Leicester City’s search for a Premier League win – during it’s post lockdown era – finally came to a close, as a double from Jamie Vardy encapsulated a 3-0 victory versus Crystal Palace.
In recent times, Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace have developed the reputation of being a “bogey” team for the Foxes – especially at The King Power stadium, but a sagacious tactical adjustment from Brendan Rodgers altered the balance in Leicester City’s favour.
For only the 11th time in Rodgers’ career, he chose a starting XI in a 3-4-1-2 formation. Throughout Rodgers’ entire managerial career he’s only picked a three at the back formation 64 times out of his 400 games (16%). The two key points of reasoning for why he made this decision, are to ensure that firstly, the Foxes had three central midfielders whilst also providing a partner for Jamie Vardy upfront. Ordinarily, teams would have to sacrifice one for the other.
The reason Rodgers wanted both are simple. The three central midfielders – Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, and as a more advanced central player, Ayoze Pérez – enable his possession philosophy. You can create numerical advantages in the middle, to help progress the ball, and there should always be a passing lane opportunity for either the centre backs or fullbacks to utilise.
The two strikers offer a couple of other positives. There’s more advanced options for connecting play – of which Kelechi Iheanacho is superb at, hence his commitment to wanting the role in the pocket between the forwards and midfielders. Consequently, there isn’t just a sole focal point, Vardy and Iheanacho can both be used and there was additional decoy run from Ayoze Pérez, which made Palace’s defensive lives quite miserable.
A level of unpredictability to Leicester City’s attacking game was refreshing, once you become renowned for a style of play you have to be aware other teams understand this and defend in a particular way to neutralise it. For top teams to remain at the top, they require a certain level of innovation – it keeps your opponent on their toes, and that’s exactly what this formation did for the Foxes.
The formation also got the best out of the individuals available to Leicester City. With the side missing Ricardo Pereira and James Maddison through injury, Rodgers had to understand which approach would unlock the qualities, and I believe this unorthodox 3-4-1-2 achieved just that.
Defensively, Caglar Söyüncü and Jonny Evans benefited from the three at the back formation. Instead of their being four defenders spread across the back line, there was more space for the individuals to disperse and create space for each other. Both utilised this privilege and ensured that the wing-backs had an option directly behind them for reinforcement, whilst allowing them to hold a higher natural position.
As just mentioned, both wing-backs – Ben Chilwell and Marc Albrighton – had the license to sit in a more advanced position, essentially turning them into wide midfielders, as they sat alongside Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans. Both did well, Albrighton was able to help James Justin – who was a makeshift right centre back for most of the game, whilst Chilwell’s best assets are his offensively abilities and that’s outlined as a wing-back.
It’s worth noting that Ryan Bennett was exemplary on his debut. He replaced Chilwell at half time, as he couldn’t play through a knock, and didn’t put a foot wrong. Unsurprisingly, he slotted into a back three, given his familiarity to the formation during his time with Wolves. His passing range was also adept, he often found Tielemans and Ndidi whilst under pressure and through the Palace press. I also felt Christian Fuchs’ introduction offered more solidarity at the back, and expect that if Rodgers wants to use the three at the back again, Fuchs could be a good option as the left centre back.
Because of the formations composition, the two recognised central midfielders – Ndidi and Tielemans – played relatively deep. This isn’t uncommon for Ndidi, who plays as the sole defensive midfielder in Leicester City’s 4-1-4-1, but Tielemans was playing a deeper position than usual. This was incredibly beneficial to the Belgian, who profits from being able to analyse the game in front of him before picking his pass. His peripheral vision is good, but when you’re playing in an advanced midfield position you need to have exquisite 360-degree vision, such as Maddison, this isn’t Tielemans’ best asset.
As such, the Belgian rekindled the excellent form he showcased at Leicester City, whilst he was on loan last season. For only the third game this season, Ayoze Pérez operated as one of the Foxes central options, however, it’s the first time he’s started as a central attacking midfielder. Aside from his wonderful hat trick at St Mary’s earlier this season, this was arguably the Spaniard’s best performance at the club as well.
His selflessness nature to continually make decoy runs into Crystal Palace’s defensive third, cannot be understated. His movements were an essential component of how Leicester City managed to unlock a resolute defensive structure. His ability to receive the ball in tight spaces, and seemingly always manage to weave his way out of these scenarios is very impressive. He’s a great player to alleviate pressure for the Foxes – even if you play it into him in an unfavourable position, he can make something of it.
It’s no coincidence that when Rodgers employed a two-man striking partnership, Vardy’s 100 club curse was broken – in some style as well. All three of Leicester City’s goals came from the two forwards, but the shear presence of Kelechi Iheanacho was an enabler for Vardy. He’s brilliant at plugging the gap between midfield and attack, which often becomes a problem for the Foxes when progressing play.
All in all, there’s a plethora of positives for Rodgers and Leicester City to take away from the fixture. Next up is Arsenal, at The Emirates. This will pose a completely different threat, maybe a chance to showcase the versatility of the new Foxes formation.