Summer can be a long time, especially if every other minute is spent checking social media to see if Leicester City have signed a player. Nowadays it’s been reduced to checking that we haven’t lost any players. Add to the mix the latest misinformation regarding the club’s finances and certain ex-footballers turned pundits talking out of their rear ends in relation to that issue and its been a stressful time. So with all that in mind it was obviously a pleasure to return to a sunny King Power Stadium for another relaxing afternoon of football on opening day – that was the plan at least.
Transfer talk not affecting Leicester City players
If you hovered around Twitter for too long recently you would have heard speculation about Wesley Fofana refusing to play amidst Chelsea bids, add that to James Maddison and the Newcastle interest and Arsenal’s invisible pursuit of Youri Tielemans. So those players were being scrutinised with extra glances today.
If anything they all turned in excellent performances. Youri was dropping into dangerous areas and spraying passes around with confidence. Maddison had that swagger in his step and was taking the usual kicks off frustrated opponents. Wesley Fofana showed himself to be strong in challenges and worthy of the huge price tag that the club will only entertain with his departure.
There are two schools of thought as to what those performances meant. It could be they are ultra professionals and simply want to show the world how little they are affected by speculation. A more cynical view would say they want to put themselves in the shop window and show the clubs what they are missing.
Not playing well for 90 minutes, again
On the whole, there was a lot to be impressed about with this performance. Given the late tactical switch to a 3-5-2 due to Ricardo Pereira and Harvey Barnes’s absence, the Foxes looked dangerous throughout the first half. James Maddison went close with a diving header, Youri Tielemans tested Brentford’s David Raya and the post. This sandwiched an excellent near-post headed goal from Timothy Castagne – still one of the unsung heroes of this squad – whose impressive performance should comfort supporters about the absence of Ricardo for six months.
Very early in the second half, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall unleashed a thunderbolt into the bottom left corner to continue his impressive form and standing in the first team. Danny Ward was getting in on the act and was having his name sung – to the tune of ‘Daddy Cool’, I love it – due to his solid claiming of the ball and giving consistent distribution post-Kasper. The fans were singing, the sun was shining, everything seemed rosy – but Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester have a habit of lulling you into a false sense of security. Please select the below button to continue with the Foxes of Leicester article.
No substitute for fresh legs
Rodgers was a big advocate for the move to five substitutions amidst naysayers complaining it would give the bigger clubs a larger advantage. Thomas Frank was aware of this and by the 83rd minute had used all of his substitutes and pushed Leicester back towards their goal. Temperatures were soaring and those at the stadium could see the sweat glistening on the Leicester player’s foreheads for much of that second half.
The former Liverpool gaffer reacted by taking off Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and switching the formation around to put Patson Daka up top with a largely quiet Jamie Vardy. It was odd to take off Dewsbury-Hall given how well he was playing, but with tired legs, it wasn’t a huge surprise. But that was the last and only substitute he made.
Considering the injuries that the club have had to manage and the fact this was the first game of the season with players’ energy levels dropping everywhere from the hour mark, it is utterly bizarre that he decided not to put on any fresh legs to help retain the ball and help out the defence. As much as I feel for Rodgers regarding the injuries he’s had to put up with, he really doesn’t help himself sometimes and when he himself acknowledged the fatigue in the performance in post-match interview the mind boggles further.
Is it stubbornness? Is the manager trying to make a point to the hierarchy regarding his thoughts on the squad? Whatever his reasons, they were misplaced and fresh legs would have helped. Brentford pushed into dangerous areas and squeezed a goal in from Ivan Toney. This was before late on Josh Da Silva easily turned inside onto his left foot and fired in an equaliser.
People will point to Daniel Amartey, and with good reason: he needed to be tighter and put in a better challenge on Da Silva’s goal. But with fresher legs all over the pitch, Brentford were quicker to everything. Watch the equaliser and see how James Maddison’s legs wouldn’t let him receive a Wesley Fofana pass.
Most of the players will come out of this performance with a lot of credit bar maybe Amartey and a ponderous Wilfred Ndidi. But it is Rodgers who is now starting to test the fan’s patience with yet another ‘typical’ Leicester collapse that is becoming a key character of his reign.
Also, what might this result do for a bench full of talent miffed as to why they didn’t get any game time today? It’s only day one of the season but already it is having a whiff of familiarity about it, with nothing to suggest that Leicester will be nothing more than a mid-table team unable to learn from the many mistakes they make every week.