Leicester City news as the Foxes show character and fight against Aston Villa but lack creativity
Leicester City have battled in all three of their Premier League games this season but have only collected one point from a possible nine. If they didn’t know that the Premier League was so unforgiving, they do now.
Moments after referee David Coote pulled back Jamie Vardy’s leveller, Jhon Duran put Villa 2-0 ahead. Facundo Buonanotte’s consolation made for a tense finish but Leicester fell short in creating an equaliser.
Steve Cooper, the players, the staff and fans all know how tough the Premier League is. One thing that, perhaps, wasn’t known at the club was the clear need to start games with that creative edge.
Leicester lined-up with Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp and Wilfred Ndidi in midfield against Villa in an attempt to nullify the danger of Morgan Rogers, who earned rave reviews for his performance against Arsenal last week. It’s fair to say, Rogers was poor, but it stagnated anything Leicester had going forward.
Too many times in the first half, City had the ball in Villa’s half and simply failed to get the ball in between the lines, into spaces that could hurt Villa. Ndidi, as he did under Enzo Maresca and on Tuesday against Tranmere, played as the most advanced of the three.
It didn’t work. When City got on the ball, which they saw more of than Villa, and managed to pick the Nigerian out, his touch was poor and the visitors managed to turn over possession too easily. It was a problem that Unai Emery’s men knew from the start.
“We felt that Villa were causing us a threat off our own turnovers when we were comfortable in possession,” Cooper admitted after the game.
“If anything, Villa looked like a counter-attacking team today, which is not what they are. That’s what we felt like could hurt us the most, controlling the game in the middle of the pitch. When we did lose it, they were a real threat.”
What made yesterday’s defeat even more frustrating was the timing of the subs. In Cooper’s defence, Leicester were controlling the ball and were knocking on Villa’s door. Jamie Vardy had a goal, rightly so, disallowed after the ball struck the referee in the build-up and the atmosphere was growing.
City were unlucky and saw things go against them by minimal margins. Five minutes after Vardy’s misfortune, Duran doubled Villa’s lead and it was a killer. Fine margins.
Cooper then decided to introduce Stephy Mavididi, Facundo Buonanotte and Bilal El Khannouss, three changes that could have come slightly earlier. The ‘too little, too late’ phrase being passed around social media is harsh as Leicester were showing a threat with the 11 on the pitch.
Just as it took Villa five minutes to take control of the result, Leicester’s subs only needed five minutes. Mavididi, who many believe should be starting, exposed Lamare Bogarde down the left, chipped a cross in and Buonanotte smashed the ball home.
After the game, the Leicester boss explained his thinking behind the three-man midfield, rather than starting one of Buonanotte or El Khannouss. “Facundo had had a strange week after the Fulham game. He needed managing with his groin. That kept him out of being available for the League Cup game. It’s been a stuttered week for him,” he said.
“Then looking at what we felt the game might have needed in terms of the physicality that Villa have in the middle, we wanted to go toe-to-toe on that side and then hopefully open up the game as it went on. We conceded a couple of goals, but it didn’t play out that way, the actual game.
“We can make choices now with the type of players we need in certain areas from game to game, and with making in-game changes as well. That’s where you want to be.”
As the clock ticked down, Leicester tried and fought for one final chance. If it wasn’t for tight offsides and a perfectly-timed challenge from Youri Tielemans, they could have come away from LE2 with a point.
The international break has come at a good time for Leicester. Their return to the top flight has in no way been a disaster, there’s plenty of positives to digest. Cooper now has time with a large group of his players to learn the tough lessons that the Premier League has already offered.
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