What should Dean Smith learn from Manchester City away?
Dean Smith’s Leicester tenure began with a classic game of two halves. What should be our new supremo’s big takeaway from opening day?
Overall, I thought it went about as well as could be expected. Even if we'd stayed in the game longer, they'd have kept Haaland and De Bruyne on the pitch and overwhelmed us eventually. As it was, their stars were withdrawn and we got to have a kickabout at the end to boost confidence a bit.
But it was still frustrating to see the kind of mistakes made by Ndidi and Dewsbury-Hall. The margin for those kind of errors has basically disappeared and we can't afford to field players who can't make simple passes or tackles.
It may have been a free hit as a club but hopefully it wasn't for individual players. The blueprint in terms of those individuals is pretty clear - particularly Soyuncu, Mendy and Iheanacho. I've previously advocated for the likes of Ndidi and Dewsbury-Hall, based on the need for height and stamina, but we just need to be better on the ball in midfield now and hopefully the back four has enough physicality to cope with any of the rough stuff.
The main thing Smith should have learned is a positive - that we do have the players to pull us clear of trouble, especially with Youri Tielemans returning to the side. The new management team just have to get the balance right between all sorts of things - defence and attack, chaos and calmness, risk and safety. If they do that, we have the quality to win our upcoming games and pull clear of danger.
David Bevan
Hopefully he's learnt the size of his task, but also the potential that this squad has if managed and utilised properly. Revitalising a team that has a sizeable number of players out of contract in less than three months and who've had it literally beaten into them that they lack quality won't be easy, but there was a glimmer of hope in that second half.
If Smith learnt one thing then I hope it's that Kelechi Iheanacho is too important to sit on the bench and that others who started in reserve, Nampalys Mendy and Dennis Praet, could be used more than his predecessor dared to. The second half lineup and approach was definitely more successful for us and if he can work on some of the decision making and help us be more clinical, you'd hope we could improve on scoring just the once.
We did seem to be more organised after the break and it was still Manchester City, which should count for something. Perhaps part of it is assimilating Soyuncu back into the mix, who did pretty well all things considered. I'm also hoping that Smith's aversion to leaving at least one man forward when defending a corner was also just Etihad-induced fear and that perhaps we can rectify this prolonged wrong against Wolves.
Helen Thompson
After the first half an hour, I think Dean Smith would have been fearing the worst like the rest of us.
Thankfully Man City eased off, but slow starts have become too frequent for us and is something we must arrest on Saturday in a must-win game against Wolves. What would have pleased him I think is that we didn't give up and kept plugging away towards the end and even created enough chances to possibly steal a point.
Caglar Soyuncu was solid on his return and is surely a better option than Dan Amartey, but Smith must take out Wilfred Ndidi and replace him with Nampalys Mendy for the visit of Wolves.
A return to a back four with a midfield of Mendy, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison with Harvey Barnes and Tete returning is surely the way to go on Saturday and sadly, I think Jamie Vardy is finished as a Premier League striker.
I'm still hoping there's a cameo for him off the bench at some point, but he simply can't start games as he doesn't give us enough pace in behind and I think Smith will revert to Kelechi Iheanacho after his decent display off the bench.
Jordan Halford
Given the strength of Manchester City there was never going to be a lot to learn from Saturday's game in a tactical sense. The key and clear lessons are based on personnel.
It took two thirds of the season for Rodgers to concede that Ward shouldn't be our first choice 'keeper. It took 31 games for a new manager to come in and realise that our survival is more important than bitter personal feuds which evidently weaken the team. We have learned the hard way that we can't persist with players who are simply not good enough.
The silver lining following our 25-minute, first half capitulation was that it forced Smith's hand at half time, with the introduction of Iheanacho. We have to acknowledge that it was an entirely different match at this point, with Man City using the second half as an early cool down exercise. Nevertheless, the opposition were still about as strong as we'll see for the remainder of the season, and Iheanacho could've had a hat-trick with a bit of luck and help from Maddison. It's fair to assume that this wouldn't have happened without the half time sub.
Coming to terms with the inevitable decline of your club's greatest ever player is harder than I imagined, but at this stage it's borderline negligence to keep starting Vardy ahead of Iheanacho.
Smith knew before taking the job that his key objectives would revolve around building the squad's confidence and introducing a new tactical approach. Now that the dust has settled and we have left the Etihad with our credibility and chances of survival just about intact, his next job is to settle on a XI which gives us the best chance of staying up. This has to include Iheanacho.
Matt Jedruch
Welcome to Leicester 2023 Dean Smith! I hope you've got a big notebook to write down everything that needs to be learned!
As detailed in The Fosse Way’s post match analysis, we showcased everything that has gone spectacularly wrong this season but also (almost cruelly for us fans!) some of the bits we can still get right. It looked like we'd be eviscerated in the first half but there was plenty in the second to whet the appetite for the remaining 7 games. I can't recall ever feeling so hopeful in a seemingly hopeless situation.
Two key lessons I think. The first is Iheanacho: Things happen (good and bad) when he plays, which is in total contrast to the emptiness of Vardy's performances this season. Maybe there will be a final goal somewhere along the line for the GOAT, but if there is, it's going to be off the bench. Pick Iheanacho in all 7 games.
Second, Ndidi: What on earth has happened to our former star player? Once a £50m asset, he's now an utter liability and was Man City's best player at the weekend. What is the point in a state-of-the-art training facility if it can't coach a player not to challenge in the box with arms flailing everywhere?
He must be pushing double figures for handball penalties conceded, which is ludicrous for an experienced player. Combine that with losing a 60/40 in midfield on Saturday, setting up Villa's winner a fortnight ago and a general disintegration of everything he used to offer, the conclusion has to be that Mendy comes into the team.
Smith and co have a full week now to go through the notebook. I’m looking forward to Saturday more than I have done in ages!
Iain Wright
