A lot of the discourse surrounding Leicester City, especially externally, is negative, and recent interviews would suggest that it isn’t much brighter internally. Consequently, confidence levels are at an all-time low under Brendan Rodgers’ management.
Despite all of this, this article will look to highlight the positives — of which there’s a few to speak about — to give the Foxes faithful something propitious to read this evening, ahead of the Premier League game with Newcastle United on Sunday.
The trip to Naples in Italy was underpinned with disappointment after failing to maintain UEFA Europa League football, instead, falling into Europe’s third-tier competition — the UEFA Conference League, but a performance from a certain academy graduate deserves some recognition.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall opened his professional account for Leicester City with a wonderful goal, capitalising on an unorthodox defending style from corners from Luciano Spalletti by expertly placing a volley into the bottom right-corner. I don’t anticipate goal-scoring will play a pivotal role in his future, but it does highlight his qualities on-the-ball.
Within the current ranks at the Foxes, Dewsbury-Hall’s profile is most similar to Belgian talisman, Youri Tielemans. Very proficient at collecting possession from the defence, expressive with his first touch — enabling a pivot and to play vertically, and most importantly, smart with his selection of passes.
In fact, the match against Napoli was a chance to see how the aforementioned midfielders played together in a midfield-three. The signs were clear of how it operated, Wilfred Ndidi held centrally, with the two-ball players splitting to create openings for passing lanes, and this, for all intents and purposes functioned nicely in possession.
Another positive is also a recent academy graduate, Luke Thomas. The youngster’s lack of experience sidelined his involvement for the game in mid-week, albeit a decisively wrong decision by Brendan Rodgers. Prior, he’d started the last three Premier League games and is constantly making a good impression.
I was particularly impressed with him during the game vs. Aston Villa, where he persistently demanded possession as an avenue to progress. At merely 20 years of age, it’s impressive how much he attempted to influence the game in an attacking sense. His actions were exclusively positive; either through a pass into one of the forwards, or a carry between the lines. Whilst maintaining the defensive discipline that is required of a full-back.
With every match, Thomas seems to gain confidence and his importance on the team grows. There’s a synchronised partnership forming on the left-side, with Harvey Barnes, and their understanding of positioning — either underlapping or overlapping for a supportive run is becoming instinctive and refreshing to behold. His absence in the UEFA Europa League was dearly felt with the performance by Ryan Bertrand — and I envision a return to the starting XI is imminent for the Syston-born full-back, most likely against Newcastle United on Sunday.
The last individual I will speak about is Patson Daka, whose performance in the first half — again vs. Aston Villa, accentuated future positives that the Zambian can offer the Foxes. The output differential, when compared with Jamie Vardy, is obviously a talking point.
The former England international is the second top-scorer in the Premier League (as of writing this) this season, whereas Daka’s goals per minute ratio — aided by scoring four against Spartak Moscow — is slightly better than his LCFC strike partner; 0.72 to 0.57.
It’s a small sample size, and not truly indicative of who is currently the “better finisher”, but does offer an interesting perspective. The major difference though, and this is the main rationale behind this segment, is how effective Daka is when pressing the opposition, whereas Vardy’s style can come off as passive.
When closing down the opposing defenders, Daka is relentless. Regardless of whether there’s an opportunity to press, he chases lost causes and forces mistakes from centre-backs. This description does sound reminiscent of Vardy, but not an accurate reflection of how he operates under the management of Brendan Rodgers. In his mid-30’s, Vardy is much more a predator of mistakes, instead of an enforcer.
Vardy jockeys around the front line, covering the ground by ensuring he’s close enough in proximity to initiate when an opportunity does arise, and then pounces. Unfortunately, during elite football, these mistakes are infrequent and thus result in Jamie looking passive.
These stylistic differences have massive implications on the Foxes’ setup out of possession. Against Aston Villa, where Daka lead the line, the east Midlanders were phenomenal at winning high turnovers and this gave the entire XI confidence. There are obvious intricacies in how the fixture slipped out of control — mainly set-pieces, but this pressing style was very effective.
In the game against Napoli, where the “elder statesman” was reinstated as the lone forward, this style was non-existent. Napoli’s centre-backs, both of whom are solely starting due to injuries in key areas, were given ample time to pick passes into their full-backs and midfielders. Enabling a simple building phase not only breeds confidence in the oppositions players but is also seeps out of your own.
With this in mind, the future looks very exciting through the lens of these three players, amongst a host of others — most out with injuries currently. Even throughout this baron run, with little enjoyment to take from performances and results, these individuals are getting minutes; they’re maturing into good players. That’s something the Foxes fan base can cling onto and enjoy.