After a comprehensive 4-2 defeat against Arsenal, the inquest into Leicester City’s goalkeeping situation continues. Due to the sudden departure of Kasper Schmeichel this summer, Leicester City have had to find a new number one.
Brendan Rodgers publicly backed Danny Ward to fill Schmeichel’s shoes rather than signing a like-for-like replacement. Although the Welshman has made some good saves in the opening two games, he committed a crucial error against the Gunners, costing LCFC the chance to get back into the game. FoL now addresses whether Ward deserves to be given an opportunity or if a new ‘keeper is needed.
Should he be given time to become No.1?
Danny Ward has clearly been given the vote of confidence by the manager, after having his shirt number changed from number 12 to number 1. Therefore, an argument can be made that current events were entirely planned, even if the timescales were accelerated by a year. After all, LCFC did not spend £12m on Ward for him to permanently warm the bench and the long-term vision was for him or Daniel Iversen to eventually replace Kasper. Despite only making his Premier League debut this season, Ward has proved himself reliable in cup competitions, including in games against top-division opposition.
In the games the Welshman has played this campaign, he has made several important saves, as well as being more certain at claiming crosses than the Danish legend. For example, against Arsenal, Ward was a large reason why the Foxes were only two goals down at half-time. His one vs one saving ability was needed multiple times against Arsenal to prevent Gabriel Jesus from adding to his brace of goals. Despite the mistake made by the Welsh keeper later in this game, it is perhaps unreasonable to instantly expect him to command and have perfect synergy with the backline
Leicester City cannot embrace mediocrity
The flip side of the argument is that Danny Ward is just not good enough to start, given Leicester’s ambitions. In his two EPL starts so far, Ward has recorded an average Sofascore rating of 5.90 which is far below par. This is likely influenced by the six goals he has conceded, although he was only directly at fault for one. Unfortunately, this error was a pretty bad one as he inexplicably dropped a routine cross right on a plate for Arsenal to score. This was the result of poor communication with Wesley Fofana as well as poor handling.
On this note, the lack of communication Ward has with the backline, as well as his distribution leaves uncertainty amongst Foxes fans. Whilst his kicking is better than Daniel Iversen, it is nowhere near the standard of the much-maligned Kasper Schmeichel. The 29-year-old is fine with his short passing but struggles to accurately pick out longer passes, especially under any kind of pressure. This is reflected in his concerning low pass accuracy of 57 and 62 percent against Brentford and Arsenal respectively.
Overall, despite a poor start, Danny Ward deserves a chance to shine as number one due to the situation. The caveat of this statement does depend on the state of the Foxes’ finances. If LCFC don’t sell a big-name player such as Wesley Fofana, it seems unlikely that there will be money to sign another goalkeeper. Furthermore, let us emphasise that the whole defence must take collective responsibility for the raft of goals already conceded, rather than the blame being pinned on one individual.
The likely outcome is that Ward continues as the number one due to limited finances. He probably deserves to be given a chance having waited patiently so long, although many fans are justifiably dubious if he is good enough for the position. Even though Danny Ward has not covered himself in glory thus far, a few more games are required before a concrete opinion can be formed.