AuthorJeffEyesRimmer Football is such a fickle beast, if last season was a fairy-tale then this season has been a nightmare for Leicester City. It’s an understatement to say the Foxes are having a bad domestic season so far and one win in 2017 and only 3 goals in the League says as much. The win over Liverpool this week glosses over the rather shambolic football offered up by Leicester this season. Last season’s unlikely Premier League win was an anomaly really and lets be honest if not for the Championship victory the likelihood is that Claudio Ranieri would have been sacked earlier this season. But they did win the League last season and many thought that would protect the Tinkerman from the sack this season. Obviously it did not. While many have cried outrage and the death of football as we know after the sacking of Ranieri we ask the question – Why have Leicester been so poor this season? At the end of last season many wondered if the Foxes could keep their star players, Vardy, Kante, Drinkwater, Schmeichel and Mahrez. Of those only one left so optimism was high but put simply the star players of the championship winning season have not reproduced that form. Much has been made of players not trying hard enough this season, complacency and/or losing faith with the manager but reviewing the stats suggests that the players are making similar runs and kms as last season. The effort has been there but rewards have not.
Additionally, the big money signings made at the beginning of the season have not worked out. The aim was admirable; all teams should attempt to strengthen when the going is good. Arsenal should take note, but rather than consolidate and build upon the victories of last season the new players have not gelled and have failed to live up to their potential (so far). The signings of forwards Ahmed Musa and then Islam Slimani for a combined $75 million just hasn’t worked. Neither seem to have been able to fit into the system that worked so well last season. Players come and go but Kante was the player that made Leicester tick last season, the dynamism he showed is what resulted in Chelsea paying $30million for the midfielder. He looks like he will win two premier league medals in two seasons. Three players were brought in to replace Kante, with Leicester hoping to repeat the trick of bringing in relative unknowns but none of the replacements have really worked. Although based on Ndidi’s game against Liverpool this week there is still hope. Ndidi made 11 tackles in that game, more that Kante made in any game last season. However, the importance of Kante last season cannot be overstated, his interceptions and tackles per game provided Leicester the platform to launch the fast paced attacks of Vardy and Maherz. Chelsea are very much reaping the rewards this season. The by-product of losing Kante meant a slow defence has been left badly exposed. While Morgan and Huth organised well last season and made more clearances that other defences the vacuum left by Kante left the two defenders exposed to the fast pace of the premier league. Coupled with the fact that Simpson often goes bombing up the pitch to assist in attacks a slow defence has been further exposed. Watch the goals conceded against Sevilla in the UCL to see what I mean, Simpson should have been hauled off for the lack of support he gave his defence. Up the other end of the pitch theres been issues too. This season has meant teams have denied space for Vardy to run into and have closed Maherz down to prevent him providing the assists. Without space for Vardy to use his pace the attack has been blunted pretty quickly. These two combined so often last season and without them both firing Leicester have floundered. After this season Vardy might find himself on a rather unglamorous list - the dreaded one season wonder list. While the players have not been preforming and the transfers haven’t worked it is also important to note that Ranieri has played his part in their demise this season too. Last season the manager used 23 players throughout the league and he changed his team only 33 times. The Tinkerman was gone, or so we thought. This season Ranieri had already used 24 players and changed the team 54 times before his sacking. Long live the Tinkerman! The settled team structure and trust put into the title winning side had been eroded and this was Ranieri’s doing. There is also the mental side of the game. No one would have thought Leicester would win the title and this season there was always potential for complacency to creep in. Additionally, the likes of Mahrez were angling for big money moves away that never materialised, concentration had lapsed. This feeds into the lower performance levels. And finally the big shiny new competition to enjoy this season, for the first time in their history Leicester was in the Champions League. European competition often gets blamed for poor league form and the Foxes are certainly not the only side to have experienced this. The trips to Europe and the prestige of playing in that competition can distract many from the domestic campaign. With Leicester topping their Champions’ League group and walking away with a credible 2-1 loss in Spain in the knock out stages (it really should have been worse) they are still in with a shout of progressing. This progress does appear to have affected the domestic form. Ultimately whether you think Ranieri deserved to be sacked or not, all these reasons have helped contribute to the poor season this year and potentially relegation. Do you think the Foxes can make another great escape? Could they be the first team to be relegated and win the UCL? |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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