To put it lightly, this season has been incredibly mixed for Leicester City and manager Brendan Rodgers. Until Tuesday, the Foxes hadn’t won in the Premier League since the 28th of December. Fans have been disgruntled at poor defending, a lack of quality in front of the net, and some quite appalling performances on the pitch.
However, there is still a lifeline for Rodgers, a chance of turning his fortunes around and injecting hope and belief back into supporters: winning the UEFA Europa Conference League.
A reality check, or a seriously underachieving Leicester City?
It was always going to be difficult for Rodgers to improve from last season, as well as matching the fans hopes. Coming into this season, LCFC had secured successive fifth placed finishes in the Premier League and were FA Cup champions.
There was disappointment for some, as Leicester had yet again missed out on a Champions League place, but this was the season to put it right. Fans were back at full capacity; the King Power could once again become a raucous fortress.
A great win against Europa League holders Villarreal in their last friendly game was followed by another electric day at Wembley, this time seeing LCFC beat Premier League champions Manchester City to clinch the Community Shield and add another trophy to the cabinet.
This wasn’t the only thing to be positive about, for the first time since their 2015 ‘great escape’, Leicester hadn’t lost any of their big-name stars in the transfer market, instead adding Boubakary Soumare, Patson Daka and Ademola Lookman to their ranks. This seemed a serious turning point for City.
Soon though, the illusion came crashing down; injuries decimated the squad depth that the summer had brought. Wesley Fofana, Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, James Maddison, and Jonny Evans were but a few names ruled out for lengthy periods. This, paired with the poor form of new defenders Ryan Bertrand and Jannik Vestergaard, and alongside Caglar Soyuncu’s crisis of confidence, led to the Foxes being unable to keep the goals out.
There were still signs of hope, beating Manchester United 4-2 in belting fashion reminded fans of seasons previous, but Rodgers’ men couldn’t build on this. Instead, the form of the squad was further shot, with Tielemans’ looking tired amid reports of a stalling contract and the ever-reliable Schmeichel beginning to show a few cracks.
Still though, the fans were back for European nights, and the Foxes had been handed a comfortable draw in the cup. Legia Warsaw and Spartak Moscow provided – on the face of it – a smooth entry into the knockout stages.
Instead, Rodgers fell into the Claude Puel trap of mass squad rotation, and a poor loss away in Warsaw, paired with several lacklustre draws led to the Foxes being booted out of the group stage.
A frustrating comeback by Liverpool dumped the Foxes out of the Carabao Cup – a trophy many were hoping to see come back to Leicestershire – and an abysmal performance in Nottingham saw a humiliating exit in the FA Cup to derby rivals, Forrest.
Naturally, fans have been frustrated. After the heights of the last two seasons, this feels like a major back-step for the squad. Pundits were quick to label Leicester’s last two seasons as an overachievement – a sentiment backed by Rodgers – and that this was a reality check for the East Midlander’s. Even so, sitting only nine points clear of the relegation zone doesn’t feel like just a reality check.
There is, however, space for hope. Whilst Leicester look set to finish mid-table, this season is far from over. And, perhaps, against the narrative of this negative campaign, the Foxes could end the campaign by making history: winning their first European trophy.
A European lifeline
Whilst their Europa League campaign ended in disappointment, the Foxes were saved by UEFA’s new third-tier European tournament: the Conference League. Initially, Rodgers rather embarrassingly said he had no idea what the competition was, now though, he has realised its importance.
Having beaten Danish side Randers in a two-legged play-off – a tie to decide who progressed to the knock-out stages – the Foxes face the prospect of being able to end the season by lifting their third trophy in just over a year. Against the Danes, Rodgers picked a strong squad; it’s clear that he wanted to make a statement of how he views the cup.
Outside viewers, and even some fans, make be quick to dismiss the quality of the competition, but this isn’t FIFA. Roma, Rennes, PSV, and Marseille are all tough competitors and will surely look at this competition as a must-win. Outside of those bigger names, you have teams who can create a shock if approached with complacency; we’ve already seen Tottenham fail to progress to the knockouts.
Currently, Leicester are joint-favourites to win the cup alongside Roma at 6/1, however they were also one of the bookies favourites to win the Europa League and we all know how that went. Rodgers must continue choosing his strongest squad for these games, fans won’t accept any less.
As well as being a huge boost for the Foxes’ faithful, winning the Conference League comes with several major benefits. First, there is the cash prize. Rodgers has said it again and again, but they don’t have the budget to compete with the big spenders in the Premier League. Winning the cup wouldn’t give them the finances of Manchester City, but it will help with their summer rebuild.
More importantly though, the winners of the Conference League are automatically added to the Europa League group stages for next season, securing a third successive season of Europa League football for Leicester. It allows the 2022/23 season to be a clean slate for Rodgers: that he can look to fix his squad’s form and challenge for the EPL top six once again – whilst also giving fans some more memorable European nights.
It also makes Leicester a much more attractive club to join. Not only competing in European competition, but also having another trophy to their name. Suddenly the prospect of replacing the – inevitably – departing Youri Tielemans becomes a lot easier, as well as giving the likes of James Maddison and Wesley Fofana more of a reason to stay.
In recent years, we’ve seen how hard it is for clubs to be consistently competing in the Europa League. Burnley, Everton, and Southampton have all recently enjoyed a year of European football before failing to reach the competition the next year. Even Arsenal, once Champions League mainstays, found it hard to secure a consistent place in the Europa League.
There are a lot of reasons to be hopeful about winning the cup, and, if they can do it, it will be yet another chapter in an astonishing period for the club. History once again beckons for the Foxes, Rodgers has to give his everything to win it, and to preserve his legacy at LCFC.