The Foxes are obviously deep in the gargantuan fissures of upheaval, brought about by consistent mismanagement by the board, recruitment team, and a failure on the part of at least some players to perform at necessary standards. This combination of utter shambolic proportions puts Leicester City in an extremely difficult position.
However, with rumours swirling of the King Power group itself being in financial disarray, profit and sustainability concerns clouding any action to sign, sell, or replace players, the former Premier League and Championship champions might well be in a far worse position come the commencement of the new season. One element which can at least be analysed with ease is which players failed to perform, and below we shall look into five Foxes which simply did not cut it when needed most.
Leicester City's five worst performers
First, a definition. A player who barely featured or got simply one opportunity before being canned cannot seriously be considered for being a top worst performer: they lacked chances to improve or show themselves in their best light. A top worst performer is someone who was involved fairly regularly and was either consistently inconsistent, or consistently poor in some critical way.
For starters, I think Wout Faes has to be on this list. Being the premier Leicester centre-back, featuring 34 times across the Premeir League campaign - the next nearest central defender is Conor Coady with 22 appearances - and performing annoyingly inconsistently. The Belgian defender was sometimes a roaring success: marauding forward and creating chances for himself and attackers, and of course scoring the odd goal.
What was annoying was every other moment in a game. Having a lower per90 passing rate in every category, worse passing accuracy, less success in aerial and ground duels, less blocked shots, less interceptions, and worst of all, so many mistakes. Simply not good enough for our primary defender to be simply worse at everything than every other candidate.
If we are talking defenders, another frustrating one is James Justin. The single most prevalent player on the pitch. 36 appearances in the league. Yet, this attacking fullback with defensive responsibilities is 15th in terms of expected assists per 90 - so barely contributing to attacking scenarios - and defensively was a major weak point.
Compared to his fullback peers, the Englishman was again second best in most categories. Less interceptions, less chances created, less passes in every direction, worst passing accuracy, an inability to read the game and manage his flank, and shambolic plays every single game. I honestly cannot remember a single game where a Justin error did not create a goalscoring opportunity for the opposition: usually by either being out of position.
To be mildly fair, the right-back had to constantly cover for the on-rushing over-eager Faes. That being said, it does not excuse that Luke Thomas, Victor Kristiansen, and Ricardo Pereira were simply better. Obviously, Woyo Coulibaly barely featured, and incessant injuies to the Portuguese defender meant there were few options on the right regardless of poor form.
£25 million pounds. What does that get Leicester City? Well, either the simply fantastic Bilal El Khannouss, or again disappointing Oliver Skipp. For me, I was happy to see Skipp join the King Power Club, yet his time here has been marred by that ridiculous price tag, and lacklustre performances to match those lofty expectations set by the price.
Comparing Skipp to Harry Winks is like a night and day difference. Winks made few defensive errors, but as with the original Championship campaign, the English midfielder is the link between defence and attack that - when playing - kickstarts every single positive moment or counter attack. The East Midlands saw Winks who played two matches less with *checks notes* almost three times more progressive passes in total, as well as significantly higher expected assists. Skipp was disappointing for the price, especially when arguably one of our best barely played.
This next one requires little explanation. Bobby De Cordova-Reid. Five times less goals than Jordan Ayew who actually performed pretty good, showing his experience and ability to link up play upfront with attacking midfielders and marauding fullbacks. Ayew was a good get overall. Cordova-Reid, scored once over 23 appearances. Ayew is better in every single offensive and defensive scenario except for a small different in clearances of the ball in our defensive third. 'BDCR' was a waste of wages.
Finally, one of my favourite French players at the King Power: Boubakary Soumare. I do feel Bouba is a good player, who usually does really well at carrying the ball and holding onto possession. However, his stats do not look pretty: the Frenchman lost possession plenty due to an arrogance on the ball, made judgement errors which led to goals and shots on goal, and barely made a defensive impact with nearly only half of the duels the talent entered into actually being successful. Bouba is a good player in a different system, but for the Foxes, there was at least one better option: Harry Winks.