Leicester City fans are busy trying to fathom how happy/disappointed they are with a legendary FA cup final win, as well as another collapse from the top 4. This season has produced some remarkable statistics this season, but what might that reveal to us regarding where the Foxes might be going in the future?
44, 47, 52, 62, 66…those numbers are the Premier league points tallies of the last five seasons since that incredible season. If ever anyone is wondering if Leicester are actually making progress then there is your evidence. The second best English top-flight campaign ever in terms of placing and points tally isn’t to be sniffed at. Four points better than last season and in many ways the sign of consistency.
Make no mistake, LCFC is progressing along nicely. Brendan Rodgers would be wise to see this as a successful term, but can they really better that points tally for the 6th season in a row?
9 Home league defeats
A truly remarkable occurrence given that Leicester City finished the season in 5th. Whats most remarkable is that amount of defeats has only been matched three times this century. Two of those times Leicester were relegated with the other in a 46 game Championship season. The common denominator for that may fall on a number of reasons. 32,500 of them to be precise. Realistically It may have more to do with teams sitting in deep and Leicester struggling to break them down.
38 games for Leicester City
Not the tired old cliche of the amount of games in a season and Leicester are where they deserve to be, yada, yada! No, This is the amount of points that Leicester City amassed on their travels. The third best in the Premier League and only one shy of the tally amassed by the still unbelievable Premier League title win. Why did Leicester prefer going to opposition grounds and bullying opposition? This could have something more to do with home teams pressing the Foxes affording more space to do damage between lines.
2 consecutive seasons
For the first time in their history Leicester will appear in Europe for a second consecutive season. Its only Europa League but for a club not used to European Football it marks more progression, further European will also boost Leicester’s European ranking when it comes to prize money and seedings.
242 days in the driving seat
The reason 2 consecutive seasons of Europa League football isn’t met with joy is that for 242 days Brendan Rodgers men were sat in the UCL places. To fall away at the final hurdle for a second consecutive season could have damaging mental scars.
14 minutes from glory
What hurts even more is that Leicester City were sat in the Champions league places with less than 15 minutes to go before their late game collapse. If they had held on they’d be in the Champions League.
40 million pounds
Playing in the champions League doesn’t guarantee Barcelona, Bayern Munich et al. But it does guarantee a big prize pot. That could be the difference between investing in more talent, paying off a sizeable chunk of the training ground or extending the stadium capacity. Chiefly it can be the difference between attracting players and keeping the talent they have. The knock-on effects will become clearer in the summer.
19 goals
Kelechi Iheanacho finished the season as Leicester City’s top goalscorer in all competitions with 19 goals. Had he have taken a better penalty at Selhurst Park around Christmas he may have broken the twenty goal barrier. But alas not one of his 19 goals ended up coming from the penalty spot. This is in stark contrast to the legendary Jamie Vardy who finished the season the way he started it, scoring two penalties. Vardy’s power is clearly diminishing as he amassed only two goals from open play since Christmas. His selfless play works wonders for the team and gave Kelechi several of those goals, but Vardy hasn’t been one hundred percent fit very often this season. Brendan Rodgers now has a big decision to make regarding who leads his forward line in 2021/2022
0
This is the amount of times Brendan Rodgers had a fully fit squad to choose from this season. Too often this season we have seen Leicester City players limp off early through injury and the manager constantly having to reshuffle his pack in inventive ways. All clubs could say they would have done better if they hadn’t had injuries but its safe to say that Leicester probably would have had a better chance at making Champions League without a horrendous injury list. Zero is also the amount of times Rodgers has complained about injuries. With James Justin and Harvey Barnes set to continue their lengthy lay-offs it will be a problem he continues to fight through the summer.
4 points in the last 5 games
Brendan Rodgers was quoted during the 2019/2020 season that his teams normally finish strong. That will not be something he will be able to claim at Leicester City any more. Although i’ve cherry picked four points in the last five games you can take it back further and see that Leicester totalled 10 in their last 8 games which isn’t good enough to sustain a top 4 push. In contrast Liverpool scored double that.
There were many times when Rodgers may have lacked urgency to change performances that were going nowhere. Newcastle at home and West ham away stand out as moments that should have been dealt with better. There was no bad luck that cost Leicester a top 4 place. Maybe it was fatigue or a lack of experience that cost them, but finishing seasons has got to improve or familiar stories may continue.
137 years and one FA Cup
Winning the FA cup for the first time in their 137 year existence is something that all Leicester City fans have dreamt of many years. The scenes at Wembley on the 15th May 2021 were quite frankly legendary and will live long in the hearts of all foxes fans. Youri Tielemans strike will be replayed for generations and stir the emotions on the giant screens in the King Power in the pre-match montage.
The celebrations would have been nowhere near the same if Leicester had made the top 4. Rodgers has delivered silverware and ensured LCFC have lifted all major domestic trophies this century. The question is, how far can he take Leicester?