‘The Opportunity Is Fantastic’ - Cifuentes Outlines Foxes Philosophy

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‘The Opportunity Is Fantastic’ - Cifuentes Outlines Foxes Philosophy

Martí Cifuentes believes he is taking on a very exciting project after becoming our new First Team Manager on a three-year contract.

2025-07-16T09:00+01:00

by Sam Jones

Published

16 Jul, 2025

‘The Opportunity Is Fantastic’ - Cifuentes Outlines Foxes Philosophy

Martí Cifuentes believes he is taking on a very exciting project after becoming our new First Team Manager on a three-year contract.

Sam Jones

2025-07-16T09:00+01:00

‘The Opportunity Is Fantastic’ - Cifuentes Outlines Foxes Philosophy

Martí Cifuentes believes he is taking on a very exciting project after becoming our new First Team Manager on a three-year contract.

Sam Jones

2025-07-16T09:00+01:00

‘The Opportunity Is Fantastic’ - Cifuentes Outlines Foxes Philosophy

Martí Cifuentes believes he is taking on a very exciting project after becoming our new First Team Manager on a three-year contract.

Sam Jones

2025-07-16T09:00+01:00

‘The Opportunity Is Fantastic’ - Cifuentes Outlines Foxes Philosophy

Martí Cifuentes believes he is taking on a very exciting project after becoming our new First Team Manager on a three-year contract.

Sam Jones

2025-07-16T09:00+01:00

The Spaniard, in post ahead of the new Sky Bet Championship campaign beginning next month, has the remainder of the pre-season schedule to begin implementing his style of play, with work beginning on Wednesday and a home friendly against Fiorentina to come at King Power Stadium.

During a wide-ranging first sit-down interview as LCFC Manager, the former Queens Park Rangers, Hammarby and Aalborg head coach discussed the key factors behind his decision to join, why he feels suited to the role and the excitement of taking another job in England, as well as his footballing background and ideology.

“First of all, the history; I know about how big the tradition of the Club is,” Cifuentes commented. “Secondly, I think there is fantastic potential and quality in the squad. I’m looking forward to working with people who have certainly achieved big things in football in this Club.

“I always think that all teams can always improve and develop and that’s part of management to understand the team. Some of the reasons that attracted me to be here was that there is a good quality of players for the style that I like to play.

“Of course it will take some time until we see the version of the team that I would like to see, but the base I’m sure is going to be there from day one. I’m looking forward to meeting the group and all the players.

“We’ve seen a lot of this team, not only because we have faced many of those players two seasons ago, also last season in the FA Cup, but as well we have been watching a lot about the games in the Premier League.

“We know about how they performed last season, but at the same time we want to meet them and see where they are mentally. I’m aware that after a difficult season we [need to] recover their self-esteem and the understanding that they are very good football players.

“Third, we have one of the best training facilities in the world, a fantastic stadium and there is definitely a lot of things that attracted me. From someone coming from Barcelona, I already knew about Leicester.

“The last two years in the UK helped me to understand more the meaning of the Club, but when you just think about the legends that have played here like Peter Shilton, Gordon Banks, Gary Lineker, it says a lot about the size of this Club and obviously everyone is aware of what happened 10 years ago.

“I’m definitely very excited, it’s a very good opportunity and I’m looking forward to starting working.”

A coaching path which has taken him far and wide across Europe, Cifuentes is certainly well-travelled. Beginning his journey even before his playing career came to an end, the 43-year-old always carried a passion for the beautiful game, and believes his experiences have enabled him to develop a clear philosophy which he is ready to implement on Filbert Way.

“So far it is a fantastic journey,” the Spaniard continued. “From someone who started to play the game when I was six or seven years-old. For different reasons, I started to coach quite early. I really loved it from day one.

“It’s true that in the game you never know what the next step will be, but I’ve had an opportunity now to coach in five different countries and to have an opportunity to train in a club like this in England is a fantastic experience.

“When I was playing, I was 13, 14 years-old and already starting to prepare line-ups and analysing the teams. It was very clear for me that I wanted to play as much as I could, but at the same time, it was always on my mind to start to coach, but I didn’t expect to start to coach as soon as I did. So far, I don’t regret it, just the opposite, I’m enjoying every piece of it.”

Well versed in the rigours of the Championship, Cifuentes knows all about English football from his most recent post at QPR and believes he learnt a lot from his first stint in this country. Having kept the west London club in the division on two occasions, turning their fortunes around on the pitch, he is confident of hitting the ground running in Leicestershire.

“I was watching a lot of games before coming to England,” he continued. “Everybody knows how tough, how ruthless this league can be. The fact that it’s 46 games, the fact that it’s definitely a very demanding league, not only in terms of the physical part, but mentally as well.

“It’s a league that demands a lot from all the players, from the staff. In that sense, I learnt a little more about it still; about the ways of playing that you can find across the league. But for me, definitely it has been a good learning in the last few years.

“Sometimes in England, especially in the Championship, the schedule is so demanding. At times, if I need to stay in the office to have meetings or prepare a game plan, I’ll do it. But I would say 99 per cent of times I’m out on the pitch working with the players.

“I like to be close and involved in the drills. I’m not the kind of coach who will stay just looking around, I’m working hands on with the players.

“I would say that so far I’ve been a lucky coach because it’s true that we achieved a very important target (at QPR). It was a big challenge because it was not an easy situation.

“But I always say the same, to achieve targets in life, especially in football, you need [something] from everyone. It’s not a one-man task, it’s about especially the players, they must be the ones getting the headlines.

“But at the same time, it’s about all the staff behind the scenes that work relentlessly. And the fans play a big part of our achievement and hopefully it’s going to be the same here.”

Popular with Rangers supporters during his time at Loftus Road, Cifuentes outlined the significance of developing a strong bond with the Blue Army, also summarising the key points behind his footballing philosophy and what Foxes fans can expect from the style of play he will put forward, with his teams known for playing attacking football on the front foot.

“It’s very important to build a relationship with the fans, especially when we speak about clubs like Leicester with fantastic support,” he told us. “I’m looking forward to meeting them very soon and giving them something that they will appreciate.

“That will be to win as many games as possible but to do it in a certain style. Hopefully they will be as engaged as I am about this project and hopefully we are going to deliver what they want.

“It’s not about me; it’s about the team - that they feel this engagement every time we play. The way we attack, the way we approach the games, that they feel like it is exactly what they want.

“Hopefully many days we are going to win; some days we will lose, but I want them to go home sad about the result but still proud about the effort of the team. That is something that we are going to try and build together. I want the fans to have fun.

“I was born in Barcelona and I grew up when Johan Cruyff took over at Barcelona. That definitely shaped my way of watching football and understanding football. My purpose is always to be the dominant team.

“I want a team that has an attacking way of understanding the game. Despite scoring the one, we always chase the second goal and the third one. It will be about being very competitive.

“At the end we are here to win football games but doing it in a certain way and that means being very dominant, trying to retain the ball quickly, to use the ball to move the positions, to create the space and to create as many chances as we can.

“Some days perhaps the opposition plays a big part in this game. Sometimes we are going to face different types of opposition and teams that will play a very aggressive, man-to-man high press which requires certain things.

“Sometimes we are going to face teams that will stay low and deep and we are going to have to use different tools. At the end, the main target is that the players understand what to expect from them, what is the plan and from there to try and go from minute one for the victory.”

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