{"id":1238036,"date":"2021-12-15T15:40:13","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T15:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1238036"},"modified":"2021-12-16T19:04:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T19:04:33","slug":"leicester-city-season-defining-brendan-rodgers","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/leicester-city-season-defining-brendan-rodgers\/","title":{"rendered":"The next two weeks could define Leicester’s season (and the rest of Brendan Rodgers’ career)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are certain factors that may explain Leicester City\u2019s slow start to 2021\/22, but they must turn the tide now or risk their season truly unraveling and becoming one of mediocrity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the 23<\/span>rd<\/span> of May, in the driving East Midlands rain, having just seen his side blow a 2-1 lead with fifteen minutes to go, at home to a rudderless Tottenham side, and missing out on Champions League qualification on the final day of a second successive season, Brendan Rodgers cut a defiant figure. He made no excuses. He declined to comment on two contentious refereeing decisions. He just reflected on a successful season. “I have nothing but pride in the players,” he repeated twice, with that steely schoolmaster\u2019s glare.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And pride he certainly had. His Leicester City side had spent 567 days in the top four over two seasons. They had just won the FA Cup for the first time in their history, and were fresh off the back of a season in which they defeated each of the top four at least once. They had officially established themselves as a force. And they had done so from \u2013 the weirdness of 2016 aside \u2013 a standing start.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, whatever the soupy, sunset-backed google-image quotes might suggest, ‘resilience’ is no walk in the park. The mental energy that it takes to recover from abject disappointment is difficult to muster once. To do so twice is borderline Herculean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n

It is understandable then, that Leicester\u2019s season-to-date has been so underwhelming. What started slowly has failed to develop, and the stuttering form that has left them lurking in mid-table has now dumped them from the Europa League, into a competition that their manager was unaware even existed. In some sense, at least, this can be viewed as a natural consequence of the past two years. A hangover from those heady, heady days.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Football, however, is an unforgiving business. One that has little time for such sentiments, and demands concrete answers. If a team is struggling, the media and the fanbase want to know exactly what is going wrong, and what can be changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Leicester, the case clearly rests with the defence. Having conceded 40 goals in all competitions, and with the fifth-worst xGC (expected goals conceded) in the Premier League (24.84), it is fair to say they have issues. Exactly what those issues are, however, is not quite as simple to pin down.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There have been injuries, sure. Wesley Fofana\u2019s pre-season leg break was a huge loss, Jonny Evans\u2019 now-customary niggles have continued, and Jannik Vestergaard has struggled for fitness since his arrival. And there are also the much-publicised set-piece troubles. Only Crystal Palace (10) have conceded more than their nine set-piece goals, losing points to Southampton, Leeds United and Aston Villa by deadball scenarios in the last month alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, Rodgers\u2019 Leicester have seemingly always been in the grips of an injury crisis, with several key players missing swaths of last season. And they have always been ropey in the set-piece department \u2013 last term, only five clubs conceded more than their twelve set-piece goals. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, there is still a dip here, and yes, the injuries are a problem; but not that much has changed. Wilfred Ndidi is still doing Wilfred Ndidi things in front of the defence, with\u00a02.2<\/span> interceptions per 90 minutes, the most of any midfield regular (306+ minutes). C<\/span>aglar Soyuncu is still doing Caglar Soyuncu things, ranking second for possessions won in the defensive third (65), third for headed clearances (39) and seventh for passes (1,003) among defenders<\/span>. In many ways, the underlying numbers paint an image of this season\u2019s Leicester being more or less the same as last season\u2019s Leicester.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n