An ultra-competitive league
In Monday nights hard-earned win, all of the goals came in the first half, all three the product of defensive errors. For the first, Bobby DeCordova Reid found himself unmarked in front of goal and Derby’s equaliser on nine minutes followed a similar pattern. With five minutes to go in the first period, Jordan James brushed aside a weak challenge and clipped the ball past the Ram’s ‘keeper Jacob Zetterstrom. There were few clear chances in the second half with neither side really troubling their respective shot stoppers.
Despite the many reverses suffered by the Foxes this season (eight defeats and only nine victories in 24 matches) it is remarkable that they are only four points outside the play-off places. The top two both lost on Monday night too. Before Leicester fans get carried away, though, a forthcoming points deduction would put the club nearer to the drop zone.
Jekyll and Hyde
There has been a strange case of inconsistency in Leicester’s performances this season. An impressive victory over Ipswich, for example, was followed by a dreadful 4-1 defeat against QPR. In a similar vein, defeat against Watford at the King Power Stadium was followed by the hard-fought triumph over Derby.
I’m not sure, though, that the latter two performances were that dissimilar. In both games, for instance, the Foxes conceded an equaliser after scoring first. The difference I think is that Watford, and indeed QPR, are much better sides than Derby County who, despite having the majority of possession, offered very little going forward.
The same problems besetting the Foxes were apparent in the two games. For one thing a goal was scored by the opposition again on Monday night. That’s 18 consecutive matches where Leicester have conceded at least once, the longest run in England’s four divisions. Even Wolves, having a disastrous season in the top-flight, have had a clean sheet more recently than the Foxes. This points to defensive problems. To be fair, despite giving away a very sloppy goal, City looked reasonably solid particularly in the second half against the Rams.
Another well-publicised problem is the lack of a goalscoring central striker. The three Foxes’ front men have only five goals between them. Luckily, other players, and particularly De Cordova Reid and James, have begun to score a few.
The lack of quality is one factor that is a plausible explanation for Leicester’s struggles this campaign. It’s not, however, the only or even the main reason. For one thing, Leicester still have the nucleus of the side that won the Championship the season before last. Marti Cifuentes has claimed there is a mentality problem which he says predates his arrival at the club. The argument is that the players are used to defeat after last season’s experience and don’t expect to get back into games whilst falling behind. Part of the problem, then, is that that are still too many players at the club who were part of the squad that got relegated, and some of the players have experienced it twice.
If Cifuentes is right, it is his job to transform this mentality. The side worked hard to preserve the lead in the second half against Derby and that is a promising sign.
Academy rules
By the end of Monday night’s game, there were no less than six academy products wearing blue on the pitch. Particularly impressive was Silko Thomas who came on for Jordan Ayew for the last thirty minutes. His energetic display had the effect of giving Derby defenders something to think about and reduced their threat going forward. The future looks bright then providing that the club can keep hold of them, which is not guaranteed particularly in the case of Jeremy Monga. What is clear is that the team would benefit from one or two more experienced heads. For both reasons the January transfer window is crucial.