Leicester City will contest their first FA Cup final for 52 years as Kelechi Iheanacho bagged another winner in a tight affair with the Saints. So what four things did we learn?
Showing the world Leicester are a team going places
The team was set up with a solid base built around giving little away. This was in stark contrast to the West Ham game of a week ago where Leicester were sliced open at ease. In the entire game Southampton were unable to test Kasper Schmeichel with a single shot on target. This tight defending could be the basis for the team to kick on as the season comes into its final furlong.
Make no mistake about it though, Brendan Rodgers is taking the club places. The FA cup is one trophy that has evaded the club for their entire history, with the last half of a century the club not even having a sniff of a final. Since Rodgers has come in he has taken them to one of their highest top flight finishes, a first League Cup semi final for 20 years, Europa league football and now an FA Cup final.
With the good feeling from this game still reverberating in their heads they will need to carry this positivity on into a hectic Premier league finish that could potentially bring top 4 success and some silverware. Given all the absences he has had to contend with, Rodgers has worked miracles this season and will be desperate for a trophy to rubber stamp his reputation as one of the finest coaches in British football.
Has a line been drawn under the lockdown breach?
The main news after the West ham defeat, was the emergence that key players had broken lockdown rules and removed from the match day squad. Following that game Rodgers revealed that they would be available for the FA cup semi final. What would have surprised a lot of fans is how James Maddison was left on the bench in favour of Ayoze Perez.
The Spaniard’s work rate off the ball was exemplary for over an hour before being replaced by Maddison. It could just be simply that Rodgers saw Perez’s work rate as key in ensuring Southampton’s midfield was unable to get a foothold in the game. But with Maddison being the talisman and creative spark, this could be a key omission as Rodgers shapes his team over the coming weeks. Or perhaps something bigger is at play, Leicester seem to lose a star player every summer, could Maddison’s attitude and misbehaviour be part of a summer exit?
King Kelechi is officially the new main man
Kelechi Iheanacho undoubtedly grab the headlines for a match winning goal after an excellent performance that showcased his new found confidence and quality. It was his only real chance that he initially shanked wide before the block fell kindly for him to slot home, but thats the difference when your luck is in.
What will have gone completely under the radar is how Iheanacho is now the clubs top scorer after jumping above Jamie Vardy in the scoring ranks. This is significant for a few reasons but should be seen as a huge positive for the future of the club. Kelechi has committed his future to Leicester City and the future looks bright under him. As a withdrawn striker and in a two he is thriving and showing his skills and vision by bringing his team mates into play, as he showed when setting up Maddison who should have put the game to bed.
There has been the misconception that Leicester City are a one man team and will struggle without Vardy when he eventually leaves or retires. But having Vardy as the top scorer has masked a lot of the true talent of the rest of the squad. Now that he no longer has to bear that burden he can relax into letting others getting the plaudits whilst he goes under the radar. Vardy’s importance in Iheanacho’s resurgence can’t be ignored, don’t forget who made the run and cross for the winner. Maybe Chelsea might just give Jamie Vardy another chance to make Leicester City history.
Leicester City remain humble, unlike some…
18th April 2021 will be the day that Leicester fans will remember their club making their first FA cup final for 52 years. But for the wider football world it will be the day that the ‘big 6’ Premier League teams acted disgracefully. News emerged late afternoon that Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Chelsea (Leicester’s FA Cup final opponents) have signed up to a potential European Super league. This day could be remembered as a day in which English football was ripped apart by the pursuit of greed.
Chelsea’s date in the cup final next month will have been met with a small warm feeling from its supporters which will be expected, they’ve won the competition eight times since Leicester last made the final and six times since the turn of the Millennium. Apathy can set in when a trophy is consistently glistening in the trophy cabinet and its possible it might be treated with contempt by a Chelsea side going into the Champions League semi final and battling with Leicester for the top 4 places. I wonder how their fans are feeling about the prospect of a European Super League.
Leicester will simply take pleasure in enjoying being part of one of English footballs most coveted occasions, whilst the ‘big 6’ illuminati try and break up the establishment to pursue their greediness. Be careful what you wish for.