Foxes of Leicester
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Leicester City must strengthen at the back to utilise attacking potential

By Harneet Singh Sethi

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 11: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal shoots on goal as Wes Morgan of Leicester City closes in during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium on August 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 11: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal shoots on goal as Wes Morgan of Leicester City closes in during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium on August 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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When Jamie Vardy set off to celebrate Leicester City’s third goal in front of a stunned set of supporters at the Emirates Stadium, it was apparent that the night wasn’t Arsenal’s, and the game Leicester’s.

While a boisterous end of the Gunners’ picturesque home belted out their top-drawer mocking chants, those in red were still flabbergasted by this Vardy Party. In came Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud, and a few minutes later, the game had been turned on its head. It wasn’t to be for Leicester City. It just wasn’t to be.

The Foxes are quite used to such late drama in North London by now, as all of their previous three games in this part of the country have agonisingly ended in the same fashion: A Danny Welbeck goal deep into the stoppage time in 2015/16, an 86th minute own goal by Robert Huth last season, and a sudden lapse in concentration to concede two goals in no time in the season-opener.

There’s going to be no love lost between the two sides when they meet again at the King Power Stadium, mind you.

That, however, is far away, and for the moment, Craig Shakespeare has a lot to ponder about when it comes to his side’s defence. Few people might assess the performance at the back a different way, serving up Arsenal’s quality as the reason, but the same Arsenal had managed just three goals against City prior to the goal-fest at the Emirates, reflecting that Leicester are capable of doing much-much better, of making life much more tougher for sides with such bravado.

There’s no shame in losing to a world-class side like Arsenal, but the sheer ease with which Arsene Wenger’s side were able to manipulate and tear the defence has to worry Shakespeare. For a side that can score a lot of goals and base their success on such potency up front, if the defence keeps on bleeding goals as they did last season, it’ll be impossible for Leicester City’s attacking prowess to realise its potential and be fully utilised.

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Liverpool, for example, are similar to the Foxes in the sense that can they score a lot, but both don’t have a clue about defending, rendering the sheer number of goals useless. Remember, the title for Leicester City was brought with 1-0 wins, not necessarily goal fests.

If Shakespeare is still counting on those in the final third to take him to Europe, that’s not going to happen because firstly, Leicester’s attack, while it’s good, is not the MSN, and secondly, Arsenal themselves have tried doing so for over a decade and failed. You may build a strong counter-attacking side, but if you can’t mind the shot at the back, such lightning quick breaks can hurt you too.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 11: Jamie Vardy (R) of Leicester City is congratulated by teammate Harry Maguire (L) after scoring his team’s third goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium on August 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 11: Jamie Vardy (R) of Leicester City is congratulated by teammate Harry Maguire (L) after scoring his team’s third goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium on August 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

Leicester City are not necessarily bereft of the resources required to achieve defensive success, neither is it a new concept to them; however, there is a sense that Craig Shakespeare needs at least a centre-back as good as Harry Maguire to form a partnership that can aim, if not go on to achieve what Robert Huth and Wes Morgan did. Could it be someone from within the setup? Someone not given a chance? It’s down to the gaffer to see that.

There’s still some time to go before the transfer window shuts, and with the ball in the 2015/16 Champions’ court, it’s upto them to decide: Attack, attack and be blagged, or attack, defend and achieve.