Notts County 1-1 Leicester: Three players who shone & three who stunk
The (currently) King Power Club fell to a late draw against Notts County as Russell Martin's side were unable to gain real control over the fixture. Throughout, the home side intensely pressed the Foxes and drew out passing mistakes, but it was Jayden Joseph who found the net first with a well-worked team goal. They let it all slip with a possibly offside play when the entire team just froze, ignoring that the whistle was not going to blow it offside.
Nevertheless, I think we saw enough to judge some players as game changers who performed excellently for most of the match, and a few who were too inconsistent to put our faith in. An honourable bad mention to Alex McCarthy early in the match, who almost cost us a goal by being too slow to clear the ball.
Three Players who Shone for Leicester
Martin's Blue Army attained almost 70% possession, but took five fewer shots than their opponents. That simple statistic illustrates that the Foxes were defensively incoherent and sloppy, and on the attack, unable to make possession translate into real chances. Those who performed well were the ones helping us gain, keep, and progress possession of the ball.
Harry Souttar should certainly start every game possible. When the opposition inevitably got through Leicester's midfield with a swift transition, Caleb Okoli and Souttar had a lot of work to do. What the towering Australian did well was to press at opportune times, putting in challenges to attackers, and at times taking on an important role in progressing the ball. Okoli was more active as the quicker of the two, yet Souttar offered decent positioning to take attackers wide.
When the ball was taken out wide in the first half, everything was flowing through Will Alves and Luke Thomas. Alves looks extremely bright, boasting all the flair and attacking intelligence Leicester City have been yearning for throughout the previous campaign. There are concerns about him being on the same wavelength as others, but with the right player supporting him from behind and proactive midfielders such as Liam Cullen and Sammy Braybrooke, we can look forward to creating more chances.
As much as Braybrooke alone deserves a spot on this list, I have to give a special mention to one of our substitutes for coming on and injecting a little bit of energy and passion into our step. Well, to be fair, that could describe three of them. Either way, Hamza Choudhury came on with 19 minutes of normal time left to go, won the majority of his duels, put in important challenges, did well to retain possession at times, and displayed creativity in passing the ball, especially in partnership with Tommy Watson.
I was extremely impressed with both Watson and Harry Howell. I would argue the starting XI needs a rejig for the next fixture to ensure we have a little more attacking intelligence and space exploitation throughout the game. Choudhury, Watson, Howell, Alves, Braybrooke, and Admir Bristric should be on at the same time.
Three Players who Stank
Poor defending at the back may concede us goals, but inconsistency and sloppiness will lose us matches. There are a few players who did really well in moments, but were unable to maintain their standards throughout the game, be that due to tired legs or the effective pressure from Notts County being too much for them.
Luke Thomas is chief amongst them. One moment the academy graduate is interplaying with Alves and Braybrooke with consideration and good positioning; the next he is under pressure, giving the ball away cheaply, misplacing passes, or not placing enough emphasis on a pass, thus conceding possession in dangerous areas. I would also contend that recovering the ball well from your own mistake does not really count for much: the left-back struggled to help cover Souttar, with Watson doing a better job at supporting the overworked defence than Thomas did.
I usually quite like Oliver Skipp: I feel the player's price tag is the only thing keeping him from being seen as the quality signing he is. However, without a midfield partner to bounce off, Skipp essentially had the old Wilfred Ndidi role. Expected to both win the ball, work well to cover the defence, and link up play from deep to retain possession, Skipp was massively overworked and completely out of his zone. One minute the midfielder is getting the ball forward to Braybrooke and Cullen, the next he is making a wayward, rash clearance under little pressure with players around for a quick pass. I was disappointed with his inability to stay involved in the match positively.
I do feel harsh for this one. Wes Burn was hardly involved in the match. This is probably the result of a poor tactical decision from the head coach, but a player with his experience should know when to track back and when to stay wide. Leicester played significantly better when Watson was on the left, and Alves replaced Burns on the right. We needed someone creative, and unfortunately Burns was not it. He did little to help win the ball, nothing to really progress the ball, and had sparing moments in the final third. I hope we see more of Burns, but he was ineffective and did not offer enough.
Oh, and a special mention to Bobby De Cordova-Reid. The player only looked good when playing as an effective false 9 and coming deep to get involved. Otherwise, the player missed what little chances he had and lacked the composure to be involved. Bristric should start next match; even Cullen would be better upfront.
Next up is a home game for the Foxes against Burton Albion. Russell Martin needs to make changes to the starting XI so as not to risk Leicester being so easily found out already. We need creativity, intelligence, passion, and energy; all things we lacked consistently against Notts County, although individuals showed promise.
