Leicester City advanced to the FA Cup fifth round after beating highflyers Brentford in a hard-fought cup tie.
The Foxes looked to have started well with a couple of opening in the first five minutes, but another set piece calamity soon put an end to that, as Leicester failed to clear a corner leaving Mads Bech Sorensen to poke home.
A sluggish first half clearly led to some harsh words from manager Brendan Rodgers, as 45 seconds in the second period, Cengiz Under calmly finished thanks to some great play from James Maddison.
Five minutes after that Youri Tielemans won and scored a penalty, and from them on it was a comfortable final 40 minutes, with Maddison scoring his fourth in as many games to close out the victory to ensure a fifth round tie at home to Brighton.
But what did we learn from this intriguing game?
Set pieces are a worry at both ends of the pitch
Leicester’s problems from set pieces, both attacking and defensive, have been well-documented. Having scored one all season, the East Midlander’s have now conceded nine goals from defensive set plays, and it is bound to become a lot more given how appalling they are at defending them.
I don’t want to go down the stereotypical road of ‘low league side, good at set pieces’; given what a good side Brentford are, but you can’t deny that any set piece -including long throws- the ‘Bees’ had they looked dangerous.
There seems to be no organisation or commanding figures in the area to try and sort this problem out.
You would have thought that with the returning Caglar Soyuncu in the mix, it would get a lot better, but throughout the game the Turkish international struggled to get his headers away, thus creating more problems.
Offensively it’s just as bad. For every good ball Maddison whips in, he then hits the first man the next four times.
Leicester City had seven corners in the match, the first four of which hit the first man. However, the delivery isn’t solely to blame as when a good ball is delivered, there seems to be no intelligence from anyone to get into good positions.
Corners are supposed to be exciting for any side, but they may as well kick it back to the keeper and build an attack from there.
Slow starts could be costly
Leicester and poor first halves go together like peas and carrots -or something along those lines- and today was no different.
Everyone has seen the classic stat of ‘second half goals’ and ‘points from losing positions’, and that just illustrates the problem.
Why does it take a dressing room huddle or telling off to get these players to play the way they are capable of?
Of course, teams can set up very well, restrict your playing style and pressure you into mistakes, but there is no excuse for a lack of intensity and slow play.
The Foxes did start well, but the Brentford goal instantly killed their momentum and the play became passive, slow and predictable.
As soon as they came out for the second half, there was a real energy in their passing that was great to see and everyone had an extra yard of pace, it just baffles me that they waited until the 46th minute to do so.
These slow starts have been around since the Claude Puel days, and they could be very costly this season with so much on the line. Please click below to go to out next and final section, No Vardy, no problem?
No Vardy, no problem?
To be honest, you really wouldn’t know that Jamie Vardy was injured if you watched Sky Sports News.
The difference in this injury compared Van Dijk for example is actually laughable. A month injury to Leicester City’s best player where they are due to at least 10 times in that period is a big problem, well not to them at least.
There is no denying that the former Premier League champions are a different outfit without their talisman. His work rate and finishing qualities make this team one of the best.
However, the Foxes have now scored 13 times since Vardy last scored with eight different goalscorers.
Whilst we might get a better reflection of how they will cope without the 34-Year-Old against Everton in mid-week, this FA Cup tie was certainly a good pointer.
Perez is clearly preferred to Kelechi Iheanacho up top, and his almost play a ‘Firmino’ type role rather than an out-and-out striker.
The Spaniard found some little pockets of space allowing others to come into the game, but every cross he was in the mix.
Barnes, Maddison, Tielemans and Perez are bound to give you some goals, as proven in recent times. Whilst they might not be as prolific, the Foxes will definitely find a way without Vardy