Leicester City’s gaffer Brendan Rodgers has got to make some changes should the Foxes seek to lift themselves from the doldrums. Here is what must be done.
Four games in, one point gained, bottom of the Premier League. With the fourth highest paid manager, seventh highest paid squad, and a sprinkling of star talent – the East Midlands should be doing better.
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As such, although there are myriad ways in which the Northern Irishman could improve the side, here are my three picks of what must be done. I shall avoid every point being about transfers.
Leicester City’s formation
To premise this point, it should be noticed our quality depth in the winger position. Probably more apt would be to note the lack thereof depth in any form. The King Power club have Harvey Barnes and Marc Albrighton in the senior side, with Ayoze Perez and James Maddison used on the wing from time to time.
In reality then, we have only two actual out and out wingers, and one of those simply is not good enough for the course of a whole campaign. This is not solved by just signing a single right winger. To those who see that as our solution, you are completely ignoring our injury record.
Instead of fixating on a 4-3-3, Rodgers must adapt the system to get the inform players in, ignore wingers, and control the midfield during fixtures. The easiest proposition is a 4-4-2 with narrow diamond midfield shape.
The Foxes need to get Kelechi Iheanacho into the same starting XI as either Jamie Vardy or Patson Daka, and a front two would accomplish this. Additionally, both ‘Ayo’ and Barnes can be played in one of those front two, offering us plenty of depth in those positions.
In midfield, Leicester already has plenty of depth, although they could obviously do with a signing should Dennis Praet or Ayo be allowed to leave the club. To be honest, we could do with a CAM in that scenario to cover for ‘Madders’; the England international has a heavy weight to carry and could do with assistance, especially with his fitness issues.
Either way, a midfield of Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Madders would be defensively resilient, possessively strong, progressive, and creative in the final third. A liberated ‘KDH’, an ever-important Maddison, and the now staying ‘Bouba’ should do the trick. Please now select the link directly below in order to view the subsequent and final page of the current article, thank you.
The obvious requirement
Leicester need a Wesley Fofana replacement and a Jonny Evans cover. Jannik Vestergaard and Caglar Soyuncu are clearly not trusted by the head coach, with the boss choosing to use a subpar Daniel Amartey over either the clearly better options. So, Rodgers must sign at least one centre-back if not two.
It has already been stated that I would like to see Maxence Lacroix and/or Benoit Badiashile, and the King Power side have also been linked to Edmond Tapsoba. Bin Amartey, deregister Vestergaard, and sign a defender who can actually defend.
Should Rodgers secure these new signings, the defensive line would be more proactive, have more pace, and upgrade upon it’s lacklustre danger sense which is lost without Fofana. Additionally, a backline of Badiashile-Lacroix or Tapsoba-Lacroix would at least offer versatility, strength, and quality. Conceding a goal would be less a problem of personnel at that point.
Use Caglar Soyuncu
Plain and simple, the head coach must ditch the incessant starting of Amartey. If he does not trust Vestergaard to have a chance, then there must be starts for the Turkish defender. Alongside Jonny Evans, ‘Cags’ has almost never gone wrong and continues to be an active and strong defender.
There exists no excuse. If they intend to sell the CB, then lower your asking price and sell him. If you intend to bench him, sell him and do not waste the wages on the bench. If you feel the players head is in the wrong place, then play him more often, promise him game time, and get him on a slightly extended contract. Soyuncu is good enough for the Foxes.
Even if forced to play in a back three, Cags is the best option to play alongside either Evans and Amartey or the occasional cameo of Vestergaard. In fact, the Turk is likely even better in a back three as any mistaken pressures or tackles has plenty of defensive cover to handle with it.
To summarise, Rodgers must alter the formation, sign at least one CB, and start Soyuncu if Leicester City are to escape the relegation zone in any quick fashion. The supporters are watching and waiting for action, not deflections or poor decisions from the head coach.