Having found his best 11, Rodgers must keep rest of squad happy
JUST as Leicester City get close to a fully-fit squad, they look to have found their best line-up.
For the whole of the campaign so far, Brendan Rodgers has had to find solutions to solve injury crises.
It has required consistent rotation and players deputising in roles they’re not used to.
But as City entered the new year, they had just one unavailable player in Ricardo Pereira, and even he is back in training and nearing a return.
However, as these options have become available to Rodgers, he seems to have settled on an 11, fielding the same players in three of the last four games, against Spurs, Manchester United and now Newcastle.
Now, Rodgers has previously said he can’t possibly have a best 11 when the games come so thick and fast and you want to bring an intensity to each and every fixture.
But this 11 has a balance to it. In the most contested position, on the right flank, it is Marc Albrighton getting the nod, ahead of Ayoze Perez, Dennis Praet and Cengiz Under.
While James Maddison and Harvey Barnes bring the flair and technique, Albrighton balances that out with work-rate, commitment and flexibility.
The title-winning winger can operate as a wing-back should Rodgers want to switch to a back five at a moment’s notice, with James Justin also possessing the ability to play in a three-man central defence in that system.
Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans complement each other nicely with their skill sets, and they link well with James Maddison.
There are no obvious flaws within the shape, not defensively, other than at set-pieces.
But that in itself creates problems. Because, as mentioned, City now have a near fully-fit squad.
How does Caglar Soyuncu displace either Jonny Evans or Wesley Fofana?
How does Ricardo Pereira knock the in-form James Justin out of the team, especially when the former Luton has the ability to play in a back three?
City didn’t even have enough space on their nine-man bench for Hamza Choudhury, and he may now end up leaving on loan this month.
Having found a set-up that works, Rodgers now has to balance keeping his squad happy.
Another away win prompted more questions about City’s prospects for the season.
They are still in the top four, as they have been for nearly all of the season so far, and as they were for pretty much all of the last campaign, but for those vitally important last couple of weeks.
However, the top half is more tightly packed than in recent memory, and if the teams trailing City win their games in hand, Rodgers’ side would drop to sixth.
And as things stand, they are only six points clear of 10th.
For City, they need to take the approach they did in the title-winning season, just focusing on their upcoming fixture, blocking out everything else and ignoring the topsyturvy nature of the table.
If they get wrapped up in their position at this point, it may distract them from the task at hand.
But also playing in City’s favour is how Covid-19 is affecting the schedule.
Games are being called off more regularly now, but fortunately, City are yet to be affected.
That means, as things stand, they won’t be playing catch up during the season, having to squeeze in fixtures late in the campaign when they might be deep into a European or FA Cup run.
If they can stay healthy, and stay lucky, they can keep to their schedule as planned, and may benefit when other teams may be fatigued by having to play their games in hand.
The transfer window is open and the prospect of City business seems unlikely. But this is a good thing.
Firstly, it means that there are no glaring areas of the side to strengthen.
Last season, they were desperate for a centre-back, the year before, they needed a creative midfielder.
But this January, thanks to the excellent summer business, City have a deep, well-rounded squad with cover in every area.
That’s not to say Rodgers doesn’t want to bolster his squad, he will always improve.
However, he admits it will be difficult. And again, this is a promising sign.
These days, another team’s cast-offs are no longer good enough to improve City’s squad, and so the only players that are worth bringing in are those that are important to other clubs.
As you would expect, those players cost more, and likely too much for City in the current climate.
The targets on the recruitment team’s shortlist, if they are at the peak of their careers, are probably valued upwards of £20 million.
If a club has to pay that figure to improve its squad, it’s an indication that a team is being run very well, and that all is well on the pitch. want to