Football supporters often complain about when their club’s matches are placed in the running order on BBC’s Match Of The Day. They once again got it wrong by placing Leicester City 0-0 Aston Villa on last – they should have just shown the result and spared everyone a waste of time. But although the quality of the game was severely lacking, the talking points were not.
No risk, no reward for Leicester City
This fixture was arguably a dead rubber, with both LCFC and Villa marooned in mid-table and little to go for in the Premier League except a ninth placed finish. So what was remarkable from both managers was how deeply unambitious they both were. The less said about Steven Gerrard’s ugly Villans side the better, although if awards were given for time-wasting, foul-buying and general petulance then they will be cleaning up soon.
Brendan Rodgers set the foxes up with a 4-3-3 that once again moved the normally dangerous No.10 James Maddison, out wide and a focus on wide players which left Patson Daka isolated. With Kelechi Iheanacho, Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy on the bench it was a surprise that not once during the 90 minutes did the Northern Irishman take a risk by attempting to use two strikers.
The players themselves lacked the intensity to move the ball quick enough in the wide areas meaning Villa could quickly break the game up. The foxes players frequently took the safe option and played with a fear of losing possession that still haunts them even when the jeopardy is so low which is a worry.
Ultimately they took from this game a domination of 64% possession that heralded only two shots on target. Which is not good enough in a game that meant so little and with two goals in the last couple of games it’s becoming a bigger issue. This league season is now in danger of ending in a familiar pattern as the previous two only without the embarrassment of throwing away Champions League football to worry about.
Managing the squad for the Italian job
The lack of quality in this game does require some context and with the looming European semi-final games of Roma on the horizon, it might explain this conservative approach. Leicester have somehow played four games since AVFC last played, meaning fatigue is an entirely justifiable means of excuse. There is also the prospect of managing the squads energy levels as well as anymore potential injuries for these season-defining games. Put simply getting through games unscathed can sometimes be a victory in itself, albeit a very weak one.
No.9 gives Jose Mourinho food for thought
Leicester City’s toothless attack will be music to the ears of Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho. His style tends to rely on shutting down spaces and keeping a tight defence. Patson Daka is working his socks off tirelessly at the moment but he isn’t finding space, service or shots with this game being no different, all he noted was a weak claim for a penalty. Kelechi Iheanacho has also been misfiring and wasn’t afforded any game time today. But most notably for the first time in 10 games the legendary Jamie Vardy returned as a substitute.
Vardy’s contribution to this damp squib of a football match was as minimal as Daka’s with no service or chances for him to sniff out. But his presence, visibly lifted the home support and softened the away sides singing voices. It cannot be underestimated how much he can lift a game and a crowd when a game needs it.
This will give Mourinho food for thought when devising his tactics for the European Conference semi-final games. Brendan Rodgers may well have an ace up his sleeve that loves a big occasion to exploit.