To keep it rolling at Leicester they do need European football. The structure of the club is based on that platform, without they will struggle. As we have seen in the past good players will be sold and getting new once able to fill the gaps will of course be difficult if that continues year in and year out.
Another vital key is to score the obvious goals and not let everything come as a major surprise as we did see yesterday with the only goalscorer being Daniel Amartey. Jamie Vardy missing his penalty is also tragic as his goals are so important and would have settled a winning score.
After England missed penalties in the Euro’s by three subs, you had the same scenario yesterday. According to stats and studies done by Geir Jordet, from previous World Cup’s and Euro’s there are no evidence of any special reason why a penalty is missed, but that forwards tends to score more than defenders and midfielders from the penalty spot.
Embed from Getty ImagesLooking at Jamie Vardy’s penalty stats over the years, he has scored 21 goals in 28. The miss v. Spartak was his first in Europe, scoring from the penalty spot against AEK Athens last season, with two penalties taken. Going into his games and looking further you will find that he scored the goal v. AEK Athens early in the game being in the starting line-up, this time he was not.
Jamie did miss another one coming on from the bench v. Spurs back in 2019, so two of his penalty kicks was when he actually didn’t start, with four also missed when being in the starting eleven.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe key for Leicester is to win the obvious games and especially at home. Wins against opponents they are superior to is a key. Another major issue for Brendan Rodgers to address is the consentration level of the players and of course how he balances the situation regarding the system of the day and players used.
There are many games and there are pressure, and you don’t have an easy answer. But with the energy level we did see yesterday and no players really showing a bold approach, you get disappointed. Then to also miss a penalty really makes this a sad affair.
Jamie Vardy will score again from the penalty spot, but why he did what he did yesterday with such a poor shot and not just hammering the ball in the net, will not be easy explained. If analysis are done for him before the game and being shown where the goalkeeper goes in games might not have been highlighted as the goalkeeper was not a regular first team choice.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis was the first penalty of the season for Leicester, so that might also be a key. Kelechi Iheanacho did score from the penalty spot in the CS game v. Man City and secured the win, but today different.
Looking back at the penalty stats from previous seasons you have a great number of players who have taken them, Leo Ulloa, Riyad Mahrez, James Maddison, Jamie Vardy, Ayoze Perez, Demarai Gray and Youri Tielmans.
Youri Tielemans has scored on all three of his attempts with Jamie Vardy hitting as we did see 21 of a total of 27 penalties, which gives him a ratio of 78%, and maybe yesterday it would have been probably better to give Youri Tielemans the chance as he was part of the team for the full game, but of course all of us much wiser after the penalties are taken.
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