Damning statistic set play table - at Has City bottom of both ends of pitch
TALKING POINTS FROM A
BRENDAN Rodgers may feel it is only a recent problem, but the statistics are damning: Leicester City are dreadful at set-pieces and it is harming their chances of rising up the Premier League table.
City’s plodding start allowed Arsenal to control proceedings, but they still needed a corner to take the lead, Gabriel running across the near post and flicking a header in at the rear.
It was the second successive game that City had conceded from a corner, with Brighton also profiting in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
For some time now, the sight of an opposition player standing over a dead ball has prompted nerves among City fans. At the other end, the awarding of a corner or free-kick rarely musters excitement.
The numbers back up supporters’ feelings. This season, no side has conceded more shot attempts from dead balls and no side has had fewer shots from their own set-pieces.
In short, when it comes to setplays, City are the worst in the division, no matter which box they are in.
This is a continuation from last season. City conceded six more goals from set-pieces than they scored and only Manchester United and Sheffield United ranked worse.
To address their problem, United recruited Eric Ramsay in the summer to be a specialist setpiece coach.
Arsenal, who were scoring from a corner for the fourth game running, hired Nicolas Jover in the summer to be their set-play coach after he had worked with Manchester City for two years to make them among the best in the division.
The Gunners were already the best side defensively at set-pieces thanks to Andreas Georgson, a set-piece coach recruited by Mikel Arteta from Brentford for last season.
“It’s never been an issue for us in our time here,” Rodgers said on set-pieces, a surprising view given the difficulties of last season. However, he did acknowledge it is an issue now.
City’s combination of zonal and man-marking, with Gabriel running off Boubakary Soumare to leap clear of the static zonal markers, is not working.
They could do worse than follow their rivals and get a specialist in to help solve their woes.
Aaron Ramsdale may have stopped them progressing even above the base, but City had given themselves a mountain to climb with their start to the game.
There have been plenty of poor periods this campaign, but the first 20 minutes on Saturday may have been the worst of the lot.
Defensively, City gave Arsenal players the freedom to run through the middle of the pitch and attack the defence.
The pressing was so sporadic that if City did close down the ball carrier, two simple passes were all that was needed for the Gunners to continue on their merry way to the penalty area. If City are going to take an aggressive approach, every player needs to buy into it.
Jamie Vardy cannot close down Ramsdale, then spin around in exasperation to see none of his midfielders have pressed the player receiving the ball from the Gunners goalkeeper.
On the ball, there was so little movement, and such a tremendous gap between the midfielders and attackers, that City could barely reach Arsenal’s half, never mind their penalty box.
City’s record at home in the first half-hour of games now reads zero goals scored and four conceded. It is the worst in the division.
Bizarrely, City have scored early in their home Europa League and Carabao Cup ties this season, but they clearly need a way to harness that night-game energy and take it into Premier League fixtures.
Home matches are supposed to be easier. The roar of the crowd is supposed to help build momentum and heap pressure on the opposition. Right now, City are sucking the life out of the crowd early, when they really need to be giving supporters something to shout about.
It is common knowledge that Leicester City have long had a Wilfred Ndidi problem, in that they suffer considerably when he is not available.
Before this season, City had won just seven of the 24 Premier League games he had not played. Extrapolate that across a full season and City might just be surviving relegation.
Boubakary Soumare did a decent job of solving that problem over recent weeks. Ndidi had missed six games with a hamstring injury before Arsenal’s visit, and City had lost just one.
Soumare, who was particularly excellent against Spartak Moscow, received credit for that and there were even fans suggesting how Ndidi might not get back into the team.
But it is clear he will. Because
DISAPPOINTING AFTERNOON AT THE KING POWER STADIUM
more than ever he was missed against Arsenal, particularly during that first 20 minutes.
Ben White, Thomas Partey and Nuno Tavares were allowed to carry the ball through the centre of the pitch, City players unsure whose role it was to close them down, and Soumare nowhere to be seen.
Arsenal had just one more dribble forward on the ball than they did against Brighton at the start of the month, and yet collectively made 350 yards more ground.
If Ndidi was on the pitch, this does not happen. If there is danger, he spots it, and closes it down, rather than worrying about vacating a space.
There are benefits to having Soumare on the pitch. He is better at shielding the ball when in possession, he is a more composed passer, and can himself charge forward with the ball at his feet.
But Ndidi’s ability to halt attacks at source, and win the ball higher up the pitch, may be more valuable for City at the moment.
The 3-4-1-2 shape used to excellent effect against Manchester United and Spartak looked like it provided the balance City desperately needed.
That they were so much better when they dropped it against Arsenal and moved to a back four means an evaluation may be needed.
Not only do City need to get the balance right between attack and defence, but between passers and dribblers.
There are two routes to breaking down teams and getting the ball forward: by passing it between the lines, or carrying it past defenders.
Without wingers in Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman on the pitch, City are a very passfocused side.
In games like those against United and Spartak, where there was less pressure on the ballplayer, that is not a problem. The likes of Youri Tielemans, James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho, all very good passers of the
ball, had time to pick out their men and play it forward.
Against a more organised outfit like Arsenal, where Partey and Albert Sambi Lokonga are shutting down balls into Maddison and Iheanacho’s feet, City have problems.
They were not helped either that Ricardo Pereira, more of a dribbler, was replaced by Luke Thomas, more of a passer.
After a period of consistency in selection, City may all of a sudden need to tinker.
It is a result that shows City have not yet turned the corner fully, but there are still positives to take.
Despite what happened in the first 20 minutes, City’s heads did not drop and they were able to muster a valiant comeback, only prevented from scoring by one of the best-ever displays at the King Power Stadium by a visiting goalkeeper.
Beyond the unbelievable stop to keep out Maddison’s free-kick and Jonny Evans’ follow-up, he was out quickly to deny Lookman and Barnes in the second period, while Thomas, Vardy and Barnes all put other efforts from inside the box past the post.
As Rodgers said, if City had clawed it back to 2-2 with the chances they had, nobody would have batted an eye.
The changes worked, too. Rodgers’ substitutions tend to get criticised but the introduction of Barnes and Lookman made a significant difference to the flow of the game.
And despite City sitting in midtable, the fixtures do start to get a bit easier. In their next seven games, they play the two weakest – on paper – of their Europa League group opponents at home, while four of their five Premier League fixtures are against sides in the bottom half – Leeds, Watford, Southampton and Aston Villa, with pacesetters Chelsea sandwiched in between.
If the issues still remain after those games, then it may be time for concern.