A fiercely contested draw with Arsenal ensured Leicester City remain unbeaten whilst using a three at the back formation. However, the system needs tweaking.
Upon first viewing, I was left frustrated at the tempo in which Leicester City instigated their possession sequences against Arsenal. This has been a theme that’s ran true even when playing a formation they feel comfortable in, such as the 4-1-4-1.
Having a clear understanding of where your passing options are allows for a more natural progression of play, instead, the Foxes are still developing inside the 3-4-1-2 formation – which at times played out as a 3-4-3, so those natural movements aren’t used. Regardless of this, there was too many occasions that Leicester City players under-hit passes – this allowed a lot of interceptions for Arsenal and if the ball actually found its way to a Foxes player, enough time to regroup the defence.
This isn’t a system problem, but as a caveat, the three at the back formation hasn’t solved this issue, mainly because the integral complication is decision-making. It’s a difficult parameter to measure teams on, as it’s extremely contextual, but Leicester City have a habit of favouring a negative pass in a situation where a progressive pass is available – even if it’s slightly risky to complete. When in the final third, goal-scoring chances are created by making smart decisions and the Foxes haven’t been consistent in doing this.
When playing either of the 3-4-1-2 or the 3-4-3, Caglar Söyüncü will play as the left-sided centre back. This negates how frequently Leicester City are able to play progressive football, because when the opportunity arose to make a pass through the lines, it would occasionally fall onto his weaker left-foot.
While the Turk is adept as using his weaker-foot, 25 of his attempted passes in the game were using his left-foot (24.2%). But, considering Rodgers implemented the Turkish international to be the centre back with freedom to progress play – his 90 completed passes surpassed Jonny Evans (47) and Ryan Bennett’s (34) total combined, it’s not favourable for these chances to fall onto his weaker foot.
This problem also occurred with Youri Tielemans. Again, the Belgian is incredibly two-footed and was able to make a lot of progressive passes – 53 of his 85 passes went forwards (62.35%), even with 16.6% (13) of those falling onto his weaker left. The number of passes with their weaker foot don’t appear to be particularly high, but given Kelechi Iheanacho played 58 minutes of football, he completed only six passes with his stronger left-foot.
In a similar vein to Söyüncü, Tielemans was deployed as the progressive midfielder and saw a lot of the football, 78 attempted passes and 95 touches – only Söyüncü (102) had more touches. For reference, third highest was James Justin with 66 touches.
It seems bewildering to play a system that allows your two most valuable players, in a progressive sense, a respectively large amount of outcomes that require them to make a pass using their weaker-foot. This wasn’t intentional, and it might have been forced by Arsenal’s 3-4-3, regardless it caused the Foxes issues.
Another potential issue with the formation is how fragile it can be defensively. Your three centre backs need to have an awareness of where to position themselves in any given scenario, this was Söyüncü’s downfall. His inability to read danger as the left-sided centre back and Marc Albrighton inefficiency at covering as a left wing-back, was the reason Leicester City went behind.
When playing in a back four, if Söyüncü commits to a challenge and mistimes it, there’s Ben Chilwell ready to cover – as he’s positioned alongside him as a left-back. Even if Chilwell’s caught in transition, Jonny Evans is normally ready to provide additional defensive support. This isn’t as forthcoming in a back-three, especially when playing against a front three where every centre-back has a respective forward to deal with.
Overall, the “gamble” nearly paid off. Had Leicester City closed the game with a little more intensity and put the 10-men of Arsenal under additional pressure, Rodgers and the Foxes could have left The Emirates with three points. That wasn’t necessarily deserved, I feel a point was a fair reflection of the game. If Manchester United beat Aston Villa on Thursday evening, the Foxes will only have a one point safety net from fifth place.