Brendan Rodgers did have a number of challenges before the game with as many as seven players absent but he could still field a strong team and on paper among the strongest we have seen this season, giving Jamie Vardy a start in Europa League and also a fresh Youri Tielemans back in action.
But again it was experiments and as we have said before fielding Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the team and just behind Jamie Vardy would not get the best out of James Maddison and in the end it all fell flat.
Brendan Rodgers and his Leicester team were very close to take the lead early on but instead just minutes after Napoli went in front after just 4 minutes play. The nightmare continued as the Leicester team stumbled to find their way and after 24 minutes Napoli was 2-0 up, everything looked very grim.
But in some way Leicester found their way back with a touch from Jamie Vardy the ball suddenly found Jonny Evans who scored from close range inside the Napoli penalty box.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis must have boosted confidence a bit as the Leicester team just pushed on for more and after 33 minutes with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s terrific volley it all was level and Leicester looked as strong as ever ending the 2nd half in a positive way.
Coming out 2nd half it was of course a positive atmosphere but as we have seen so many times it looked as if the opponent had used the break best as they found the net again after 53 minutes with a sharp finish from Elmas who had already scored the 2-0 goal and then put two behind Kasper Schmeichel.
Brendan Rodgers again missed in his team selection and he has no rythm to his team work at the moment, juggling players and systsems around like it was a bingo affair, and we would like to see something of a more solid pattern going forward as this performance was a misery to watch.
Embed from Getty ImagesJames Maddison had the opportunity to bring Leicester level but his shot from close range hit the post as Leicester again struggled to do find goals when it was most needed and settled their place in the next round, but it was not to be.
A number of changes were done towards the end bringing on Albrighton, Soumare and Daka, but it resulted in zero as Napoli controlled their lead.
After watching closely how Brendan Rodgers did give James Maddison time to progress in the role just behind the forward and again moving him wide to give space for another in form player Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall does not really help the team much as James Maddison in the role he played today just looks confused and you do not get the best out of him.
Understand that Brendan Rodgers would love to play Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall but sadly doing that you will not be able to play both Youri Tielemans and James Maddison in the same team, it does not look correct and you will be punished hard as we did see today.
Embed from Getty ImagesOf course a luxury problem to have players who are doing well, but moving maybe one of your key players out in a position he does not really fit in, you will get a bad result and can’t figure out why such an experienced manager decides to risk his positon with this type of management.
Leicester is not out of Europe and will compete further in the Conference League as their third place in the group stages made it possible to move into this tournement in the new year, we will hopefully see a better performance when these games appear.
- Positives
- Coming back after being 2-0 down
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scoring a great goal
- Negatives:
- Again not being 100% from start
- Sloppy defending and low pressure on the ball
- Bad coaching from Brendan Rodgers as his teams looks weaker and weaker
Player Ratings: Schmeichel 6, Castagne 6, Evans 6, Bertrand 4, Soyuncu 5, Dewsbury-Hall 7, Ndidi 5, Vardy 5, Barnes 6, Tielemans 4, Maddison 5, Subs: Albrighton, Soumare, Daka
Embed from Getty Images- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Match Stats (H/A):
- Possession: 47 / 53
- Corners: 3 / 5
- Shots on target: 5 / 6
- Fouls: 12 / 13
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