If this is to be the end of Brendan Rodgers’ tenure at Leicester – and supporters are certainly demanding as much – it was a fitting final performance because it contained all the hallmarks of the club’s decline:
1) The defending at set pieces has long been the running joke of the Premier League. The individuals in the team may change and a new set-piece coach may have been appointed, but Leicester’s inability to protect themselves from high-quality chances, particularly from corners, is embarrassing.
In the first half against Tottenham, Leicester were the better team. They pressed Tottenham high up the pitch successfully, winning possession and then using it to create chances. But they were undone by two regulation runs, one to the front post and one to the back. They were also slightly fortunate not to concede an own goal, although replays showed that Danny Ward was probably fouled.
For all the organisation, success in these situations often comes down to desire. Why are Leicester’s players not spotting runs from opposition players quickly enough and busting a gut to ensure that they either block off those runs or challenge players in the air?
More from Football
Newcastle's patchy form has provided a reality check and highlighted Wilson's importance19 September, 2022
Subdued Arsenal display shows Toney must keep reinventing himself to secure a World Cup spot19 September, 2022
Son sends a message, Man City's best player, Xhaka the creator, and Fulham's midfield monster19 September, 20222) Although Leicester did indeed press high successfully in the first half, they are ludicrously easy to attack against on the occasions when that press is bypassed. Rodgers picked a midfield with four forward-thinking players and one player holding the fort. Youri Tielemans was the second most defensive of the five and he is Leicester’s most regular tackler this season, but Tielemans wants to create attacking moves rather than stop them.
Two years ago, when Wilfred Ndidi was one of the most effective defensive screens in the country, that might have worked. Whether his serious injury has broken Ndidi, whether he has been deflated by having to play as a defender or whether he is simply drowning without support, he is a shell of his former self. As soon as the opposition has the ball in Leicester’s half, they are outnumbered and defenders are left with the choice to step out, engage and get passed around or sit back and leave huge spaces in front of them.
3) That openness in midfield could be masked – at least in some games against lower-quality opponents – if Rodgers was embracing chaos theory. If Leicester were creating a high number of high-quality chances and conceding the same, you could be convinced that this was a semi-deliberate strategy.
But that clearly isn’t the case. Leicester rank 16th for shot-creating actions per 90 minutes played, 17th for shots per 90 minutes and 14th for expected goals, a measure of the quality of chances they are creating. That might be acceptable if they were a Sean Dyche Burnley, aiming to keep shot numbers low at both ends of the pitch. But that’s evidently not true.
Instead, Leicester rank joint-eighth for goals scored because they have been pretty lucky. They have scored twice from low-percentage long-range shots (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall against Brentford, James Maddison against Southampton). They played for 60 minutes against 10 men at Stamford Bridge. They scored from a penalty against Tottenham after a wild challenge by Davinson Sanchez. The evidence suggests that Leicester will score fewer goals if they continue to play the same, not more. And they’re conceding so many it doesn’t really matter anyway.
4) Danny Ward is struggling. Kasper Schmeichel’s form last season merited Leicester replacing him with a new goalkeeper, but promoting their reserve has not worked. Ward was not directly at fault for any of the goals against Spurs, but that’s not the point. He is conceding too many of the shots he faces for this to be bad luck.
Post-shot expected goals roughly measure a goalkeeper’s performance based on the statistical chances of saving a shot according to where it is directed. In the Premier League this season, the second worst club by this measure are Southampton with -3.5 (the quality of shots faced suggests that Southampton should have conceded 7.5 goals but they have conceded 11. Leicester’s figure is -7.1.)
Much has been made of Leicester’s summer inactivity, and you can make a case in Rodgers’ defence about not replacing Schmeichel. But Leicester only lost two first-team players over the summer and the other was Wesley Fofana. Fofana only played seven league games last season when Leicester finished eighth and they only kept one clean sheet in his last 15 league appearances for the club (and conceded six in two games this season). This goes beyond the loss of two players.
If that inactivity did make a difference to the morale of the squad (and it is perfectly reasonable to think that it might have), it was on Rodgers to solve the problem. That is what he is paid so much to do; he is one of the highest-paid managers in the division. You earn your money through an ability to sidestep issues and create a team that continues to perform above – or at least to the level – of its potential.
It’s not just that Leicester are bad; it’s that we have known for so long why Leicester are bad and so have every team they face. Rodgers overperformed during the first half of his tenure, but they have dropped away so much and so quickly that there is no obvious case for keeping him in charge. Leicester are bottom of the table, winless and have conceded more goals in their first seven matches than any other top-flight team since 1965. It would be better for everyone if this relationship ended now.
This is an excerpt from The Score, Daniel Storey’s weekly verdict on all 20 Premier League teams’ performances. Sign up here to receive the newsletter every Monday morning
from Football | News and analysis from the Premier League and beyond | iNews https://ift.tt/Fm4MG6I
Post a Comment