Leicester City hoped they would break new ground when they appointed Enzo Maresca as their manager, but they would not have thought it could happen so quickly.
Three wins to kick off the campaign is an impressive start to any season, never mind one following a summer where the club were reeling from relegation, appointed a new coaching team, and had a significant turnover in players.
But while back-to-back-to-back victories is very good, it doesn’t feel like it should be historic. And yet, preposterously, it is. Not since 1922, more than a century ago, have City won their opening three games of a season. In those 101 years, there had been 15 campaigns where City started with a pair of wins only to draw or lose the third game.
If City beat Cardiff at home next Saturday, it really will see Maresca’s name written into history. Never before have they begun with four straight wins.
It is just one of the reasons why excitement is building. Their latest win, a 1-0 success at Huddersfield, was not a particularly thrilling encounter, but what it stood for has fans bubbling with anticipation.
Project Enzo is still in its infancy. As Maresca pointed out, it’s been 40 days since he took charge of the team. Watching City play, it feels like they have not yet even shifted into third gear.
But the ideas are there. It is clear what they want to become. And there are occasional glimpses of it. There was one particularly terrific move in the first half at the John Smith’s Stadium where slick passing and movement saw City carve Huddersfield apart, only a poor finish from Dennis Praet preventing an excellent team goal.
That’s why it’s exciting, because supporters are able to envisage how good this team can be when Maresca has truly bedded in, when they can shift into fifth gear and when the free-flowing passing moves come relentlessly.
Added to that, the team feels fresh. Not only are there new signings in the team, but homegrown players too. Seeing academy graduates promoted into the first team will always be a thrill and Jakub Stolarczyk and Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, making their first league appearances for the club on Saturday, did not look out of their depth.
That’s not to say the team is all potential. Three wins from three shows they are delivering, and there are improvements being made each week.
While they did give up a big first-chance that should have been converted, on the whole, City’s defence was much more secure than against Coventry.
They grabbed a second-half winner again too, their patience allowing them to take advantage of a tiring opponent once more. Only once last season did City win a league game they were drawing or trailing at half-time. They’ve already done it twice this term.
One week into the new season feels premature to get too giddy, but when the team are doing things they’ve not done for 100 years, and are going to get better, it’s also quite hard not to.
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