5 things learnt from Leicester's friendly vs Shrewsbury

Leicester City kicked off at the Croud Meadow Stadium on Tuesday night for the club’s first pre-season game in front of paying supporters with a lot of questions unanswered. What did we find out?

Tactics and formation

Some interesting hints about the way Steve Cooper will set up his team next season were discernible from his choices in Shropshire. I wrote in a previous post that the new Leicester boss prefers to play with a back three. Against Shrewsbury this was confirmed. When in possession, the Foxes played with three at the back (Ben Nelson, Conor Coady and Luke Thomas in the first half). As under Enzo Maresca, Ricardo Pereira played further forward but rather than inverting to a central role he hugged the touchline essentially playing as a wing back. As interesting was the fact that both Harry Winks and Wilfred Ndidi played in a midfield holding role whilst Abdul Fatawu moved sides to play on the left. Most surprising of all, Stephy Mavididi played in a number ten role, occupying the space closest to the lone striker Patson Daka. So, when in possession, Leicester operated with a 3-2-4-1 whilst out of possession the team reverted to a more conventional back four.

Most commentators observed that the style of play evident against the Shrews was similar to that promoted by Maresca in that building from the back and passes to feet were the norm. However, many watchers also agreed that the play was quicker with perhaps a greater propensity to use the long ball. The downside was that possession was sacrificed rather more than it was under the former manager last season.

Performance

It is always difficult to gauge a team’s performance in a pre-season friendly. Improving fitness levels and trying out new formations is more important than the result. Nevetheless, the Foxes played well in the first half. The passing was slick and Mavididi was a revelation in the number ten role regularly terrorising the Shrewsbury defence and scoring directly from a free kick, albeit with the help of a deflection. The one downside, commented on by Cooper after the match, was that the three-man back line was sometimes exposed in transition with Pereira too far up the pitch to influence play. 

In the second half, not surprisingly, extensive changes disrupted the team's momentum and play became very scrappy. New signing Caleb Okoli, on in the second half to replace Ben Nelson, had a nightmare, conceding an own-goal and giving the ball away to the opposition a number of times. There were glimpses of class from Boubakary Soumare although it seems he is regarded as a back-up player if either Winks or Ndidi are unavailable. We also had a glimpse of the future with youngsters Michael Goulding, Will Alves and Brandan Cover making appearances, with the former two particularly impressing.

The importance of new signings

What was patently clear from the encounter with Shrewsbury is the importance of new signings. With Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s departure and Ndidi moving back into his customary number six position, the need for attacking midfield reinforcements is paramount. Kasey McAteer filled in as a number eight against the Shrews and scored Leicester’s second but had little additional impact and didn’t look entirely comfortable in the role. With the attempted capture of the Argentinian Matias Soule looking less likely, the Leicester hierarchy needs to redouble their efforts to finding a suitable alternative. On that score, just this morning it is being reported that Leicester are negotiating with Arsenal to bring forward Reiss Nelson to the King Power on a loan deal with an obligation to buy.

I have a suspicion, too, that Cooper wants the club to be in the market for another striker. For part of the game against Villareal, City played with both Jamie Vardy and Tom Cannon and Forest often played with two up top when they were managed by the Welshman. With the Leicester number nine absent from the squad on Tuesday night with injury, the need for reinforcements at the top of the pitch is a priority.

The importance of Hermansen

Much to the dismay of most Foxes fans, there has been speculation in the past few days that Maresca might try to poach Mads Hermansen. He was a central plank in the Italian’s Leicester side and is clearly a player with a great future ahead of him. With the announcement that Hermansen’s understudy Jakub Stolarczyk will be out for six months, City can ill-afford to lose the Dane. Yes, they have Danny Ward in reserve, and he did nothing wrong between the sticks last night, but his performances in the 2022-23 Premier League season left much to be desired.

The final straw

What we also learnt from Tuesday night’s friendly was that Leicester City’s public relations department needs radical improvement. As FoL have reported, not only do fans blame the board at least in part for the club’s financial problems, many have also been enraged by the decision to charge for season ticket cards as well as sharply increasing the price of match tickets and entering into a sponsorship deal with a betting company. The final straw for many was the further decision to charge £10 for the privilege of watching the Shrewsbury match on the club’s website. In the past, pre-season friendlies have been screened free of charge. It is true that the Foxes need to raise as much money as possible but did it not occur to anyone at the King Power that the imposition of a charge might get a negative response?