Leicester 2-2 Brighton: 3 things FoL learned

Given the recent form, it felt like a trudge for many Foxes fans to visit the King Power Stadium and watch an out-of-form Leicester City. The result was surprisingly positive but the performance had some familiar feelings to it.

Jamie Vardy is an issue

Early on in this game, the Brighton crowd in the corner of the King Power stadium ticked the box of LCFC game tradition by mocking Jamie Vardy’s wife for her recent courtroom dramas. It happens in virtually every game the foxes are in and has been going on for a couple of seasons. What we’ve lacked this season is a response from the man himself. Those goals followed by a cupping of the ear to said mocking fans have wilted, and with it so has Vardy’s form.

With the Seagulls established as a flair team that enjoys cutting through teams, Vardy was deployed in a deeper lying role to cut off space to midfielders Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister and for the large part, it worked. Brighton struggled to cut Leicester open through the middle and were forced to attack out wide throughout. Vardy essentially occupied space doing little more than a half-press so as not to leave space in midfield, but is this how far the former England international has fallen?

There was little hold-up play to bring others into the game and when he received the ball he was bullied off it quickly, even being flattened at one point after an unexpected Barnes pass. We saw very few off-the-shoulder runs and little aggression to wind up the opposition players other than an off-the-ball incident just before he was subbed. Another game passed him by without not only a goal but even a shot anywhere toward the onion bag. Dropping him would be a lot easier with a viable replacement but Patson Daka’s form has also plummeted, leaving Brendan Rodgers unable to answer his huge problem.

Jamie Vardy’s lack of form is no recent finding. He has been poor for the last 2 seasons and the seemingly indestructible Premier League legend is producing diminishing returns as he nears the end of a remarkable career. His one league goal this season was a tap-in that even Nampalys Mendy might score. Let’s just hope we get to see Vardy cupping his ear towards banter fuelled opposition fans a few more times before the inevitable happens – which I suspect could be this summer.