Is Brendan Rodgers’ performance at Leicester substandard?

So far this season, I’ve counted that Rodgers has neutralised Leicester City’s attacking qualities by replacing an advanced player for a defender seven times. This substitution has always included Wes Morgan, and results in a change in the Foxes system, often reverting to a transitional back five.

This invites unnecessary pressure for the closing stages of a game, rather than trying to strengthen the lead. It’s also worth noting that in these games, 71.4% (5) of the time, Leicester have been controlling the game and the momentum has been completely shifted post substitution.

Rodgers implemented this change against; Sheffield United (A), Bournemouth (H), Burnley (H), Crystal Palace (A), Watford (H), Liverpool (H), and Bournemouth (A). The two games out of the seven that the Foxes didn’t have complete control are versus Sheffield United and Liverpool. The theme running through these opponents is staggering – aside from Liverpool, they all reside in the lower positions of the Premier League. So, why does Rodgers do this against teams Leicester City should be beating?

Personally, I think he’s scared of losing against these teams rather than trying to win. Once the Foxes have established a lead, he doesn’t want them to lose to an inferior team and thus makes negative changes to ensure this doesn’t happen. The Liverpool game was also 3-0 in the Reds’ favour when Rodgers turned to the bench and brought on Hamza Choudhury for James Maddison, a little bit of damage limitation, but also an anomaly in this data.

This is the bigger issue, Rodgers made defensive changes in both games against Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth, so was he ready for the half time switch? I’d argue not, it was more of a capitulation on the East Midlanders’ front, but it does show the fragile nature of making that sort of change with only a one-goal lead, and it finally got the better of Rodgers.