Hull City 2-2 Leicester City: Three Positives and Negatives in Disappointing Match
Another disappointment. Leicester City found themselves behind twice against Hull City. Enzo Maresca picked the team, here are the three positives and negatives as Maresca’s team barely maintain their lead at the summit.
The King Power travellers conceded first against Hull City before Jamie Vardy came to save the day, twice. Despite that, Leicester City supporters can count themselves disappointed with the result for several reasons, of which one will form our first negative. Another part of that disappointment is the team selection.
Five Championship matches played, three losses, one draw, and one win. That one win, as well as the Bournemouth win, features Conor Coady in the starting XI. The winning team against Sunderland saw two changes ahead of the Hull match. Why Maresca made several changes to a winning team and did not maintain the defensive fulcrum of those wins is beyond me.
Leicester City’s fail to gain advantage
The Championship title race is in full swing. The Foxes took a commanding early lead, and yet their pit crew have left them stranded for far too long: now, there is a real risk of Leicester losing that dominant position. All it takes is two more poor results. Either Leeds United or Ipswich Town, or both, could go ahead of Maresca’s men in the coming game weeks.
Ipswich Town lost their preceding match, while Leeds have drawn in previous weeks, holding them back. Our games are hardly going to get easier, so a win against Hull was a must for the Premier League hopefuls: to go six points clear once more. Now again, as before, three points and one positive goal difference is all that separates Leeds and Leicester, four to Ipswich.
Fatigue sets in, favourites flail
Against Hull, we saw a team more tired than ever before. They have played near-enough every fixture for the past 37 games, and the players are getting more tired with every game that goes by. The Italian head coach has not effectively rested players, relying heavily on a select few of the players, while ignoring those who succeeding in cup matches.
Think about Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, Kasey McAteer (who has vanished after returning from injury), Harry Souttar, Ben Nelson, Callum Doyle (who played in the Sunderland win), Tom Cannon, and Marc Albrighton. Leicester City have enough players to rotate the big names in and out of the subs bench, and yet we have not done this.
Enzo Maresca has been accused of favouritism by some fans on social sites, and it is hard to disagree when players who have consistently underperformed over the last few matches still playing despite there being alternatives. So, another disappointment for Leicester City’s supporters: a lack of rotation, and a lack of using alternatives.
To provide an example: Stephy Mavididi. The English winger has been a star for the Championship leaders, and has performed excellently. However, these last few outings have not been his best, and clearly Mavididi either needs a rest or needs to be rotated out to provide competition. He is either a favourite getting too much game time versus his current impact, or a tired star waiting for some time off.
The only positive… the GOAT
Four shots, two on target, two goals. Jamie Vardy. The legendary striker equalised twice for the visitors, as the Foxes conceded two silly goals. Despite being 37, Vardy still has the instinct, pace, and now the experience to create and score chances. Where would Leicester be without the legendary striker? Probably in the play-offs by now.
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