Three and a half years after Leicester City’s last foray into European football, they started back with a bang. Admittedly the surroundings and circumstance has decreased significantly. There were no 32,000 fans cheering the blue army faithful on. Nor were there the opposition made up of Atletico Madrids superstars of world football Griezmann, Godin et al to cause quite so many problems.
Quite how full the King Power Stadium would have been under normal circumstances for the Ukraine side first visit to the East Midlands is debatable, but it would have little effect on the result. A typically slow Leicester City start, that were it not for a good save from Kasper Schmeichel could have started disastrously.
But a scrappy goal from James Maddison on the 29th minute eased the nerves, before an uncharacteristically composed finish from Harvey Barnes put Leicester in control on half time. The second half was a formality with Leicester pinging passes around for fun and creating more openings. The scoring was rounded off by Iheanacho on the 67th minute before Brendan Rodgers men eased off the pedal slightly making all their five substitutions. So what 3 things did we learn from Leicester’s win in the Europa League group G?
Kelechi Iheanacho was key in all of the goals
As BBC Radio Leicester discussed a striker crisis post-Aston Villa, Iheanacho was not spared his share of criticism. Giving away cheap fouls and dropping in deep was seemingly one of the issues the foxes struggled with against the Villains.
But Leicester’s attitude on the 18th October was one of resistance rather than attack. This making the Nigerian’s dropping deep seemingly frustrating. But with no midfield runners stretching beyond him he can look exposed and ineffective. There were no such issues against Luhansk as he dragged centre back’s out of position and used his strength to hold up the play. In the early part there were a few clumsy moments with some strange choices of pass and decision making but that was a mere blip on an otherwise strong contender for a man of the match display.
The first goal he set Barnes on his way for a shot against the post that he was the first to follow in on and somehow keep alive for Maddison to poke home. Not long after he shrugged off more physical attention before playing in Barnes for another one-on-one that ended in a good save and soon after set up Praet for a blocked shot. Right on half time he again dragged the centre back out of position and gave a delicious reverse flick that Barnes marched into, exposing all of the open space and clipping a superb finish into the back of the net.
In the second half his own hard work was rewarded when a misplaced pass from the Ukrainians was span on and dispatched clinically into the bottom corner for Iheanacho’s first goal of the season. A few minutes later he was substituted to save him for a potential start on Sunday in case Vardy doesn’t make it. As he jogged off the pitch to be replaced by Ayoze Perez he should rightly have been imagining the rapturous applause he may have received from the Foxes faithful who always appreciate a hard working effective display. 1 goal and 2 assists, he’s magic you know!
Midfield runners key to Leicester City’s success
Stating the obvious, but Jamie Vardy’s game is different to Iheanacho’s. So when the Nigerian is playing there will be more of a reliance on the midfield to run beyond the striker and gamble on spaces appearing. This can all depend on how the opposition passes on marking duties to their defensive midfielders but inevitably strikers dropping in deep ask questions of defenders whether they follow their opposite number. Thats when the spaces really appear.
Harvey Barnes is key in that and was afforded lots of joy. Hitting the post, having one-on-ones and scoring a lovely goal on half time. His link up play with iheanacho was a joy to watch.
James Maddison also got involved more on this front offering much needed support in attacking areas although his natural game is more of the traditional number 10 finding spaces and exploiting key gaps between the lines. Maddison focused on these gaps and demonstrated how much he has been missed in recent weeks as he recuperates from surgery. Dennis Praet was another notable runner that caused Luhansk problems off the left hand side. Additionally, Cengiz Under looked eager when he was given 30 minutes and could prove an eager part of that midfield run in future taking the pressure off others.
These runs get easier and less braver when the score is stacked in your favour. This is why Leicester look very much like a confidence side that when they’re winning are a horrible team to play against. But also why they then struggle when trailing in games as the opposition switches to deep blocks leaving virtually no space for strikers or midfield runners. Starting aggressive and confident is the key to Leicester’s success in all competitions this season. Slow starts are not going to help with fatigue inevitably going to settle in more frequently this season.
Rotation is key
There were only two changes to the Leicester City side from the Aston Villa defeat with Justin and Perez making way for Maddison and Fuchs. But the addition of five substitutes in the Europa League will have delighted Brendan Rodgers who made no apologies for using all his changes to rest key players from hitting levels of unmanageable fatigue and injury.
Perez it could be argued was dropped for poor form and Justin the same who has been quieter in the recent 2 defeats than the previous wins. But with such a thin squad Rodgers will struggle to have the luxury of simply dropping players for form. The priority will be mainly on condition and looking ahead to not only the trip to Arsenal but also the journey to Athens in a weeks time.
Hopefully Jamie Vardy will add more strength to that thinning squad but long-term absentees Ricardo, Soyuncu and Ndidi will likely not be seen ’til Christmas and beyond causing creative selections and formations to be utilised.
Regardless of all that, wins will take the pressure off selections and a 3-0 win in the first European game was a much needed boost to recent bad results.