Leicester Star insisted while City’s style of play under Steve Cooper is similar to the one under Enzo Maresca

Stephy Mavididi has insisted that Leicester City’s style of play under Steve Cooper is similar to the one under Enzo Maresca from last season.

Cooper was appointed the new head coach of Leicester in June after Maresca left to join Chelsea. The former Nottingham Forest boss has spent the last couple of weeks with his players ahead of the return to the Premier League.

The Foxes played in front of supporters for the first time under Cooper in the 2-1 pre-season win over League One side Shrewsbury Town thanks to goals from Stephy Mavididi and Kasey McAteer.

It was the first time that Cooper’s ideas were on display to the public after they played a behind-closed-doors game with Villarreal on Saturday.

After the game, Mavididi explained how the Welshman has only made subtle changes to Leicester’s style of play after Maresca’s slow-tempo football won them the Championship title.

“It’s been good and enjoyable. He’s come in with his ideas,” Mavididi said after the game. “We still want to play with what we showed last season so now it’s just about working together, training everyday and listening to the gaffer.”

Asked about the differences between the two managers, he added: “It’s similar to what we were doing last season. Obviously, it’s still early doors and we need to work every day, listen to his ideas. There’s a few adjustments tactically.

“More off the ball work [the biggest change under Cooper] because we’re coming into a new season. We’re not going to have as much of the ball like we did.”

He added: “He’s a good communicator. You get the message loud and clear. We’re trying to put together the plan that he’s showing us. We’re enjoying it and we need to keep working to look forward to the first game of the season.”