Leicester City triumphed in a tough match against newly promoted side Brentford. Here are the three things you may have missed about Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes.
Since thrashing Manchester United, and scraping passed Spartak Moscow, Rodgers’ King Power side have altered their tactics, personnel, and formation in a bid to rekindle our hopes for European football next season.
This new groove was fully on display against Brentford in the league. So, let us delve into the three things you may have missed from that match that show Leicester are about to turn their season around.
Leicester City beat Brentford
First, a quick review of the match. Leicester City defeated Brentford 1-2 away from home in an extremely tough outing. The newly promoted London-side are known for their characteristic brand of football which thrives off of possession, and they certain had spells on the ball.
As per Sofascore, the ‘Bees’ has 54% possession across the whole match and had 15 total shots. This is contrasted with 46% possession and 10 shots. This has led Thomas Frank to complain Brentford deserved to win.
"“We hammered a team in the first half that finished in the top five last season. They didn’t have anything apart from a moment of luck or quality. Tielemans is very good, but he’s not even scoring that 10 out of 100 times. We deserved to win” Frank’s post-match comments as per Ben Dinnery"
His comments on hammering Rodgers’ side are perhaps misguided at best. Leicester City had more shots on target, including an absolute ‘worldie’ from Youri Tielemans and a tap-in from a positionally intelligent James Maddison.
The gaffer got his tactics right, and he blue and white team from the Midlands certainly took advantage of Brentford’s lack of experience in the league. Beyond tactics, here are those three aspects you may have missed.
Brendan Rodgers has attacking options
In years gone by, head coaches have struggled to find that much needed depth and versatility within the squad to impact games with the best possible players for each position. Now, Rodgers is the one who has attained this.
Just a couple seasons ago, no supporter could even consider the possibility of dropping or subbing off Jamie Vardy for anything other than a game-effecting injury. The England international was considered the most important player.
Brendan Rodgers has had to deal with very few options in attack that can actually impact the game as much as the king of annoying opposition supporters.
Now though, with the confidence of Kelechi Iheanacho, the advent of pacy Zambian Patson Daka, and the possibility of using Harvey Barnes, Ademola Lookman, or even a returning to form Ayoze Perez on the wings gives the gaffer a lot of options.
During the Brentford match, Vardy and Daka were switched while ‘Nacho’ remained on the pitch. This helped the Foxes win the match with a player who is even more confident than vardy this month. Please click below for the following page, Foxes’ game management, as Foxes of Leicester continues its rundown of the game.
Foxes’ game management
Also in years gone by, the ‘Blue Army’ has got themselves into good positions or found themselves in tough positions, and then struggled to control the game from that point onwards. Be that a goal ahead and conceding in silly fashion, or finding themselves behind and capitulating,
Case in point being the 4-1 crushing defeat to Bournemouth on 12/07/20. After finding themselves in a high-pressure battle for top four, Leicester City capitulated what should have been an easy game and saw Caglar Soyuncu sent off for a violent outburst.
Against Brentford though, the Foxes showed they are much better at controlling a game than previously. At 0-1 up, and into the second half, Leicester frustrated the Bees by breaking up the game, slowing it down, and pressing high up the pitch.
Though they would go on to concede a goal, they would promptly turn on the attacking switch and score a goal to regain the lead. After this goal, they would become a counterattacking side using long balls to prevent the game being played in their own half.
This part of our game has improved immensely and will help us to win certain games despite not appearing to be at the races. Remember that possession and progression does not necessarily equal threat, and that is certainly something we are utilising at the moment to control games.
The return of Madders
Finally, I want to mention the return of Maddison. From months of niggling injuries and lacklustre form, to an assist and a goal inside two games. The English playmaker is back to his best: finding space, creating space, exploiting space, and working with the forwards to score goals.
Should the 24-year-old not convince you that he is returning to form, I should remind you that he will be starting a lot more games now he is chipping in with attacking contributions and making his technical talent count for something. He also appeared to relish the chance to silence his critics.
Was there anything we have missed in this piece, or do you think something is wrong? Let Foxes of Leicester know on our social media channels.