Leicester City’s three worst performing players from September

Caglar Soyuncu

Oh Cags. August was an utter disaster for him. After an appalling game against West Ham, he then went on international duty to try and shake off a few cobwebs; instead he got sent off in a humiliating 6-1 defeat to the Netherlands. September needed to be a good restart for LCFC’s No.4, instead it was just a continued nightmare.

I’ll be honest, Soyuncu was close to missing out on this list. James Maddison can count himself  lucky that he doesn’t feature here after still not registering a goal or an assist for Leicester City in over 17 games for Leicester. Though his cameo against Legia Warsaw – in which he was very unlucky not to score – was just enough to bring him out of consideration. Meanwhile, that 1-0 defeat solidified Soyuncu’s place in this list.

It’s Soyuncu’s fourth season now at Leicester and so far this is easily his worst. September started poorly for him, as he was far too easily turned by Bernardo Silva and then missed a tackle in Manchester City’s opening chance. Soyuncu was very unfortunate when it came to the goal that City finally scored from; he made a positive block that rebounded straight into the path of Bernardo and resulted in the one and only goal of that game.

The games against Brighton and Burnley weren’t awful for Cags, but he didn’t help himself or the team either. He didn’t build up any real momentum and looked as confidence-shot as he has all season. But then Thursday happened.

Against Warsaw, Soyuncu and all his faults were exposed for all to see. Cags pressed wildy and at all the wrong moments in the wrong places for Leicester City. His rushed pressing left space behind him numerous of times, causing Thomas to have to cover for him which therefore left space on the left. But when Soyuncu did press, there was so real conviction in his tackling, and it never seemed like he was going to win the ball. Instead Legia simply spun around and exploited the space that Cags had left. That was just the first half.

Then the final fifteen minutes happened. With a goal down in a must-win game, Leicester attacked and pushed up high in the pitch. But when Legia then counter attacked, Soyuncu was s far up the pitch that the Polish attackers only had empty grass to run in to. Twice in the final stages did Legia break and expose a wide-open backline.

The first break Soyuncu missed one tackle on the halfway line, was left chasing the Warsaw attackers, lunged in for a last-minute block and managed to miss that as well. It was only poor composure from Lirim Kastrati that left Soyuncu and Leicester unpunished.

Soyuncu’s confidence in himself is seemingly shattered, as is the midfield’s trust in him. With Soyuncu now a liability, the midfield is currently less likely to make risker passes in fear of a counter attack. This needs fixing urgently.

What next for Soyuncu? The issue with Cags is clear: he hasn’t got Jonny Evans in the back line to support him and communicate to him throughout the game. Evans has been desperately missed this season, and fans will hope for an immediate return for the Northern Irishman. Brendan Rodger’s comments suggested that Evans may well start in the tie to Crystal Palace, which would be a welcome relief to Soyuncu and the whole squad.

Cags faces being dropped soon if his form doesn’t pick up, as his lack of confidence is currently a detriment to the whole side. Here’s hoping that his head is fully screwed on in October. I don’t want to be writing about him this negatively in a month’s time.