I told Pat before the game: ‘It doesn’t matter if you play well or bad. I don’t expect from you to play well. I can understand to be out for three or four months. So play free, relax, enjoy, and then we’ll see.’
“He tried to drop, to link. We know it’s not his way. But he has to adapt a little bit in the way the team want to play. He did some good, he missed some others, but it doesn’t matter. At the end, he also scored a goal. I’m very happy for him.”
Daka nearly left the club in the summer window, with deadline-day moves to AC Milan and Bournemouth both falling through, and his future is expected to be on the agenda again in January. Maresca is not thinking that far ahead.
“For me the future is Wednesday,” Maresca added. “I swear, serious. Pat is one of our players. We are happy. If he is not happy and he wants to leave, we’ll see. Now it’s about Wednesday.”
By Jordan Blackwell | Leicester Mercury
What a dull coach.
One of those Mourinho type coaches who misreads individuals i.e. thinks if a player has a lot of tattoos and a colourful hairstyle then automatically God makes them a top player.
I have been waiting to hear this from the coach.At least the player should have gotten at least ten minutes per game to allow him adjust to this dropping thing.He comes from being thrown under the bus all season to score and assist.