How would you fix Leicester City’s defence?
For me, we have to go back to playing people in their best positions. Having Thomas and Ndidi in a back three at one point against Brighton was absurd. It also seems baffling that we have Cags sitting on the bench, potentially on his way out, when I'd say he's comfortably the second best centre-back in the club.
So, starting point would be a centre-back pairing of Evans and Soyuncu. Castagne absolutely has to be one of the full-backs and then take your pick between JJ or Thomas, both of whom are struggling enormously.
We are so easy to play through at the moment – in my view, as a result of Ndidi being asked to do a job that is so far removed from what he's best at. Get him in front of the back four winning the ball and simply giving it to Youri. Let's not ask him to be a playmaker, a centre-back, pressing high up the pitch, or whatever else Brendan has had him doing. He was arguably one of the top players in the league in his position not long ago – let's get him back doing what he's comfortable doing.
Finally, the goalkeeper. Ward looks so uncomfortable and edgy in everything he does, and that sets the tone for the rest of the team. Spending your life on the bench can't help that. By contrast, Iversen played very well in a full season in the Championship last year and had a good pre-season with us. He'll still be a gamble, don't get me wrong, but he surely can't be worse than Ward? Remember when people thought we'd be better off without Kasper just because he kicked the ball out of play all the time…
Chloe Dexter
It may sound a bit simplistic and facetious, but it'd be a good start if we actually started playing defenders, and in their proper positions.
Amartey is a capable stand-in, but as much as we like to sing songs about him, he isn't really a centre-back. Yes, I may have suggested the alternative option of Ndidi as a centre-back a few weeks ago, but when he does we clearly lack his bite in the middle. Hopefully Wout Faes' visa issues will be sorted soon and he'll be in to fill that gap shortly.
The absence of Soyuncu is one of Rodgers' biggest errors of judgement so far this season, but at least makes a bit of sense if he's off to Galatasaray. Castagne's omission at the weekend, however, verged on the criminal.
But we were told by Celtic fans before he joined that Rodgers doesn't know how to set up a defence. I don't think we can now be that surprised that Schmeichel has gone and we've fallen to pot.
Ryan Hubbard
I'd stop playing Ndidi at centre-back for a start. How can you expect players to perform when they are playing in positions they aren't familiar with? You may as well put Harvey Barnes at left-back or Danny Ward as a striker. Having said that, he'd probably do a better job there than in goal.
I'd give Daniel Iversen a chance against Aston Villa. Alarm bells were already ringing for me when our club captain departed after 11 years of service, especially when we didn't even look to replace him. This decision has ultimately left us with three senior goalkeepers in Ward, Iversen and Smithies, all of whom are Championship standard.
With Caglar Soyuncu supposedly on his way out, I would try to stop this from happening. If any centre-back is departing, it should be Jannick Vestergaard or Daniel Amartey (preferably both). Sadly, with Rodgers still at the helm, this seems unlikely. Ideally, Soyuncu, Evans and Faes would fight it out for the two starting spots, with Castagne at right-back and Justin/Thomas competing for the left-back spot.
Dante Clarke
There's no easy fix, and while Faes should be an upgrade over Amartey/Ndidi, the defensive problems run a lot deeper. There are three key areas in my view:
1) System: we have jumped between numerous formations in an attempt to find our rhythm for well over a year now. Defensively, I don't think we have the quality or nous to play a back three, and casting my mind way back, I think we have played our best football with a back four.
2) Personnel: Rodgers has allowed personal matters to influence his team selection, which results in our best available players (such as Soyuncu and Castagne) being dropped. Without knowing the full details, we know that a big part of a manager's job is to galvanise their squad and manage individual personalities and situations. He has failed here, which has no doubt led to a divided and unhappy dressing room beyond repair under this manager. He also needs to make bold calls while he's still in the job, and dropping Ward for Iversen should be the next one.
3) Confidence: our defensive weaknesses cause problems further up the pitch, as the rest of the team become overly conscious of losing the ball and conceding chances. The recurring theme of our building phase is back and forth passing between defenders until we make a mistake or resort to lumping it long, which is not only incredibly boring, but is easy to press and force errors. Call me cynical, but I think the players are fed up with how they're being asked to play, especially when the result is an average of 2.67 goals conceded per game (this season). How can a team play with confidence when the plan hasn't worked for this length of time?
Ultimately, all of these issues come down to a combination of coaching, individual player management, and tactical setup. Rodgers and his team are failing at all of them, and the players are not to blame.
Matt Jedruch
The answer to this is probably the same as the only possible solution for a lot of our problems at the moment: sack Rodgers.
We haven’t always had a bad defence under him, but he doesn’t appear able to go back to basics and organise a defence while the team is off-form (to say the least, not to mention the whole club being in crisis mode). I think a lot of managers in his current situation would focus on getting the clean sheet and try to build from there. I don’t think he’s capable of that.
Have we got the players to even do that? Well, another manager may have got the best from some of our current defenders. More than that, you’d like to think most managers wouldn’t be sniping at their own players to the press and undermining the team and the club in the process.
If we’re talking quick fix for the weekend, I have no idea why Rodgers has taken Castagne out of the starting lineup, but he’d be back in. Meanwhile, as a lot of people are saying, we have to hope Faes hits the ground running. No pressure and all that. The whole landscape around the club feels flat at the moment, so it feels apt to put our faith in a couple of Belgians.
David Bevan
As it's the fans' fault we're in this mess (apparently), I think it's only right I offer a way forward for the defence…
Firstly, I'm afraid Ward has to be replaced. Too many goals have been conceded for a goalkeeper to keep his place, and I really feel it'd be detrimental for him to stay in the firing line. Iversen did the whole of pre season, on the pitch and the training ground, so I felt it was tough on him to miss out anyway.
Secondly, we need to bin this inverted full-back nonsense. We need to get back to basics – they need to get in position alongside the centre-backs and track runners. Castagne surely has to return.
Finally, Faes needs to be bargain of the century and new Virgil van Dijk...
Iain Wright
Personally, and perhaps it's just me, but I would stop being stubborn (or carrying a chip) and pick the best defenders to make up a solid backline for the first time this season. Soyuncu couldn't even make the bench this week – maybe it's just because a loan move is on the horizon and Faes can come in soon, but one can only imagine that he has seriously crossed Rodgers to have been so on the fringe and publicly criticised.
I like Thomas – he and Barnes link up well – but two starts in a week highlighted his naivety and lack of match fitness. Justin is probably our best fit left-back and Castagne is comfortably our best right-back, but we've been happy to play one in his other position and bench the other? Oh, and I've not even mentioned insisting on playing Ndidi at centre-back. Make it make sense, please?
Given Ward's start to the season and several less-than-convincing moments, I'd also be giving Iversen a start. Something has to change, and after having the nerve to yell at his team-mate for what should have been a simple backpass that he misfit, Ward has more than earned himself a start on the bench for me.
Helen Nutter
