Among other things, Craig Shakespeare is asking for more adaptability from Leicester City as they face West Bromwich Albion.
One of the reasons behind Leicester City’s poor form has been Shakespeare’s stubbornness as far as formations are concerned. The Foxes’ boss has stuck with the conventional 4-4-2 all season despite the decision proving to be an obvious blunder more often than not.
Back in the Claudio Ranieri days, the current system was largely successful because of N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater’s presence in the middle, but with both now gone, Leicester City lack the players who can make a 4-4-2 work.
It does, however, seem like Craig Shakespeare is finally willing to change things up a bit, but he believes it’s upto the players to successfully oversee such a transition. Talking to Leicester Mercury, he said:
"“I think you always have to be adaptable.“When you change a shape it is important you make sure they understand their roles and responsibilities. You also have to make sure you have time to work on it,” he added.“If you are coming up against a three-man midfield you might match them up. Ultimately, it is what you are comfortable with as a team and what the players are comfortable with because sometimes their thoughts are important.“It is not the be-all and end-all but as a coach, you pick your team and shape accordingly.”"
Craig Shakespeare also stressed on the importance of working your heart out without the ball, something that Leicester City hugely benefitted from when they won the title back in 2015/16.
"“One of the areas recently where we have really got into the players about their work without the ball, getting it back and playing higher up the pitch.”"
Whatever the formation be, whoever the starters be, all that Leicester City would now want is to turn their performances into points. Their last win being a 2-0 victory over Premier League newcomers Brighton and Hove Albion, the East Midlanders are slowly reaching a stage where they might be in the relegation battle, not the fight for the top 10.
If City are to indeed be in the mix for the top half, they have simply got to get the desired results in the upcoming week. The fixture list would certainly help, but they need to help themselves.