In part one of this piece, Leicester City’s lackluster chances were highlighted. In part 2, the reasons for those mediocre chances will be explored.
Passing
While Leicester City have the second highest number of passes completed in the Championship, they have only completed 29 passes into the penalty box which is only 14th best. For comparison, Blackburn has completed the most passes into the box with 62. They have also completed just 5 crosses into the opposition box, which is the 8th lowest in the league.
Touches
Leicester have the second most touches (of the ball) in the Championship with 3074. They have the 7th most touches in attacking third and 12th most touches in the opposition penalty box. However these rankings are based on sheer volume which will be high due to the relative high number of touches they have.
If we show them as percentages with respect to the total number of touches they have, it becomes bleak. Only 20.6% of their total touches are in the attacking third (17th best in the league). 2.93% of their total touches are in the opposition penalty box (6th worst in the league).
Carries
Carries refers to the act of moving with the ball at your feet. Leicester rank high (5th) in progressive carries (carries towards opposition goal) and carries into the attacking third (5th) but are only 9th best in carries into the penalty box.
Again given that Leicester have the second most carries in the league, percentages are required to give a little more context. As with the touches, when specific carries are shown as percentages with respect to the total number of carries Leicester have, it becomes more damning to them.
5.57% of their total carries are progressive (9th best) and 3.6% of their total carries are into the final third (10th best). These rankings are not great but manageable. It gets bad when you look at the percentage carries into the penalty box – 1.18% which is 8th worst in the league.
Regarding percentages, better teams like Leicester can be expected to have lower percentages in statistics like progressive carries into the penalty box or touches in the final third but they shouldn’t be this low. Since they are usually the favorites and dominate possession, they can be patient and don’t require urgency in getting the ball into the final third or the opposition box. However, the numbers they have are below par as they should at least be in the top 10 in those statistics.
Take a team like Southampton for example. They are one of the favorites to get promoted alongside Leicester and have similar stats for possession and passes to Leicester. They still have better numbers for almost all of the metrics which have been highlighted as low for the Foxes.
Leicester City Insights
Leicester have to create better chances and to do this, they have to stop taking shots from so far out so frequently and instead have to attack the penalty box more, whether it be from passes or carries. Leicester have so far won all games but if they continue performing the way they are doing, it’s very likely that they’ll start drawing and even losing games in the near future. Leicester’s upcoming fixtures are tough and they will be a test for Marseca’s team.
I would like to assert that this article is not to add negativity to this excellent Leicester start. It’s simply an analysis of the data available which shows that Leicester have work to do to improve their performances.
It is important to note that Leicester are playing under a new manager with a completely different tactic than they are accustomed to. The team is also very different from last year due to the many arrivals and departures.
Leicester have already brought in new wingers in Yunus Atgun and Abdul Fatawu. This is positive news as wingers are known for their one-on-one skills and will play a big role in getting the ball into the opposition box. Cesare Casadei is a likely starter in the coming fixtures. The young Italian is an offensive minded player who loves making runs into the opposition area.
Performances will most likely improve as they spend more time playing with each other and getting accustomed to the new tactic and their roles. Maresca will no doubt be aware of the problems which have been highlighted in this article and will be working on addressing them.