Going past eleven: The stats showing Leicester City’s squad and system strength
As the Championship heads into an international break, we take a look at the numbers proving the strength of Leicester City’s squad and system under Enzo Maresca.
When Leicester City's players lined up ahead of a second home game in four days, more faces had changed than stayed the same. Yet the result was almost identical. Two ultra-defensive away teams vanquished and barely an opportunity conceded, never mind a goal.
The impact made by the incoming players was another victory for the system and an argument that we have the squad strength to cope with every eventuality.
Jannik Vestergaard returned from suspension to rack up 180 successful passes from 189 attempts. You certainly couldn't tell that it was Harry Souttar's first league appearance of the season. Yunus Akgun, resembling a second tier Bernardo Silva more and more each game, brought a spark to the right wing.
Kelechi Iheanacho made his first-half finish from an acute angle look far more routine than it was. Cesare Casadei is clearly still adjusting to expectations but fought well for the ball in midfield and made numerous off-the-ball runs, especially in the first half, which helped create space for others. And while there were one or two occasions when Hamza Choudhury looked a little out of place in the hybrid left-back/centre-back role, he performed well overall and was the only Leicester player to make the official Championship Team of the Week.
Leeds fans seem to think it's very important that Ethan Ampadu is recognised as the best midfielder in the Championship, as if Harry Winks is a figment of our imagination, while most neutrals would probably say it's Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
In truth, Leicester City's current position at the summit of the Championship is a victory for the system. You don't need the best player in the Championship in every position. For instance, by most metrics, the best wide player so far this season has been Sunderland's Jack Clarke and the best creative player has been Norwich's Gabriel Sara.
That doesn't matter, because Enzo Maresca's system doesn't appear to require brilliant wing play or boundless creativity. They'd be nice, but they're not integral to our success this season. We’re also simply not as reliant on any one individual.
The Enzo effect
There are five players in the league with six goals or more. None of them are Leicester players.
There are no Leicester players in the top 10 for tackles, blocks or interceptions made because we simply don't have to make enough of them. Interestingly, Ampadu is 6th for tackles won and 3rd for blocks which probably explains why he's caught the eye of so many Leeds fans.
Meanwhile, Enzo is making our players more effective and efficient. Kasey McAteer leads the league for goals per minute, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy also making the top ten.
Ipswich's Conor Chaplin has had the most shots (49) so far this season, but Dewsbury-Hall (34) is the only Leicester player to appear in the top ten - and even this is something Maresca has tweaked in recent weeks after making a comment that Dewsbury-Hall had been playing "in the wrong way" and "shooting from his house".
The improvement in Dewsbury-Hall under Maresca has been marked. In the last two seasons, Leicester needed Dewsbury-Hall’s energy all over the midfield to compensate for others. This is no longer the case. He is now providing impact in the final third thanks to the way the team is giving him the ball further up the pitch.
When looking at the Championship's leading players in various specific categories, there are very few Leicester players topping any of the areas - but Dewsbury-Hall is near the top of quite a lot of them. These include passes into the penalty area (2nd in the league with 20), key passes (3rd with 33) and shots on target (6th with 12).
The case for the defence
Anticipating an aerial onslaught of sorts on Saturday, Maresca was able to bring in Souttar and Vestergaard while it was noticeable that Casadei dropped further back to defend goal kicks. Leicester won 13 of the 18 aerial duels.
Maresca has obviously worked wonders with the defensive setup but even if a chance does arrive for the opposition, we're not worrying as much as last season. This is partly because Mads Hermansen has by far the best save percentage in the division at 81.3% - the next best is Bristol City's Max O'Leary with 73.3%.
It helps that we're not giving up many good chances, but those Hermansen percentages also include key saves like the point-blank stop from Norwich's Shane Duffy and the strong hand to bat away Lewis Travis's shot at Blackburn.
While Ipswich's Vaclav Hladky is the league's highest overperformer in goal when considering the quality of chances conceded, add Hermansen's ability on the ball and it's hard to argue that he's not the best goalkeeper in the league. At 23, he's also ten years Hladky's junior - not relevant when considering this season's effectiveness but a reminder that this is one of the best signings made by Leicester for several years.
Team of the year
As things stand, if you were making a Championship team of the season so far based on what the stats say, it would arguably include Hermansen, Vestergaard, Harry Winks and Dewsbury-Hall.
Based on what we’ve seen rather than what the numbers show, most Leicester fans would add Wout Faes and Wilfred Ndidi for a start. The strength of Mareca’s “idea” has meant Faes hasn't been exposed like he was last season and he’s looked imperious as a result, while Ndidi has flourished in a new role.
Squad strength is also protecting us from the impact of injuries to Kasey McAteer and Callum Doyle. And of course, Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy are able to rotate to keep fresh.
The numbers are looking good with eleven games gone, and far more than eleven have made that happen.
