Leicester City Vs Burnley: when football took the backstage

Leicester City may have beaten Burnley last weekend but they didn’t do so in a fashion that the fans would have preferred them to.

The result was never a doubt; however, tactically, Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester really struggled. Sean Dyche applied a defensive, one-dimensional tactic for his Burnley side that highlighted the lack of creativity the Foxes sometimes have when playing against a deep defensive line.

It’s difficult to breakdown a compact block, even with midfielders capable of unlocking defences.

The Clarets’ 4-4-2 contained two creative wingers in Robbie Brady and Dwight McNeil. Both players became focal points when the visitors attacked, – something Leicester struggled to deal with.

It was McNeil who created the opening goal after a lapse of concentration from Ben Chilwell. While Brady remained a constant option on the opposite flank for the visitors.

It’s hard to understand if it was tactical naivety from Rodgers or the team simply struggled to adapt to the game plan, but there was a bizarre amount of space given to the wings. Given the approach Burnley were going to use, allowing them space out wide and a multitude of set-pieces, Leicester deserved to go behind.

Once the home side got a foothold in the game after dominating the ball in midfield, they began to create and control the game.

The bulk of the game’s chances did fall to Leicester, but out of the 19 shots, only three of them were on target. Fortunately, two of the three were converted, as on another day, Burnley could have left the King Power Stadium with a share of the points.

The domination in midfield came from a tactical change, albeit small, that allowed James Maddison to receive the ball in more advanced areas.

In the first-half, Maddison was dropping deep in an attempt to impact the game, but it was hindering his play in the attacking third. With both Youri Tielemans and Maddison double-pivoting in midfield, one generally drops deep while the other becomes the creative source of the attack.

In most cases, Tielemans drops back and that allows Maddison to be the “attacking-midfielder” within Leicester’s midfield. During the second-half, they returned to this set-up and consequently, Leicester started to play better.

Ironically, Tielemans was the more advanced midfielder to get his goal, finishing a good move that started from Demarai Gray – who once again shone off the bench. The tactical shift during the second-half was smart and required, too. However, some of the substitutions are still a mystery, especially the final change.

Gray replacing Ayoze Perez was a good change. A pacy addition to Leicester’s attack was necessary as the game progressed. Unfortunately for the England U-21 international, his only impactful performances have come as a substitute.

Dennis Praet replacing Maddison was a slightly defensive shift, as the former has more awareness of his defensive duties than the latter. Given the nature of the game, having a midfielder willing to match the intensity and dynamic of the game was needed, which is why the final change was questionable.

After Leicester had taken the lead for the first time in the game, the resulting momentum shift saw Rodgers change his mind about the final substitution taking off Harvey Barnes for Wes Morgan instead of Tielemans. It was a change that doesn’t seem overly bizarre initially, but once examined further shows that it invited avoidable, excess pressure.

The equaliser, disallowed through VAR, came from this defensive shift. A tired Tielemans was caught in possession as there was a lack of options up front for him to attempt to find.

Burnley took full advantage of it. They started to press higher, pushed without caring about the counter-attack and ultimately grabbed the equaliser.

It was VAR that turned out to be the saviour once again – well, frustratingly for the fans, it should never have been that close. The defensive approach that closed out the game for Leicester should have been introduced when the scoreline difference was much bigger than just one goal.

Hopefully, Rodgers and Leicester learned from the closing moments of the game and will retain the formation and tactics that helped them turn the tables.

Most importantly, Leicester got all three points – A result that would have made the late Vichai happy.