Leicester City’s superhero between the sticks: In praise of Janina Leitzig
Last night, Willie Kirk took a leaf out of Martin O’Neill’s playbook and brought on a goalkeeper for a penalty shootout. But this goalkeeper is a bit better than the one O’Neill turned to at Wembley in 1996. This one had to face the penalties too. And saved half of them.
There are few better things as a football fan than watching a player in your team's colours who is so clearly a cut above. A few Leicester players have made me feel like that over the years, from Mark Davies in League One through to N'Golo Kante in the Premier League. We have a flavour of it at the moment with Harry Winks in the Championship.
As for goalkeepers, we've been fortunate in the past to have had the likes of Kasper Schmeichel and Marton Fulop between the sticks in the Championship and Mads Hermansen seems to be cut from a similar cloth.
For the past year, anyone who has been following the progress of Leicester City's women's team will have been thinking along these lines with the goalkeeper that has arrived in 2023. A goalkeeper who has become the saviour of the team at crucial moments, and the saviour of the club in being one of the main reasons a lost cause this time last year has been completely turned around.
We need to talk about Janina Leitzig.
Leit work
Because sometimes you have to take a step back and show your appreciation for a player when they deserve it, especially while they're still at the club. It's all too easy to get wrapped up in the aims of the team, responding merely to the results each week or to individual moments of brilliance.
Since joining on loan from Bayern Munich in January and then making that switch permanent in the summer, Janina Leitzig has had a whole year of a showreel in goal for Leicester City.
Whether you follow the women's team or not, you will be familiar with that sinking feeling when an opposition attacker runs clean through on goal.
We had it a lot last year in the Premier League and it was even more prevalent in the first half of last season's Women's Super League campaign.
Since Leitzig's arrival, that feeling has vanished. The situation might still result in a goal despite her best efforts, but it's far from a foregone conclusion.
Treble no trouble
Leitzig was in the news again last weekend after making a superb triple save in a home game against Tottenham. The first of the three was the best - when the ball fell to Jessica Naz just yards from goal, it seemed certain she would score. But Leitzig's reflexes meant the ball was repelled away and when it came back to Ashleigh Neville, Leitzig was there again. And when a third shot rained in on goal? Again, Leitzig.
It was tremendous to watch but immediately reminiscent of two even better saves last season at home to Everton when she denied Katja Snoeijs and Aggie Beever-Jones.
It may not be as satisfying as a creative attacker who conjures a goal from nothing, but for a goalkeeper to turn what seems like a certain goal into nothing is still an incredible thing to watch.
Because as a fan, your emotions are about to explode one way or the other. And then suddenly there's this huge burst of positivity and instead of enduring an opposition celebration you're watching all of Leitzig's team-mates celebrate her latest improbable stop before switching straight back on for a set piece or the restart of play.
It's clear Leitzig relishes making these saves, genuinely loves her team-mates and playing for the club. Her enthusiasm is infectious.
Turning Ls into Ws
The women's game is slightly different to the men's game both on and off the pitch. The games don't feel so end-to-end most of the time, not being played with quite the same pace or physicality although it's edging closer in that direction all the time.
This means sometimes the defending team can get camped in their own area for longer periods and when that happens to Leicester’s defence, it can feel like a personal battle between the opposition and Janina Leitzig. She begins to resemble some kind of superhero they can't get past, although the current goalkeepers’ kit may have something to do with that.
Ultimately, we all need sportspeople who make us think the impossible is possible. In WSL life, Leicester had become used to losing. It just so happened that it was the same across almost every team within the club last year - the men's team, the women's team, the men’s under 21s, the men’s under 18s.
For those of us who follow each one of those teams on our live score app, we were crying out to see a letter other than L after a game. In the end, the women's team is the one that succeeded last season in their mission and Leitzig was absolutely central to that.
After a week or two of seeing her make save after save, it felt like there was a blip in the universe for Leicester to be able to get a player this good on loan.
While on loan, Leitzig’s save percentage was the fifth highest in the league at 75%, and she had to face a huge amount more shots than her rivals.
But then... she came back. And since her return, she’s been every bit as vital. Her save percentage this season is 77.4%, only bettered by goalkeepers from Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham - all of whom have faced around half the number of shots.
Off the pitch
The whispers around the club over the summer about the prospect of Leitzig returning were strangely confident. Other clubs were linked, but never with any seriousness.
What comes across as a potentially key factor in her return is that she genuinely seems like a really nice person. That may seem a funny thing to say, because you don't hear that often about male players but the women's game is a bit more open on social media.
It's less image-driven and feels more real. Leitzig is one of many players who have helped through social media to create a connection between the players and the fans, and to show genuine affection for the club.
Another difference between the men's game and the women's game is that the nature of the atmosphere at WSL games means you can hear individual songs being sung by very young children.
At the Tottenham game on Sunday, there was a young girl sitting near the front of the West Stand who repeatedly stood and sang "Janina Leitzig, she's the best in the league".
Which is actually a fair shout.
Last night, with Leicester taking Manchester City to penalties in the Conti Cup, Willie Kirk brought on Leitzig in place of the usual number 2, Dutch keeper Lize Kop. Leitzig saved three of the six penalties she faced to help secure the shootout victory.
Those kind of heroics are becoming routine. At just 24 years old, it’ll be fascinating to see what more Leitzig can go on to achieve in a career that promises so much.
12 Days of Christmas at The Bridge
For the past 10 years, The Bridge Homelessness to Hope has served a 3-course Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings to hundreds of people in Leicester who are experiencing homelessness.
This year, they want to go one better and offer their guests (service users) not just one day of celebrations but 12 days of festive events over the month of December.
If you’re enjoying The Fosse Way, please consider donating to The Bridge’s Christmas appeal:
