The Fosse Way

The relentless nature of the Championship means the turnaround between games is minimal. Good news for a quick chance to redeem yourselves, not great for smaller squads and aging players who struggle to play consecutive games. 

Or for fans if your team just put in an absolute drab performance and you have to motivate yourself to put on a positive face and ‘go again’. After a truly horrendous second half display against Bristol City in midweek, Marti Cifuentes and his side had just a couple of days to look at what went wrong and fix it.

Home games have been a cauldron of toxicity and nerves for most of the campaign. Leicester would need to start fast and strong. Ipswich, the visitors, have been steadily improving as you’d expect with their squad and started the day in the playoffs. 

After a groin issue during that game, Jordan James was thankfully fit enough to start, sparing Cifuentes from having to decide whether to restore Harry Winks or Boubakary Soumare to the squad. Both remain firmly out in the cold as the January transfer window approaches.

Having been subject to the usual midweek bench warning, Ricardo was restored to the starting lineup. Hamza Choudhury made way for the captain but otherwise, it was an unchanged side.

Ipswich’s squad is impressive on paper. Their bench alone contained more attacking players and creative output than ours as well as two former Foxes, George Hirst who started and Kasey McAteer on the bench. 

Leicester City were in desperate need to show that they can put in a complete 90 minute performance, instead of being good for 45 minutes and then having to weather a full on assault for the other half yet again. 

The home side started brightly, pressing and closing Ipswich down. Kieran McKenna’s side looked a little sluggish and were forced into mistakes. The first allowed Luke Thomas to first win the ball in our half and later, after most of our forward players had touched the ball, to claim the easiest assist. He passed to Bobby De Cordova-Reid who surprised more than a few people when his 30-yard effort sailed into the back of the net with only eight minutes played. There was a minor deflection to wrong foot the goalkeeper, but it was a fine effort.

De Cordova-Reid’s impact can’t be overlooked, this effort made it three goals in three games. We’re a better side with him playing in behind the striker. It complements the roles that Skipp and James play and provides support to Mavididi, Fatawu as well as Ayew. He might struggle to play consecutive ninety minutes, but that’s a reflection on his efforts and the ground he covers. 

The early goal helped set the tone for the rest of the first half. There was a lot of sustained Leicester pressure, but it took a special moment from Fatawu to double the advantage. Ipswich didn’t threaten much, a couple of defensive lapses left dangerous players in space but their passing and final touches let them down. Jack Clarke will rue his chance that Jakub Stolarczyk fumbled and recovered but the Foxes were in control for the best part of the game. Adding a third in the second half and seeing out the win despite conceding to add some tension back into the affair. 

On a day where the crypto-overlords were replaced as the shirt sponsor to promote the Leicester Hospital Charities and raise funds, you can bid to win a match worn shirt, the King Power crowd were in good form, happy to reward the team’s effort and energy with a lot of chanting and some wild celebrations for the Fatawu goal. There were some nerves after the Ipswich goal, and a portion where we lost control of the game, but the side saw it through to deliver the first home win since August 29th. . 

Fan interest didn’t waver from the game itself for a change, but there were two ironic adverts bordering the pitch for the eagle-eyed. One for ‘stop loan sharks’ (we’ll ignore our dealings with football club loan darlings, Maquarie, then) and the ‘got a leak?’ that only appeared after Ipswich had scored. 

There were newer chants to try and celebrate Ben Nelson and Oliver Skipp, alongside a particularly rapturous rendition of Jordan James’ song and a lot of the Fatawu chant, boosted by the club blasting out the song at full time. It was deserved for his part in the win.

Abdul delivers goal of the season

The goal of the season award’s already being boxed up. That’s what he does. Abdul Fatawu, that is, we saw absolutely no evidence of George Hirst getting even close to pulling off his own Tom Cannon-esque goal celebration. Abdul was the star of the Leicester show.

When Fatawu found himself on the receiving end to intercept a sloppy pass from Ipswich and nutmegged Jack Taylor, many might have gasped when he then immediately took a shot from inside the Leicester half. But Christian Walton was far from his net and as soon as the ball took a bounce, it was only going one place. Fatawu led a full team celebration to that end as the home fans erupted.

Credit to the club’s social media team who were quick to put up the footage of when Fatawu tried a similar effort earlier this season, away at Swansea. The crossbar denied his effort and when Daka raced to get to the rebound, their goalkeeper made a fine save. No such luck for Ipswich’s Walton who was caught entirely off guard and horribly out of position. Not the clip he’ll want his 100th game for Ipswich to be remembered by.

When a team keeps suffering from 45 minute challenges, there’s narratives you can look for or read into. But Fatawu hasn’t looked like himself lately, certainly not as carefree or enjoying the game as much. He struggled defensively against Bristol and looked frustrated when substituted. He’s not celebrated his last couple of goals in previous matches.

Leicester had an over reliance on him early in this campaign. He fell into a cycle of trying almost too hard when we were struggling and has been frustrated by the fan response after some of the less positive results. His confidence perhaps dipped in line with the general team’s.

He’d had an earlier chance to get on the score sheet, a free kick that forced a save. He also played his role in the third goal, pushing Leif Davis to the touchline before the defender went down in a bid to get a free kick. That freed up Ricardo to grab the ball and slide it into the box for Jordan Ayew to slot home. 

But getting a goal the way he did was much more special. It feels huge as both a moment for him but for the wider joy and talking points it brings to the team and fans. The goal is already trending on social media and there’s already mentions of a Puskas. You’re not going to see a better goal or technique this weekend. Maybe even this month.

