A good run of games, if you look at results, and not really talk much about the over all performance which in a way has been less than convincing, but no one can take away results from a manager and players.
The game against Spurs was seen as a difficult hurdle, but seeing both Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen placed on the bench made it a bit more optimistic. Tcf hoped for a Harry Maguire return, but he never left the bench, strange in a way.
To be without Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire will always weaken a Leicester City team and with such a young crew of players you will get performances from the full range between top and bottom.
The start of the game was good, and credit to Vicente Iborra with great distribution, playing with a good vision and mixing the long and short pass as much as possible, seeing a variety that Mendy and Ndidi struggles with at times.
Puel had again made changes, out with Soyuncu, Diabatte, Albrighton and Simpson, in with Iborra, Pereira, Gray and Evans, probably strengthening the team a bit from the one starting against Fulham.
But with a bit of pressure, Leicester City, never managed to convert anything into great goal chances, with just one attempt on goal from Wilfred Ndidi, but the shot ended high up in the terraces.
The first half was almost finished, and in extra time, when Son managed to get in front of the Leicester City defense, curling the ball in from just outside the penalty box, and Schmeichel had no chance at all. Would call it sloppy defending, and again conceding a goal in such a vital part of the game is hurtful.
Demarai Gray and Kelechi Iheanacho are two young guys given a lot of responsibility and they are struggling to be the players “To Play the Piano” when Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire is absent. Wes Morgan must be credited in this game for his leadership and also Kasper Schmeichel again made some crucial saves. Vicente Iborra tried but got tired and had to leave the field early in the second half.
Mark Albrighton, Shinji Okazaki and Rachid Ghezzal were all given the chance from the bench without being able to impress, despite Shinji coming close and looks better and better. We should not write Shinji off completely, he is lively and a treat inside the box.
Ghezzal don’t really look like a team player and doing stuff for himself, overlooking Ben Chilwell on an overlap late in the 2nd half and shooting from long distance, bad judgement from the Algerian international. You must address the fact that Harvey Barnes is playing at a much better level with West Bromwich at the moment, and could be a solution for Puel in January, with so much sloppy play on the flanks, especially from Gray and Ghezzal.
The run of games without a loss stopped against Spurs who scored their 2nd from a Dele Alli header, and again Claude Puel had to see his side defeated at home, with a mix of bad player changes and a system error, and of course without Vardy and Maguire, who would believe that Leicester City would defeat Tottenham Hotspur, few or just the most unrealistic Leicester City fans out there. A draw would have been a result from heaven.
If you like to read more from the game, look here, and to sum it all up, just continue for the positives and negatives, player ratings and match stats
- Positives:
- A good start, with a number of good combinations
- Keeping a bit of pressure and getting six corners
- Leicester City fans doing their best to help the team
- Schmeichel and Morgan taking responsibility and trying their best
- Iborra playing a good first half, keeping the midfield balanced
- Maddison trying from a difficult position
- Creating enough to be able to score a goal
- Negatives:
- The use of Kelechi Iheanacho, looking totally lost
- Gray needs to step up and be more accurate in everything he does
- Ghezzal exposed defensively, bad judgement offensively
- Chilwell needs to address his passes better in front of goal
- Three yellow cards, Mendy, Albrighton and Gray
- Too many changes and vital system errors by Puel
- Player Ratings: Schmeichel 6. Pereira 7, Chilwell 7, Evans 6, Morgan 7, Ndidi 6, Mendy 5, Gray 6, Iborra 6, Maddison 6, Iheanacho 4, Subs: Albrighton, Okazaki, Ghezzal
Match Stats: H/A
- Possession: 40 / 60
- Corners: 6 / 5
- Shots on target: 3 / 1
- Shots wide: 5 / 3
- Fouls: 11 / 7
- Offsides: 3 / 1
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