The Fosse Way

On a night when Abdul Fatawu lashed in another spectacular goal, Ricardo Pereira saluted the Kop after scoring Leicester’s late second and the entire team fought for every ball for the entire 104 minutes, we’d better get the negatives out of the way early doors.

Yes, this wasn’t the greatest performance. It was better than last weekend at Charlton, but there was again very little creativity and Birmingham were allowed too much of the ball without a consistent counter attacking threat from players more than capable of it.

And it’s true that while the visitors struggled to create clear chances, there were presentable opportunities for Kyogo Furuhashi, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Ethan Laird. Ricardo should have been sent off before his goal. And some of Leicester’s passing out from the back was iffy.

These things can all be improved.

Before the game, Marti Cifuentes said: “To see a team that is honest, that works hard even in the difficult times and plays for the badge is what we want as a solid foundation.”

Pair that with a couple of ludicrously good impact players in Abdul Fatawu and Jeremy Monga and those qualities of honesty, working hard and playing for the badge will be enough for Leicester to win games at this level.

Equally importantly, commitment to the cause is the route back to the kind of home atmosphere we know we can produce. Perhaps it depends where you’re situated within the ground – and the Friday night lights and early goal certainly helped – but there was a feral feeling at times last night.

Tackles were roared like they were goals, Jon Rudkin copped it in one particularly long and raucous rendition of just caring about LCFC and a Premier League title-winner was booed to the rafters.

Those loud jeers for Demarai Gray baffled not just another ex-Leicester man, the Birmingham manager Chris Davies, but quite a lot of Leicester fans. In fact, the split ran right down the corner between SK1 and G1 as the Kop largely booed and the East Stand largely applauded.

On this of all nights, many supporters remembered the shenanigans Gray pulled as he sought a way out of Leicester. We may have more of the same over the next couple of days from our current players as the window ticks down.

The timing of this game was tricky. It meant there was no Bilal El Khannouss as his mother continues to tout him around Europe while the club reportedly wait for Saudi cash to be mooted. It also meant Harry Winks remained on the bench throughout despite a clear need for more control in midfield. It meant no new faces, with incoming business being left until the last minute once the outgoings are clearer.

This left Cifuentes fielding a side that might not represent the eleven best players at the club, but did represent eleven players who would give those basic foundations of heart and fight.

That has never been the issue for the likes of Hamza Choudhury or Luke Thomas, but to get Bouba battling shows Cifuentes is having an impact on this squad.

Boubakary Soumare was superb, again backing up some pre-match Cifuentes quotes about his individual qualities. It may have read strangely at the time but at Championship level, Soumare should dominate most midfields. If he starts tracking runners and snuffing out danger as consistently as he did against Birmingham, that redemption arc will start to form.

Alongside Soumare, the much-maligned Oliver Skipp had a fine game too. Skipp, it seems, will never be the main man. He’s what the kids call an NPC. He’s the lost boy picked last on the playground, wandering around the edges of the game and trying to get involved. He supported Soumare well in blocking the passing lanes and breaking up play. You wouldn’t pay £20million for it but we did and sooner or later we have to move on from the fact because he’s not going anywhere else. Steady games like this are the only way for Skipp to shift the narrative.

If Soumare and Skipp want an example of how to shift the narrative then they only need to glance behind them at a man who’s done that more than anyone. We know that Jannik Vestergaard can be imperious in this division. He completely bossed the busy Kyogo, who was reduced to the role of minor irritant being swatted away by a giant.

There were other players worth a shout out: Jakub Stolarczyk deserved his clean sheet for a fine stop on the only occasion Birmingham tested him, Choudhury was defensively solid and, while he has his obvious flaws, Patson Daka injected some much-needed pace into Leicester’s late pressing.

But we have to talk about Abdul and Jeremy.

Close that window, in Abdul’s case anyway. Get it closed and let’s ensure we have at least a few more months of watching this wonderful footballer playing – and dancing – with the fox on his chest. What a talent and the absolute opposite of an NPC. He’s the main character now, especially with Jamie Vardy and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall gone since our last Championship campaign, and with Harry Winks on the sidelines.

This is a team that lacks natural leaders but Fatawu is growing into a responsible role, adding goals to what was already an impressive all-round offer. He hasn’t been consistently electric in the first four league matches but he has provided those game-changing moments that mean we’re joint top rather than mid-table. 

He’s the difference. He is the danger. At times, Birmingham swept four men across to deal with him after three of them couldn’t stop his goal. As this team improves, that’s going to leave more space for others. The potential is enormous.

But that’s going to mean signings. This team can challenge at the top. It’s transparently too weak in a couple of positions to translate that into the kind of swagger needed to be confident of automatic promotion.

We need a striker. It’s plain as day. Jordan Ayew isn’t one, and looks better when dropping deep. Patson Daka, for all his pace and pressing, has scored one goal in his last 44 games for club and country. We need something else.

We also need more creativity in midfield, which will involve either an arrival or the successful reintegration of El Khannouss if a move fails to materialise.

Thankfully, we do have some creativity to call upon as Monga reminded us last night. It was a wonderful end to an enjoyable, if not perfect, evening. We have one of the greatest 16-year-olds in world football. The boy is going to be a star. To watch him whip in a cross for our captain to drive into the net to seal the victory was satisfying.

The celebrations were special and the enduring image of the night was one of togetherness despite the turmoil.