One of the worst possible facets of Leicester City’s 2022-2023 season has been their defence, or lack thereof. From renegade Frenchmen, absent captains, cast-adrift internationals and own goal braces, this season has had it all, apart from anything positive.
Wesley Fofana – Games (2) Goals (0)
I wrote about this at length at the start of the season, but Wesley Fofana can take a fair chunk of the blame. Okay, he only played in two matches but he sulked his way through them both before demanding a transfer away from the club to Chelsea.
This was only months after the club helped him through rehabilitation and rewarded him with a healthy long-term contract. That he was allowed to leave and not made to stay and help keep Leicester City up before this rebuild is another monumental error by the club. Fofana’s attitude stunk as the fans let him know on his return with Chelsea in February, he is everything that is wrong with the modern-day footballer, greedy, unprofessional and self-entitled.
Wout Faes – Games (36) Goals (1)
In an act of desperation, the foxes moved for a Belgian international to add to their growing collection. His debut was in the biggest thrashing of the season in a 6-2 defeat at Tottenham. Bizarrely it was seen as a positive debut and there may have been some truth to it, as Faes starred in the next game, a first win of the season against Nottingham Forest. Bar some questionable defending choices against Bournemouth, Faes went on to give the East-Midlands outfit belief of a more solid Leicester City with wins and clean sheets arriving in abundance up till the World Cup.
He was on the plane to Qatar with his Belgian teammates ready to make an impact after a successful transfer. Now perhaps Leicester City could throw some blame at Roberto Martinez, as the Spaniard went on to ignore the Foxes centre-back, favouring a more senior approach in Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. Belgium crashed out of the first round and Faes was making an early return.
Call it bad luck, but post-Christmas was not pretty for Faes. His inexplicable own-goal double at Anfield cost the East Midlands side some much-needed points and it continued to get worse from there. His lack of a partnership with Daniel Amartey, Harry Souttar and eventually Jonny Evans showed no cohesion as Leicester City bounced from one bad result to the next. Faes normally seems to be the player playing opponents onside with sluggish runs out that leave acres of space for hungry strikers. His rash decision-making leads to many free kicks for opponents and cards thrown at him.
Most tellingly right up to the last game of the season, he was seen arguing with a certain Northern Irish teammate frustrated and annoyed with being told what to do. His first goal later on in that match was scant consolation for a transfer that has not gone how he hoped.
Jonny Evans – Games (14) Goals (0)
When Kasper Schmeichel departed days before the season started, Jonny Evans was thrust into the position of club captain. Although he leads by example and has a permanently grumpy disposition, his leadership skills this season seem to have deserted him. Also, if you’re going to make a player captain, try not to make him the most regular subscriber to Injury Connoisseur magazine. When Evans has played it has lacked consistency, whilst he is still good at marshalling the backline, it is clear he hasn’t got the mobility to make serious aggressive pressure on strikers. With only three victories tasted in his 14 games this season, his impact has diminished.
Even when Evans tried to talk through Faes positioning, he was met with a grumpy Belgian demeanour, at which point the former grumpily turned his back to his teammate. Like so many others with a lucrative contract running out, Evans lost the ability to care enough to help the club out of this predicament. With relegation confirmed he gave an uninspired and unapologetic interview that spoke volumes of the lack of passion in the dressing room with many bidding farewell at that final game. The veteran barely played this season and his diminishing appearance record over the last four seasons (46, 36, 27, 14) shows that his career is only going one way and that won’t be at Leicester City.
Harry Souttar – Games (12) – Goals (0)
One of the very few things the East Midlands side did right this season was poach a young strong centre-back from Stoke City in the January transfer window. Following an impressive World Cup, Souttar started life strongly with two back-to-back wins despite an early debut own goal at Villa Park.
His physicality hides a controlled and considered approach to defending. But too often particularly in the games between February and April he was relied on as the last line of defence in a race with a pacy striker. Wout Faes tended to step up and leave Souttar exposed against a striker with a clean run in on goal. This will need much more work if any kind of partnership is to blossom into the new season.
Dean Smith wasn’t too keen on Souttar, playing him only three times in the final eight games, but with one of them being a man-of-the-match display at Newcastle. This is definitely a player that will help Leicester City in the Championship if they are to turn their fortunes around.
Daniel Amartey – Games (24) – Goals (0)
It has been seven years since the Ghanaian international arrived in the East Midlands, it is likely he will be leaving this summer, but he leaves as a Premier League, FA Cup and community shield champion. We all know Amartey has mainly been used as a utility man in his Leicester City career and most definitely too much this season.
Trademark dodgy back-passes continue to leave goalkeepers in a state of panic along with his rash tackling and questionable decision-making. Amartey has never failed to put in any less than maximum effort but he seems to daydream and dither in matches as was exposed in the early days of the season where he was constantly at fault for many opponents being unmarked and free to cause problems.
His main struggle is playing the ball out from the back, which is ironic considering that is Brendan Rodgers main style of play. With a certain Turkish international ignored this season, it does seem odd that Rodgers would pin his hopes on ‘Big Dan’, almost like he was happy to see the season go up in smoke. Surely a manager wouldn’t deliberately sabotage his own club to make a point?
Caglar Soyuncu – Games (9) – Goals (1)
One of the burning questions all Leicester City fans want to ask is what exactly was Caglar Soyuncu doing in training that was so below the levels required? Rodgers threw this accusation out following one of many defeats at the start of the season, amidst rumours that Soyuncu’s head had been turned and he was planning a move to Atletico Madrid. That all seemed to go quiet in both transfer windows and the Turk was barely seen playing this season. Rodgers selected him only three times this season which wasn’t too much of an issue given Soyuncu’s previous inconsistencies.
But when Dean Smith arrived, Soyuncu was immediately in the team and performing out of his skin. Although the accusation of running down a contract and lacking motivation has rightly been thrown at many of the Foxes players this season, with the Turk it just doesn’t hold water as he put in some inspiring displays that contradicted Rodgers’ earlier season assertion. The fact that this prize asset will be leaving for free is a financial disaster for the club.
Jannik Vestergaard – Leicester City Games (3) – Goals (0)
Three solitary cup appearances for the Dane who rejected a move to Fulham in the summer and who spoke out against Rodgers in an interview in March 2023. He also turned down a loan move to Hertha Berlin with his partner expecting to give birth not long after.
All these things are well within Vestergaard’s rights to do, but when choosing players, one needs to question not only the desire of the players but also their suitability to the club. More bizarrely this was allegedly a recommendation from the Northern Irishman in Summer 2021. With massive failings on all parts, I doubt many City fans will be keen to see him ever in the famous Foxes shirt again.