Discontent with Brendan Rodgers has been bubbling towards the surface all season, with last night’s defeat to Southampton seeing Leicester City supporters vent their frustration loudly from the away end. The manager’s substitutions and reaction to in-game movements is seriously questionable, with many of those on the pitch arguably just as culpable.
The Foxes now lie just three points off basement boys Bournemouth. Here at Foxes of Leicester, we’ve outlined three players in particular who let the side down in the Saints 1-0 Leicester City.
Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho
With Jamie Vardy’s performances dropping off and Patson Daka not living up to expectations, Kelechi Iheanacho’s movement into the starting eleven has been a breath of fresh air. The Nigerian has netted against Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers recently, but question marks have always been there regarding his consistency.
Those questions haven’t taken long to return, with the affectionately-named ‘Seniorman’ missing the target completely with three fantastic chances. At 0-0 he placed a header wide from the centre of the goal, before glancing a back post header wide and failing to capitalise on a Southampton mistake by blazing over the bar.
His hold-up play has always been questionable, but despite this improving in recent years it was his side’s downfall today. Countless times the Nigerian got muscled away from the ball. Iheanacho also telegraphed a lot of his movements, with his loss of possession leading to the Saints opener.
Tete
When Tete left the field at Villa Park last month, City fans, draped in the Brazilian flag, were incredibly excited at their newest acquisition. The wide man netted after a trademark run in behind, and was enthusiastic in possession, running at defenders and cutting inside to shoot.
That confidence and exuberance appears to have drained in the space of three matches, in spite of the 4-1 win over Tottenham that immediately followed. The Brazilian now seems reluctant to cut inside onto his left foot, rather opting to run to the byeline where he gets shuffled away from goal by defences.
There are also concerns defensively, with Saturday’s fixture highlighting his weakness in the tackle and inability at times to get his elbows out to keep possession. Tete was semi-fortunate that Harvey Barnes picked up an injury, otherwise it could possibly have been him that was sacrificed for Dennis Praet at the interval.
Harvey Barnes
Barnes picked up an ankle injury in the tackle that saw him carded, with the half of football that preceded his substitution an incredibly frustrating and uninspiring experience for the match going supporter.
The wide man, as is so often the case, seemed to be at odds with the tempo his teammates were playing at – incredibly slow and laboured in possession. It was almost as if he’s frightened to run at the opposing full-back.
The ball would either be stuck in his feet, or a Southampton defender would get in his way too easily, but it really was not happening for the City No. 7. Immediately after Danny Ward’s penalty save, the Foxes had a chance to break forward and do a Watford, but the man in space was Barnes who inevitably squandered possession.
The winger is a clearly short on confidence and has been for some time with his decision-making being exceedingly safe and careful. It’s good to be assured in possession and not lose it for the sake of it, but there are appears to be a policy with Barnes to play it too safe and eliminate any element of risk from his game.
LCFC face Chelsea next weekend, with every game now, regardless of opposition, now a must-win fixture. Brendan Rodgers is facing increasing disquiet from the fans, which could reach boiling point during the international break if they pick up nothing from either this or the Brentford fixture before the international break.