Leicester City started the defence of their FA CUP crown in emphatic fashion, with a win over former Leicester legend Claudio Ranieri’s Watford. Here are the 3 key things we learned:
Top quality still exists in the Leicester City side
Given the availability issues, this comprehensive win was a huge and much-needed boost and a healthy reminder of how good many of these LCFC players are. When Jannik Vestergaard was crudely held back on a corner, referee Mike Dean had little choice but to point to the spot and start Leicester City’s FA cup the same way it ended last year, with a Youri Tielemans goal.
Tielemans’ familiar swagger was back in full swing but not as much as a resurgent James Maddison who is now remarkably the current top Premier League Englishman for goals and assists in all competitions, amazing when you consider where he was at the start of the season. Maddison took his goal with class and continued to weave his way through Watford’s shaky defence at will and should have added more, but for some over-indulgent dribbling, Madders is back!
Also, Harvey Barnes was seen for the first time in a month grabbing a calmly placed goal to remind everyone he is still a dangerous presence. This was all before ‘captain for the day’ Marc Albrighton grabbed a goal to equal his normal average of 2 a season. Watford threatened to get back into the game at 2-1 but never made a true scare materialise as they were sent packing back to Hertfordshire.
Decimated squad unleashes the future
With a grand total of 10 senior players available, Brendan Rodgers had little time to get the violins out whilst he sought answers within his youth setup. Vontae Daley-Campbell joined the line-up in a left-back slot for his 3rd ever appearance. Lewis Brunt was added to the starting eleven for his Leicester City debut in midfield and then later at left-back.
Three further youth players came on with Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, Kasey McAteer and Will Alves adding minutes under their belt. This was all Rodgers had at his disposal with injuries, illness, COVID and international duty forcing his hand.
The upshot of this was that the youth complimented the few remaining names available and played with such poise, confidence and class that there could be light at the end of this dark tunnel. This game starts a ludicrous run of 5 games in 2 weeks (thanks again Premier League for adding unnecessary pressure to proceedings).
This selection practice is fine in the FA CUP and there was no question of any games being called off due to slightly different wording compared to the Premier League’s selection rules. But, there is already talk that Tuesday night’s Everton game could be called off again due to the lack of senior professionals. Is it too soon to unleash these youngsters on the Premier League?
Transfers might not be the answer
Although the club is suffering one of its worst injury and availability issues in its history, dipping into the transfer market might not be the only solution. Panic buying has led us to the very out-of-place Vestergaard. Perhaps, looking a little bit closer at these youngsters might offer some seeds of the future to come. It also came to light how adaptable much of the squad is, with Hamza Choudhury putting in a man-of-the-match display at centre-back, lending more options to a problem position and a player in need of direction.
This shift could potentially mean some inconsistent results for the rest of the season whilst those youngsters learn some harsh lessons, but considering the east Midlanders look set for a mid-table finish, this could be the ideal opportunity to build and solidify for the 22/23 season now. That’s not to say that transfers should be ignored – James Tarkowski would be a lovely signing – but Leicester City might be more creative than simply throwing money at the problem.
This injury situation is not one down to a manager pushing his players too hard, this is a crisis compounded by a dispassionate football association and a capitalist Premier League who are more interested in keeping TV contracts safe than players’ welfare.
Since the 20th June 2020 Leicester City have had 91 fixtures to fulfil, all sandwiched around international commitments. This whilst having some of his player’s legs being broken through terrible tackling and slack refereeing. It’s amazing that Brendan Rodgers isn’t afforded more sympathy, especially when he rarely complains.