Stephy Mavididi is enjoying his best month in a Leicester City jersey, but manager Enzo Maresca is still not satisfied.
Mavididi scored a superb volley to secure a 1-1 draw with Ipswich, his fifth goal in his last five appearances. With eight goals, he now leads the City scorers’ chart, overtaking Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jamie Vardy.
Maresca has been urging Mavididi to be more consistent since he said at the end of October that the winger is “still at 50 per cent” and that when he shows his quality in every game, he will prove he is ready to step up to the next level. But even though the 25-year-old has done so, posing a greater threat in front of goal, dribbling well and creating chances, his manager is still not satisfied.
Maresca was critical of Mavididi’s decision-making at the end of the Ipswich game. He felt that he ran into trouble more times than he should have, which led to attacks and pressure that eventually led to the equaliser in stoppage time.
“He was excellent today,” Maresca said. “He scored a very good goal, but in the second half, in the last 10 or 15 minutes, he lost two or three balls when he went one against three, one against four. These are moments that we have to manage better.
“We are losing the ball from this action and we are allowing counter-attacks. It’s a moment when you play every three days and you have 10 minutes to go when you have to manage a little bit better. He got a fantastic goal, he played very well, but there are some things he can improve, like the situations we mentioned.”
At the other end, Abdul Fatawu was unable to make an impact in attacking areas as he was given extra defensive duties marshalling Ipswich’s flying full-back Leif Davis. The teenager was winning back positions with his head and executing flying blocks, which was excellent work.
“He had to keep an eye on Davis, so he helped a lot today,” Maresca said. “He plays every game and tonight he was great in the effort he put in.”