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Ipswich 1-1 Leicester: Three things we learnt from dreadful result

Leicester City will be seething with themselves for failing to make chances count against fellow promoted side Ipswich Town. The hosts took the lead late on through a Leif Davis wonder strike. Here is what we have learnt following the fixture.

By Elliot Mackness

Southampton FC v Leicester City FC - Premier League
Southampton FC v Leicester City FC - Premier League / Dan Istitene/GettyImages
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10 games played, 10 points gained, 15th in the Premier League and only five points clear of the dropzone. Leicester City have a lot of work to do to get themselves into a comfortable position, and Steve Cooper will be fully aware that his failure to defeat Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town will make that task more difficult with a tough run of fixtures still to come.

Analysing the Ipswich Town game, the Welshman has to work on a few things to help build up a bit of momentum in their hopes of ensuring EPL survival. Firstly, the Foxes need to find their best starting XI. Second, the head coach has to develop a better defensive shape. Third, the King Power side seems to lack an identity.

Leicester City's best XI

Steve Cooper selected what would appear to be a strong team against the fellow promoted team. Mads Hermansen in goal; a back four of Victor Kristiansen, Jannik Vestergaard, Wout Faes, and Ricardo Pereria; a midfield trio of Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, and Facundo Buonanotte; and, a forward-line of Stephy Mavididi, Jamie Vardy, and Abdul Fatawu. It is difficult to imagine a stronger XI than that.

However, as the successive defeats have shown, the head coach does not seem to have a clear picture of what the best side should look like exactly and is found lacking when adapting that XI on a game-by-game basis. That adaptation is critical to effectively balancing the defensive structure versus how best to create chances.

Arguably, Boubakary Soumare - a truly progressive midfielder - would have been a better pick from the beginning. The player would have offered the Foxes a route from Winks and the defensive line to the attacking midfield without the Argentinian having to incessantly drop deeper to free up options. 'Bouba' can carry and hold onto the ball well whereas Ndidi is better at regaining the ball once already lost. Retention is what we needed, and we also needed Buonanotte further forward.

It is also fair to say that although the Danish left-back is the better player on the attack, James Justin is more versatile - if more prone to defensive errors due to a lack of judgement in key moments - and provides better defensive cover. When you are facing Omari Hutchinson and Sammie Szmodics, the team should focus on including those who can disrupt, get the ball off opponents, and then hold onto that ball. Again, this would then have made Kasey McAteer or Jordan Ayew better picks against this particular opposition.

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