Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City confirmed a favourable UEFA Europa League knockout draw, with a comfortable 2-0 victory versus AEK Athens in the final group stage match, securing top place for the Foxes.
It was an important win for Leicester City, as it has ensured the club is seeded ahead (and therefore have an easier fixture, theoretically) of the Round of 32 draw, and Brendan Rodgers did so by fielding a starting XI with a back four. The Northern Irishman also opted for a back four in the Foxes last European game – the fairly poor 1-0 loss to Zorya Luhansk in Ukraine, but has predominantly fielded a back three in the Premier League this season. So, when he needed a result, why did he revert back to a defensive four?
The travelling side, AEK Athens, were always going to see less of the ball. Initially, that’s because most away sides – especially inferior ones – tend to sit deeper and play for counterattacks, but also, Massimo Carrera (AEK Athens’ manager) has deployed defensive systems in all of the Greek sides away fixtures in Europe this season. The game versus Leicester City was no different.
AEK Athens’ 3-5-2 formation played a lot more like a 5-3-2 and eventually shifted to an asymmetrical 5-4-1 – to limit the chance creation of both Luke Thomas and Harvey Barnes down the Leicester City left-side. The pleasing element for Rodgers and the Foxes, was the 4-3-2-1/4-2-3-1 formation he chose to deploy created a lot of good opportunities versus the deep-block – and that’s been an infrequent occurrence so far this season.
Even more pleasing, particularly for me, was how well executed the intricacies of the formation were. It shows that Rodgers has been implementing the structure in training, with the idea of reverting to a back four once the right personnel return from injury – Wilfred Ndidi’s return seems to have allowed this transition to begin.
In the initial phases of Leicester City’s possession, AEK Athens would initiate a fairly low intensity press, which allowed Jonny Evans and Wesley Fofana ample time to recycle possession and wait for progressive passing lanes to form. To force this matter, Rodgers occasionally asked the full-backs to invert – a Pep Guardiola principle designed to switch your full-backs and defensive-midfielder’s positionally, creating a shift in the defensive structure of the Greek side and thus forming pockets of space.
The versatility – and most importantly mobility – of Ndidi allows Rodgers to toy with this intriguing full-back setup. Depending on the side of play, the Nigerian would drop deep and operate in the full-backs natural positioning (either the left-back or right-back) creating a brief back three – with Evans and Fofana. This opened up the passing lane into the wingers, Harvey Barnes and Cengiz Ünder, whilst the full-backs would invert and play centrally – this caused problems for AEK Athens as their midfielders didn’t know whether to track the full-backs or press Ndidi. In turn, creating a lot of space in the centre of the pitch for Leicester.
In the final third, the Foxes found a lot of joy through the half-spaces. Dennis Praet, who I thought was fairly quiet throughout the proceedings, is very good at underlapping the wingers and receiving the ball at the byline. Unfortunately for Leicester City, Praet was deployed as the attacking-midfielder, just behind frontman, Kelechi Iheanacho, so with the Belgian operating in the wide half-spaces there was a lack of penetrative runs from midfield – into, or on the edge, of the box.
This resulted in a lot of the cut-backs from the byline being intercepted and cleared. The primary option in the box was Iheanacho, so whenever the opportunity arose for a cut-back, the ball would be aimed for inside the six-yard box, instead, had there of been an attack-minded run from the midfield (perhaps Youri Tielemans) the ball could’ve been dragged to the edge for a better shooting opportunity.
However, that’s being fairly pedantic as Leicester City played some exceptional, intricate football -particularly down the left, and were fully deserving of the win. There was also some moments from Turkish-international, Ünder, who highlighted his proficiency at dribbling and dazzling – even if his final-third decision-making did let him down.
As previously mentioned, Carrera shifted his system to negate Barnes and Thomas’ impact on the game, as the two academy graduates linked up very naturally down the left. I was impressed with Thomas, who looked a lot more comfortable playing as the left-back, rather than his usual left-wing-back – the position he’s predominantly played this season.
As the full-back, your attacking involvement isn’t as crucial. Often, the wing-back will be the most advanced wide option, forcing the player to be creative in possession. Instead, Thomas was always supported by Barnes, and didn’t have to force openings. A couple of these connections were facilitated by Thomas’ ability to receive the ball in unorthodox body positions and still progress the play. This was encapsulated by his two back-heels that enabled two great chances for Barnes – one resulted in a shot, the other a good cross for Iheanacho. This skill is quite niche, but was incredibly beneficial to Leicester unlocking the structured block.
Next up for the Foxes is Brighton & Hove Albion, who under manager, Graham Potter, look to play expansive football. It will be a difficult decision for Rodgers, whether to play the transitional back three that has rewarded Leicester City versus teams who want to control the ball and are susceptible to counters (such as Brighton). Or, to revert to the back four and play with a similar decisiveness to their UEFA Europa League tie and take the game to the Seagulls. Either way, back-to-back wins should inspire confidence, and make for an entertaining game this weekend.