Claude Puel has rejected concerns about his playing style and declared that winning is more important than entertaining, although he added that he hoped to do both at Leicester City.
Speaking at his first press conference since his appointment on Wednesday, the Frenchman defended his record at Southampton, from where he was sacked in June despite leading the club to eighth place and the final of the EFL Cup.
Puel maintains that Southampton were not as negative as their goal tally suggested – they failed to score in their final five home matches under him – and he dismissed the comments made this week by the former Southampton player Matt Le Tissier, who claimed Saints were “boring and a little bit dull” last season.
“It is not important about this,” Puel said of Le Tissier’s complaint. “Last season for example we developed good football without the clinical edge. We were seventh place for creating chances but 20th for converting. But that is finished. It is important to stay with good focus about Leicester. It is not a priority just to play good football or nice football. The priority is to win, whether at Leicester, Southampton, or Arsenal – all. It is about how can we have good results.”
The manager confirmed that he would have two assistants, retaining the services of Michael Appleton, who led Leicester to wins in their past two matches, and bringing in Pascal Plancque, who assisted Puel at previous clubs, including Southampton. “I have a good memories of Southampton and I received a lot of messages from people there [after being appointed at Leicester],” Puel said. “It was important for me to have this experience of the Premier League. I know all the different teams, different styles and different players now. It is the best championship in the world. It is almost like playing a Champions League match every week.”
Whether deliberately or otherwise, Puel, whose contract runs until 2020, gave a nod to entertainment by channelling Roald Dahl : “I am glad to be a Fox – it is fantastic.” Then he set out the marvellous medicine he intends prescribing at the King Power Stadium. He said the key to ensuring Leicester remain in good health in the Premier League was to make the team more versatile.
“Leicester is still a young team in Premier League terms,” he said. “They were only promoted recently and then they won the league and went into the Champions League. They lived fantastic moments for a few years but also some low moments. The important [thing] now is to develop consistency. For example, it’s difficult for Leicester to have been playing for three or four years with a counterattack and just this system.
“It’s important to have other answers. It’s difficult to play West Brom, for example, and then against Manchester City three days later. You need to have good solutions against teams with strong defensive units and also against teams who have a lot of possession high up the pitch. My work for the future is to build the players up to have these options and solutions.
“My dream is to give the club the possibility to have style of game for all teams: youth teams, under-23s and the first team. It is not just short term, it is long term, to give this club good consistency of results and quality.”
Puel took his first training session on Friday and assured the players he wanted to sustain the momentum they have created over the past two games and avoid making too many changes too soon. “It’s not the moment to change a lot of things,” he said. “The focus is on [Sunday’s] match against Everton. That will be a special game because they have new manager, too.”