A late goal from Jamie Vardy wasn’t enough as Leicester City fell to a narrow defeat to Manchester United. Here’s what we learned from the Foxes’ 2-1 loss at the Old Trafford:
Despite the loss, Leicester City look good
It was one of those defeats that would not rankle the manager or the fans for a long time because of its nature.
Leicester may have not had their way at the Old Trafford, but no one who watched the complete 90 minutes would refuse to accept that they were never out of the game, and were for large parts a match for Manchester United – which is saying something.
In fact, one could go so far as to suggest that they were better than the hosts at times. Moving on, with some obvious changes expected to be made to the side – both up front and at the back – Leicester are only going to get stronger. Jose Mourinho certainly thinks so.
"“Good work by Claude,” he said. “Very good players, fantastic investment, an amazing squad. For sure they are going to have a very good season.”"
The defence needs immediate changes
The sooner Claude Puel gets rid of his sehnsucht for picking Wes Morgan over other centre-backs, the better he would be serving himself and the team. The Jamaican, just like the last season, was well off his best against United last night, looking particularly vulnerable in the second half.
The same could be said of Daniel Amartey, who was handed the right-back spot as Ricardo Pereira played further up the flank. It was Amartey’s moment of madness, a handball inside the box, that saw Leicester fall behind in the second minute. He did little thereafter to make up for it.
As Leicester now welcome the newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers next week, the defence would need a couple of changes. As well as bringing Jonny Evans back into the side for Wes Morgan, Puel must play Pereira in his natural position in place of Amartey. It would also mean that Rachid Ghezzal makes his first start for the Foxes.
James Maddison set to be the main man
The £20 million that Leicester City have paid for James Maddison could soon seem like an insult to the player. Making his first appearance in the Premier League on the opening day of the season at Old Trafford, the England U-21 international had the feel of someone who has been playing at the top level for quite some time.
Right from the start, he was the main man for his side, always making something happen as soon as he got on the ball. He could have even scored his first goal for Leicester, but David De Gea, as he quite often does, denied him with a save to be a proud of.
These are still early days – and the seasons lasts an year – but if this is what Leicester are going to get from Maddison week in and week out, then Riyad Mahrez’s departure would have been forgotten by Christmas.
The midfield is still a worry
This isn’t about Wilfred Ndidi, this is about the ones who partner him: Adrien Silva and Vicente Iborra. While the young Nigerian was in a league of his own against Manchester United, neither Silva nor Iborra – who later came on as a substitute – ever threatened to make any sort of impact on the game.
The fact that this is something that has been said too many times since they’ve signed shows that none of the two has progressed at all. If it stays that way for a long time, then it’ll ultimately start affecting the results in the same manner like it did towards the end of the previous season.
With the transfer window now closed, buying someone isn’t an option anymore, so Leicester need both of their experienced midfielders to step up.
Time to take Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray seriously
Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray have both been two of most frustrating, and therefore heavily criticised players at the club.
However, their display on Friday night provided us with plenty of reasons as to why they could finally do justice to the potential they possess. The young English duo was seriously good, linking up very well on the left hand side to cause a lot of trouble.
Prior to the start of the season, there were many questioning Puel’s decision to not buy another winger and a left-back, but for now, the Frenchman has been proved right. The time may have finally arrived for us to take Chilwell and Gray seriously.