An energetic and committed display 

The easy choice today for man of the match would have been to lean towards the goals and therefore Fatawu. The score apps had Ricardo and De Cordova-Reid rated very highly, but for nullifying the Ipswich threat and for general efforts, it’s also hard to overlook Skipp and James again. 

Skipp was superb against Derby, excellent in the first half at Bristol and no more at fault for the second half than anybody else. His commitment and getting involved everywhere was brilliant again against Ipswich. It’s exactly the kind of display Leicester fans hoped and expected when he was signed.

He and James make a really convincing midfield partnership and they ran the show. They look like a pairing that have played together for longer, keenly able to track and predict where the other will be. This seamless duo was disrupted somewhat when De Cordova-Reid went off and James had to move into the ten role again. Skipp has won over the Leicester crowd and cries of ‘sign him up’ for James show how important he’s already become.

Defensively, it was another good game from both Ben Nelson and Jannik Vestergaard. There’s something visually pleasing, and reassuring, about watching Nelson. His composure, coupled with some quick thinking made this another commanding performance. A couple of his passes were lovely and he was smart in one moment of defensive chaos, putting a big header in to just clear the ball. 

Vestergaard is one of the last men standing from who may still divide fan opinion but he was good, one block in particular stood out. He has the experience and nous to complement Nelson’s age and learning curve. He also looked committed to the cause again.

Harry Souttar returning to fitness should provide a challenge to Vestergaard and another partner for Nelson that should work well, but the youngster should remain one of the first names on the team sheet.

After struggling in a couple of games, this was a welcome return back to the expected level from Ricardo too. Once Choudhury was on the pitch, the two swapped roles at times, Ricardo surging forward and Choudhury doing the slow down the ball and just play it safe approach that he performed at right-back with Sheffield United last season.

There have been performances that stand out for various reasons, but this was possibly our best overall performance of the season. It wasn’t flawless, and our inability to keep a clean sheet remains on the list of things to fix, but this was a fine team effort and it’s hard to pick out many players who put a foot wrong.

What’s a clean sheet?

A two goal lead by half time at home should feel at least partially comfortable. But this Leicester City side have only managed three clean sheets all season and none in the last fourteen before Ipswich. Knowing that one of those clean sheets came against league leaders, scoring for fun, Coventry is equally a head scratcher. Did we defend superbly or were they having a quiet day? Perhaps a little of both.

Earlier in the season this problem was further compounded by how few shots we were creating and how few goals we were putting away. But even having improved that, the policy of trying to outscore your opposition is a risky one. The number of goals we concede is problem one, the bigger issue is the nature of the goals we’re conceding. 

There’s the occasional superb strike, see Nathan Broadhead for Wrexham and Sydie Peck for Sheffield United. But then there’s the Tom Cannon goal, a comedy of errors and the two Bristol City goals reflected poorly on our defensive or goalkeeping efforts. 

Jens Cajuste’s goal gets funnier with each replay. Not the good kind of funny but the laugh because otherwise you’re crying or wanting to throw things at the players. It was an entirely preventable goal again. All Stolarczyk had to do was make a convincing pass out to Skipp, or to have gone long or picked a target who didn’t have Ipswich players directly next to him. But it highlights the exact lapse of concentration, momentary or not, that has hurt Leicester on multiple occasions this season. 

It’s not a great look for Stolarczyk in the number one shirt either. For goalkeepers, it’s a modern day requirement to be good with your foot and it’s why the likes of Daniel Iversen (making great saves every game at Preston) weren’t seen as successors within the club. But Stolarczyk isn’t as great with the ball at his feet as you’d expect. Last weekend there could have been an argument to say he was coming back from injury and a bit of rust is expected. A week later and it’s less of an excuse.

He was almost caught out a couple of times in the first half due to a lack of communication that saw both Nelson and Vestergaard go for a ball he seemed to want, but hadn’t called. There’s no need to pull the panic switch and go straight back to Asmir Begovic, since Fran Vieites isn’t getting a shot anytime soon, but there’s improvements to be made for Stolarczyk.

Putting in a performance that held up for 75 minutes of a game is a step forward for the side though. Scoring three goals again from three different players is a huge positive. The quality we saw in certain passages of play was exciting and full of energy and speed.

In this starting eleven there are multiple players to get behind and they look like they’re all working for each other. That’s reflected in the patience and encouragement shown by the crowd. If we could just stop conceding so frequently and cut out the silly mistakes, we’d have something to really build on. 

That’s seven points from the last three games, two of those away from home, with eight goals scored. Creativity and goal scoring woes have been reduced. It’s a much more positive picture for Cifuentes. It’s taken him until mid December but by shuffling the deck, players freezing themselves out and injuries, he’s found his best eleven. Fitness could be questioned, given we have to rotate a bit in midweek games, but for the majority of this match, everybody looked sharp.

You could argue that Derby, Bristol City and Ipswich all underperformed in either one half or for the majority of the game (for Ipswich) but you can only beat the side in front of you and not throw them too many lifelines. Surviving the numerous substitutes Ipswich had to throw at a Leicester side who’d had a brain freeze and gifted them a goal felt impressive. Regaining the control we’d temporarily surrendered also counts. As does the whole team celebrating the Fatawu goal. 

The win takes Leicester into 8th, three points off the playoffs. Seemingly whatever result we get, whatever position we’re in, it’s three points off the playoffs (point deduction notwithstanding). A visit to Loftus Road to see Cifuentes’ old employers is up next.