Ramsdale 5 - Thought he was at fault for the first goal, and looked very shaky on the ball. Counted at least 3 times where Vardy almost nicked the ball off him.
Smith 6 - Good going forward and reasonably solid at the back, a step up from recent games. We became much worse when he went off.
Mepham 5 - Mistakes that lead to two goals, but some decent play apart from this. Uncertain partnership with Cook.
Cook 4 - Mistakes that led to two goals. Very slow and lethargic performance, doesn't look fit and looks considerably worse alongside Mepham instead of Ake. Probably needs a rest to get over his long-running groin issue.
Ake 5 - Not a left back; performed admirably but too slow and positioning was a bit wonky. Decent offensive contributions.
H. Wilson 4 - Did nothing of note whatsoever. May seem harsh but if your creative players aren't creating then they may as well not be there. Not indicative of his quality as a player, just one of many who was a bit flat.
Lerma 7 (MOM) - Typically classy performance for most of the game. Good range of passing and tackling, bull**** booking took some of the bite out of his game.
Billing 5 - A few good moments, but a very erratic performance. Didn't protect the defence well enough and always a decent bet for a sending off. Is 3 in the middle still needed?
Fraser 5 - Other than the assist, a ponderous display. Incapable of taking his man on and seems to have forgotten how quick he is. No tracking back either, left Ake on his own in an unfamiliar role.
King 5 - Nothing's coming off for him atm, lack of quality with the final ball and didn't trouble the defence whatsoever. A few decent runs from deep.
Wilson 6 - Well taken goal, but a similar story to King. Far too static, doesn't create many chances for himself. A refresh is needed to get the best out of him.
Ibe 4 - Very poor cameo. Confidence is shot, he gave the ball away too much and his dribbles never come off. Showed a willingness to track back at least.
Solanke 5 - Added some endeavor, but just doesn't trouble the defence enough. Did a decent shot(!).
Surman N/A - Nothing to say. Flavourless performance and an admission of defeat from EH in the last 15. Unfortunately we had no one else to come on in midfield or attack. Where's Kilkenny??
A few comments on and takeaways from the game:
- First half was not a bad performance by any means, away against a very good team at full strength. Unlucky to be behind in the first 45 and we looked reasonably dangerous on the break.
- I thought Leicester in the first half were very lackadaisical at the back, losing the ball cheaply quite a few times, and the Bournemouth of this time last season would have put them to the sword. At the moment our attackers look they've never played together, barring the goal which was a great bit of play.
- First time this season that our defence as a unit has looked bad, which is down to several factors:
- Moving our best CB to a position he is not comfortable playing.
- Disrupting our best CB pairing of Cook and Ake.
- Cook looking fairly unfit (ongoing groin injury well documented)
- Unfamiliar partnership of Mepham/Cook often caught out by simple plays.
- A fairly nervy performance by Ramsdale.
- VAR is an absolute shambles, and seems to exist only to disallow goals rather than to rectify refereeing errors. I've always felt that it would lead to more uncertain performances from the referees (as they can simply "rely" on the cameras), and it showed. A red card given is a completely different game and probably at least a draw. The referee in general was awful as well, which didn't help.
- Every team does it, but the "defensive dives" from Leicester really pissed me off throughout. Not a knock against them, as like I said everyone does it, but I was hoping VAR would cut down on these this season.
- Second half performance was pretty terrible, and is the worst we've looked this season by far. Our lack of options from the bench from injuries is starting to show; if we don't get it right in the first half, we are unlikely to be able to turn it around. Bringing on Surman in the last 15 is indicative of this. Surely Kilkenny is worth a token spot on the bench, as a bit of a wildcard?
- I'm not entirely convinced by the duo of Lerma and Billing; while they've both been largely excellent this season, it's a very defensive partnership, and we are desperately missing a third body to come inside and add a Brooksish spark to our attacks. There is a distinct gap between attack and midfield atm (especially with 3 at the back), which the likes of H. Wilson and Fraser should be plugging, but aren't. This isn't a criticism of Lerma and Billing as they haven't really put a foot wrong, more of the players around them tbh. This should hopefully improve once Cook returns, which should give us more tactical options.
- Ramsdale has been solid so far, hasn't lost us points but hasn't really gained us any points either. With Travers performance vs Forest Green, the competition for the No1 shirt could start hotting up fairly soon. We've seen from his time at Wimbledon that Ramsdale can save games on his own, and he's still adapting to this league. Hopefully he stays in for now and gets to show us how good he really is.
- I don't want to see Ake play left back ever again. We have Stacey and Rico sat on their bench twiddling their thumbs, while our best ever player is being tormented by Marc fucking Albrighton. With Smith potentially out now as well, it's time to give Rico a run of games to prove himself, and see if Stacey is up to the Premier League. I have high hopes for both. If we end up seeing a back 3 after the break with Fraser and Ibe as the wingbacks, I'm going to be so disappointed. Back 3 isn't working this season; stick to a back 4 and trust your fullbacks Eddie!
- All of our forwards seem to have lost the clinical edge of last season, and are not linking up well at all so far this season. This is exemplified by the 25+ shots versus Forest Green which resulted in a 0-0- and that was with us actually creating chances. If we're not creating any chances, then what hope do we have of outscoring the opposition, when our strikers are incapable of creating concrete chances for themselves?
- This game was a bit of a write-off in hindsight, as I believe the situation with our injuries at that time was looking particularly grave. Our only options off of the bench were Ibe and Solanke. Within the context of the game I thought we could have done a lot better, especially based on the first half, but there's really no shame in losing away to a good side like Leicester when almost a third of our squad is MIA.
- International break couldn't have come at a better time. Hopefully we'll be seeing the returns of Lewis Cook, Stanislas, Danjuma, Kelly and a fully refreshed Steve Cook. Adding the first 3 alone back into the 18 will give me so much more confidence for future games and our ability to turn games around.