Top four underdogs but City have beaten the odds before
CITY ANALYSIS
HARRY Maguire wouldn’t have done it. That’s probably the most damning criticism that can be given of Caglar Soyuncu’s foolish, petulant kick-out at Callum Wilson.
For so much of this season, Leicester City have been praised for their forethought, their organisation, and their transfer dealings. They sold the world’s most expensive defender, they didn’t buy a replacement, and yet they improved. They were sitting above Manchester United despite spending half the amount on player wages.
In the first half of the season, City were the model of a smart club, United were considered to be in a mess, and plenty of the comparisons centred on Soyuncu v Maguire.
City’s form plummeted, United signed Bruno Fernandes and, since January, the two clubs have been on a collision course for the final game of the season, when they meet at the King Power Stadium in what was earmarked as a potential Champions League play-off.
Now, Soyuncu won’t be playing in it. The Turk is suspended for the rest of the season and the finale fans would have wanted – Soyuncu powering in a last-minute header to beat the Red Devils – is no longer possible.
The rashness in his game is what prompted City to look for a replacement when they sold Maguire last summer, but his confidence on the ball and defensive robustness prompted City to stick with him when price tags for targets were found to be too expensive.
Soyuncu had shown a growing maturity next to Jonny Evans with moments of recklessness few and far between, and for the first hour against Bournemouth, he bullied his
JOY AND DESPAIR: Bournemouth celebrate after Jonny Evans’ own goal makes it 3-1 opponents and made wise decisions. Then, in one mindless act, he showed he still has much to learn.
Despite the cost of their most recent transfers, there is not £63 million between Maguire and Soyuncu.
But Maguire has a cool head – he would not have been given the United armband otherwise – and if that was him in Soyuncu’s situation, he would have picked himself out of the net and tried to help City overcome a 2-1 deficit, which given how poor Bournemouth were, was achievable.
Soyuncu’s apology was contrite. Let’s hope this was the moment he learned his lesson.
CITY’S mental fortitude has been praised this season, and rightly so.
No side has scored more goals in the final 10 minutes of games and they have the second-best record in the division when conceding the first goal, behind only Liverpool.
They have shown they do not let setbacks knock them, and have shown they fight to the end.
Neither of those statements were true at Bournemouth.
Why? Maybe the pressure of seeing their top-cushion chipped away to nothing finally told, and they cracked.
Maybe conceding twice and seeing a man sent off in the space of a few minutes was too many quickfire blows to cope with.
Maybe there is something in the Dorset air that prevents City from winning at Bournemouth.
Not since the collapse in the 5-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in 2017-18, also four games from the end of the season, have City imploded quite like that.
Even one goal down with 10 men and 20 minutes to go, they had half a chance of taking something. But they capitulated.
The optimistic take is that City have cleared their systems with such an embarrassing meltdown.
The pessimistic view is that the second half will hang over City for the final three games of the season.
In 2017-18, after the humiliation at Selhurst Park, City took three points from their final three matches.
They need more than that this time.
ONE of the success of City’s season has been Rodgers’ astuteness at substitutions. They have scored 17 goals this season that were either netted or assisted by a man off the bench, including five of the first six since the restart.
It shows Rodgers has brought on the right players at the right time, and has cultivated an attitude that brings out the best in his replacements.
But he got it wrong at the Vitality Stadium. At half-time, Kelechi Iheanacho was replaced by Dennis Praet, a striker for a midfielder.
Rodgers explained afterwards that the change was a tactical one. He wanted to give Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi support in midfield with Bournemouth finding joy on the flanks. He added that Iheanacho wasn’t having one of his better games.
But in the first half, the Cherries had had one shot – from a move through the centre of the pitch – and had taken one touch inside City’s box. Meanwhile, Iheanacho had made dangerous runs, linked play well and played a key role in Jamie Vardy’s opener.
It’s what Rodgers is paid to do, but in making the change, he had spotted something that nobody else had seen. City were dominating and Bournemouth were dismal – changes weren’t required.
It could have been a nervous substitution. Rodgers will have known that this was the most winnable of City’s remaining fixtures, and he may have been anticipating a Bournemouth fightback before there was even an inkling of one.
It may have been that he was trying to be too clever. Maybe he was thinking too many moves ahead in a game of tactical chess. Maybe he wanted to be seen to be doing something.
It was a change that did not make sense at the time, and made even less sense 45 minutes later.
AFTER all that, it’s still in City’s hands. If they win their final three games, they are in the Champions League. Three victories seems like a lot right now, but they won eight in a row not so long ago.
The run-in is tough, with Sheffield United, Spurs, and Manchester United to play, but they have already beaten two of those, and only lost to the other because of a penalty.
If they complete the job now, given their form and their injuries, it would be an incredible achievement.
They are truly underdogs for a top four spot now. But they’ve succeeded as underdogs before.