The Fosse Way’s End of Season Awards 2024: Hottest Leicester City Take of the Season
Normally, there would be little controversial about a title win. But this is Leicester City. There’s always room for some blue-on-blue action.
So what were our writers’ hottest takes of the year?
Sell the golden boy
Matt Jedruch
Maybe not the most scorching take, but the sale of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall this summer would help us next season and beyond. There is no doubting that KDH had a fantastic season, and he has the counting stats to show for it, but this could be the best time to part ways.
He's a fantastic ball carrier with boundless energy, and his attacking output has been critical for us this season. However, his inconsistency, poor weight of pass, and often dreadful first touch are traits that probably don't have much scope for improvement at 25, and are much more glaring weaknesses in the Premier League.
Myself and David Bevan have often discussed how Dewsbury-Hall isn't the player he thinks he is, and that he should harness his strengths more, rather than trying to be a creator/technician. My view is that if a fair offer comes in (minimum £30m) we can find a better replacement for his position. The dejecting but essential additional point is that it would stand us in better stead to avoid future financial fair play discrepancies. Do your magic, Rudkin.
We need Enzoball V2
Iain Wright
Enzoball will work in the Premier League, but it needs a few more layers to it. To be fair, Maresca has always said its a work in progress, but progress it will definitely need.
The concern I have is that it works well when the scores are level, and very well when we're in front, but once we're behind and into the second half, it's looked a bit aimless, particularly since the new year.
I'm not advocating a fabled plan b, where we suddenly start launching diagonals from half way into the box, but we do need to work on building pressure and tension and not make it so easy for the opposition to see the game out.
Real Madrid produced a great example of this in their Champions League semi final vs Bayern Munich. Their two late goals were not the product of world class individuals digging them out, or any 'space age' tactics. They simply got up the pitch and kept the ball alive in and around the danger area, causing a mistake for the first goal and then a winner when Bayern simply couldn't 'get out'.
Although we did manage a late winner vs Birmingham, that was a real outlier in 2024. In many games when behind, we didn't really look like equalising, let alone winning. Too often we were doing exactly what the opposition wanted, passing the ball on half way and being static in and around the box.
So, to reiterate the hot take: Enzoball, unlike Kompanyball, will work...but he needs a v2 of it.
Feeling Mads Calm
Helen Thompson
While the bloke behind me seemingly had a nervous breakdown every time Mads Hermansen had the ball at his feet, making noises like a stuttering kettle, I felt pretty relaxed. For the first time since Kasper, I felt pretty calm when Mads had the ball or was called upon. It seems fitting that one Dane has replaced the previous one I trusted explicitly.
Passing it out from the back isn’t for the old school football fan, or those with delicate nerves, but it’s here to stay based on the flow down into the Championship and lower. I clearly feel a lot more ok with that than the gerrit forward brigade I sit near. In Mads and Enzo I trust.
Ok, we haven’t executed the passing out from the back every time, but in the Russell Martin game of risk and reward, we’ve been largely on the side of reward. Hermansen isn’t just accomplished on the ball, he exudes serenity that must roll out over the defenders in front of him, there’s rarely any panic in the way he approaches the ball or a save.
Unlike our previous Big Dane, he’s a lot more quiet and reserved, but it’s a quiet type of confidence. Impressive given his age. Sure, there’s been one or two moments where we’ve made it look more difficult than it needs to be, or where the opposition striker has read it all a bit too well. But Hermansen will continue to learn and we need a goalkeeper with those attributes who can also shot-stop to stand us in good stead for the Premier League. He’s the best bit of business we’ve done in a long time.
Faes Out
Becky Taylor
Wout Faes should never play for us again. It became less of a hot take through the purple patch near the end of the season, but he's a liability.
I love a chaos player usually, but my head has fully gone at Faes. The odd mazy run does not hide from the fact that he likes to impersonate Under 10s defending, particularly when the going gets tough. Gerrim gone.
Still unconvinced by Stephy
David Bevan
The last time I said I didn’t rate Stephy Mavididi, two things happened.
Firstly, one of his mates slid into my DMs to tell me how outrageous my opinion was. Secondly, he won the Championship Player of the Month award for December.
And he was great during that month. For much of the rest of the season, however, he wasn’t. Vital goals in early April against Norwich and Birmingham were welcome, but they were his only two goals of the final 17 league games over the final three months of the season. Abdul Fatawu matched Mavididi’s post-New Year’s Day tally in one evening against Southampton.
His assists tally hasn’t been particularly impressive either. I do appreciate his workrate out of possession and he can be useful as an outlet to get the ball up the pitch for others, but I also think we’ll need someone better in his position for the Premier League.
