How Leicester can reduce their reliance on Youri Tielemans

Are Leicester City too one-dimensional?

Another problem created by Youri Tielemans’ genius is that he’s the main fulcrum for Leicester’s ball progression and whenever he doesn’t play well, it makes it difficult for the Foxes to perform too. With James Maddison off-the-boil, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall not ready for a starting role and Boubakary Soumaré Wilfred Ndidi not progressive enough, the onus is on ‘starman’ – and this shows.

Naturally, other Premier League teams have cottoned onto his importance and have subsequently been paying him much closer attention. This has led to Tielemans being given little time on the ball, affecting Leicester’s rhythm. This was most noticeable in the 4-1 humiliation to West Ham with Tielemans being harried at every opportunity.

Although one of the Belgian’s best traits is his ability to progress the ball under intense pressure, there’s only so much he can do. With a lack of progression from the midfield and defence, it’s up to Youri to provide the killer passes and to break the lines. Sometimes the Belgian’s passes go awry, yet it’s clear to see he’s one of the few players who are willing to take such risks and others need to help him shoulder this responsibility. Please click the link below for the final page.