Investment affords Foxes the luxury of resting key players
CITY REVEAL STRENGTH IN DEPTH, BUT HOW MANY OF NEW-LOOK EUROPA LEAGUE LINE-UP WILL START TOMORROW?
BEFORE Thursday evening, Youri Tielemans had missed just 24 minutes of football for Leicester City in 2021, and 19 of those were in the Community Shield.
Such has been the club’s reliance on the Belgian midfielder’s qualities – his game intelligence, his vision, his control of possession – he has not been able to rest.
He had started all 35 matches this calendar year before the meeting with Napoli, while City’s talisman up front, Jamie Vardy, was left out for the first time in 27 matches, the striker playing every game since he returned from a hernia operation in February.
There has been a lot of pressure on the duo to perform at their best all the time – and Tielemans did come up trumps in the FA Cup final – but they are not going to be as effective if they are worn out.
After returning from his hernia surgery, Vardy scored from open play just twice in 21 matches during the final few months of last season. His role had changed slightly and he did a good job creating chances for Kelechi Iheanacho, but he lacked his usual sharpness in front of goal.
Tielemans, too, had games where he looked tired. But who can blame him when he played 1,000 more minutes than City’s next most-used outfield player, Vardy? And that’s before you consider the international commitments.
Over the summer, City invested in their squad, and for the first time on Thursday night, Brendan Rodgers took advantage of that.
If City fans were to name the club’s best 11 when every player is fit, it’s quite likely none of the five summer recruits would get a spot.
But their arrivals means City have a stronger group than they have ever had before, and so rotation like that on Thursday evening becomes easier for Rodgers, with five changes made.
The signings of Boubakary Soumare and Patson Daka in particular mean Tielemans and Vardy finally get breaks.
Soumare, while more of a NdidiTielemans hybrid than a like-for-like replacement for the Belgian, is a good mover on and off the ball, has terrific close control and knows the right passes to make. He came off to a standing ovation.
Daka, meanwhile, is lightning quick, and eager to get into the box at every point. He would have come off with a goal to his name if not for VAR.
The arrival of five summer recruits means City have a stronger group than they have ever had before
But the added bonus of their performances was that Tielemans got 45 minutes off – he still had to come on as a second-half substitute – while Vardy only played the final few moments.
Across the season, that impact will be felt and, hopefully, such an important duo will be fit and firing on their best form during the run-in.
Over the past two seasons, it has been the final few months that have prevented City from finishing in the Champions League places.
If they can use their deeper squad to better manage players’ gametime, they will give themselves a better chance of avoiding a drop in form at the point where seasons have previously turned into slogs.
However, the five players coming into the side will not want to see themselves as merely rotation options; they want to start regularly.
But will any of the quintet keep their places for Brighton on Sunday? Probably not.
Let’s start with the easier ones. Jonny Evans is struggling with injury again, and so is doubtful, while Ayoze Perez has the final game of his suspension and so is ineligible.
Daka is not yet ready to permanently poach Vardy’s spot, and while he spent a good portion of the game playing off the right, he looked a little uncomfortable there, meaning he is likely to drop back to the bench.
The two that have the best chance of featuring are Soumare and Iheanacho, and both would likely come in for the same player: James Maddison. If Rodgers wants a stronger midfield for the trip to the south coast, Soumare is an option, as he adds physicality alongside Ndidi, and also frees up Tielemans to get forward more.
If Rodgers wants more attacking quality, Iheanacho again proved on Thursday night he has it, slipping an excellent pass in to Harvey Barnes for the second goal.
But Maddison is somewhere in between, possessing both midfield and attacking attributes, even if they have not been shown to the fullest degree this season.
It may be that Rodgers returns to the side that faced Manchester City last weekend.
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