Gary Rowett spoke negatively of his Leicester City squad in his recent press conference, seemingly bemused by the sheer lack of hunger to stave off the drop. With the situation no longer in our hands, requiring a desperate win against Portsmouth to keep us within striking distance of survival, Rowett was right to criticise a squad that was not built for this battle.
"We probably don't really have a squad who are designed for a relegation battle... we are running out of games... we know we need to perform with urgency.... it might not impact you as a player but it will impact staff here and of course the fans"Gary Rowet
Although this is reading through the lines a bit, Rowett is right: this team was meant to be dominant, meant to get us straight back up, and yet the mentality fractured with little hope of recovery, and players lacked the urgency to recover themselves. A sparing few appeared good: Jordan James, for example, put in a shift every single game.
So, as the clock ticks closer to the confirmation of back to back relegation and the reversal of all the work King Power has done to get the Foxes out of being a lower league yo-yo and into a regular top-flight team, here are the Leicester City academy products who are ready to seize the chance of the upheaval and renaissance needed whether in League One or the EFL Championship.
Leicester City's next academy graduates
I view the next campaign in two ways, regardless of whether the East Midlands outfit ends up relegated on Saturday or maintains their EFL Championship position by a whisker: exodus and imposed renaissance. No matter the outcome of this season now, a deluge of players will leave, be that because we desperately need money, or because they do not want to play League One football.
In this context, Rowett's Foxes - goodness knows what type of head coach we will end up with next season - will need to promote from the academy and more youthful members of the squad who have yet to make a permanent mark. We finally got to see Ben Nelson this campaign, and hopefully, he will remain, while at least Jannik Vestergaard can finally be moved on. Others deserve the chance.
In midfield, the King Power side has an opportunity to revitalise. It is hard to say whether we will keep any of the current cohort in midfield, possibly Oliver Skipp and Hamza Choudhury (although more often used as a right-back nowadays) will remain, and we have seen a couple of youngsters used early on in this campaign. However, there are at least five midfielders who could be promoted to permanent senior spots.
First amongst them is deep-lying playmaker Sammy Braybrooke. This talent has immense potential, is an excellent passer of the ball, has good vision to create chances and plenty of technical ability to back up a team that creates. Braybrooke has played for two different clubs this season, scoring twice at Chesterfield FC (showing a utilisation in a more box-to-box role) and four times in total (thrice for Newport County, showing excellent vision and creation from that DM position). His talent is undeniable, and his role in the Leicester of tomorrow is vital.
The Foxes will need a tempo setter and a creative midfielder, a pair that can work well together to support progression, tempo, and recycling of possession across the width of the pitch. This means we need a player with legs and one with raw ability. For me, unless we try to keep Divine Mukasa on loan, these roles need to be filled by Will Alves and Henry Cartwright.
Cartwright has been playing in the Scottish Premiership and has scored once from his box-to-box progression-tempo role, playing regularly for the Scottish side. Whereas Alves has been playing for Huddersfield in League One, and although he has played far less than Cartwright, he has still scored twice across all competitions.
Otherwise, we have seen two others in brief moments who could also take permanent spots in midfield. Louis Page and Michael Golding. Both of them play in more creative roles, although Golding can play in the same spot as Cartwright, and Page is more of an Alves-style position. Neither has been out on loan this season, so they mainly play for the youth side.
Again, though, both have scored, both have assists, they are consistent, although not explosive. What we need in the Leicester of tomorrow is not explosiveness, but a consistent level, even if it should be a drop off versus what we have (supposedly is perhaps more apt given this abysmal team).
Up front, I have been crying out for a total change. Abdul Fatawu is almost definitely gone, despite how many of us love his explosive nature; the problem again has been wastefulness sometimes. So, we need fewer wasteful, almost less impressive, talents to build a more solid foundation. For me, we have Jake Evans, who can take that central forward role as a fast-paced, versatile striker, and should be playing. After all, across all competitions he's played in this season, the English striker has nine goals and three assists, one of our better strikers.
Chris Popov, and if we perhaps somehow retain Dujuan Richards on loan, could help bolster the numbers. We do have Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, although he has barely featured, so I would expect that player to be on the way out. I would expect one of the experienced players (Bobby De Cordova-Reid or Jordan Ayew) to be likely to stay. Popov is perhaps not quite ready for primetime, but he does actually score normal in-possession goals, sitting on eight goals and five assists across all competitions. Again, this versatile forward may be less explosive and less experienced, but he knows where the net is.
It is difficult to see many defenders who might be ready. However, Olabade Aluko has already seen some action with the senior side, so it would make sense for him to get a permanent promotion, hopefully alongside Nelson, as a right-sided centre-back or as our right back. Leicester City have already seen what Aluko is broadly capable of, and again, although not exciting, he can do a job and do it to a predictable and consistent level. Predictable consistency is absolutely vital.
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