Middlesbrough 1-0 Leicester: 3 letdowns in first away defeat

Things are starting to look a little bit worrying for Leicester City over the last two weeks. After the loss eight days ago to Leeds United, most fans would have bet on a strong performance this weekend against Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. Foxes fans were treated to anything but as Leicester City Football Club suffered their first away loss of the season via a free kick from Boro’s Sam Greenwood. I think there were three players who really didn’t cover themselves in glory today.

Going in ascending order, I’ll start with Hamza Choudhury. I don’t like Hamza in this system, I just don’t. He’s never been known for his passing ability or comfortability on the ball. I get scared every time I see him in the lineup, I don’t think he’s cut out for this style of play in any way, shape or form. I will admit he performed better in most aspects than I thought he would, but alas he’s made my list for a pretty good reason.

He gave away the free kick that saw Enzo Maresca‘s team concede the match’s first and ultimately only goal. Whether or not you want to bring up Jannik Vestergaard playing the pass that led him to have to make this challenge, one only need look at how the rest of the team plays to combat that theory. This is a first time/first touch team. It’s about trickery, about positioning and intricately planned run patterns, controlling the ball in all aspects.

Vestergaard wasn’t the only one taking risky touches around the box, as we saw Kasey McAteer do it many times and lose the ball to create a dangerous chance for the opposition. It’s obviously an instruction they’ve received from the manager; whether you agree with the idea or not. Hamza wasn’t ready for the pass despite it being a pattern that Leicester have been playing this way the entire game. I won’t lie and say it’s an easy area to expect a pass like that but like I mentioned before: I absolutely do NOT like Choudhury in Maresca’s set up.