Hazzetta dello Sport: Millwall v Leicester City
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that this midweek edition of the Hazzetta will be consumed at the gentle pace of a coffee but rather a more likely setting of your working commute - or maybe even trying to work out the most long-winded route across London as the railway strikes make the normal destination for Millwall of South Bermondsey unavailable.
We return reeling from the perfect circumstance of events last Saturday. Fully of aware of this (and I didn’t want to jinx it), Ipswich’s appalling run of results in the Old Farm derby continued at noon as the Canaries solidified their position in the final play-off position.
Meanwhile, over in Coventry, the Sky Blues were helping their most hated as they continued their chase of the playoffs by going 2-0 up over Leeds, giving them the sniff of a consolation and then requiring some poor finishing from Joel Piroe to maintain the result.
It looked as though we may not take advantage of the scenario. Dramatically, Stephy Mavididi’s back post header steered a Yunus Akgun cross into the net for a late winner. For once, the King Power Stadium was in synergy. All three pillars of Leicester City; the playing side, the fans and the upper hierarchy of the boardroom punched the air in delight. Top of the table – a game in hand for comfort and five victories for mathematical certainty of promotion.
The Foxes were at their high tempo best on occasions; particularly starting both halves but annoyingly faded in their spells of complacency. The fast start didn’t materialise in a goal but a little later on, the sun catching in the linesman’s eyes meant Patson Daka was not given offside, and he teed up Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall for the opener. It lulled then. Hence Mads Hermansen’s snoozy error before half-time had steam collectively coming out the ears.
It was alright in the end. Once Enzo Maresca finally gave up on Plan A and went to the bench to find a winner. You question after a final fifteen minutes of the game like that why such personnel changes were not made at Ashton Gate eight days previous?
Millwall become the second team we’ve played three times in this marathon season. They are also on their third manager. Gary Rowett annoyed the fanbase enough that he had to leave. Joe Edwards was an example of an increasing trend where clubs appointed highly rated young coaches from Under 23s or youth international levels. *cough* He failed and Millwall returned to their club legend, Neil Harris. Quite happy to leave Cambridge as soon as possible for another stint in the manager’s seat at the Den.
There was the initial honeymoon period for Harris, and he steered the Lions away from the bottom three. A four game winless streak now sees them back just two points towards the relegation zone. The double header of losing twice in Yorkshire to Huddersfield Town and Rotherham has truly set off the warning alarm.
The two previous fixtures between us were goal filled games rather than the attack v defence storyline many of Leicester’s games against the bottom half have been. You would expect that a Neil Harris team wouldn’t want to press quite as much as Joe Edwards had his version of this Millwall team doing.
Their success in scoring four goals over two games against Leicester stems from an efficiency at set pieces. They regularly look to find the players at the back post from corners and free kicks. They missed a sitter to take the lead at Huddersfield but succumbed to a last-minute winner thanks to their weakness: defending set pieces.
In their last two fixtures, teams have benefitted from their failure to deal better with aerial balls. Leeds profited substantially from their wingers cutting infield too, which aligns with Abdul Fatawu’s very profitable evening at the King Power when the Lions came to the Foxes’ den in December.
Enzo and rotation. We are back to that recurring theme. Thanks to Sky television, we have a Tuesday and Friday schedule with a good bit of travelling involved. Conor Coady on the BBC’s Monday Night Club even alluded that we may look to spend four days down south rather than travel back up to the Midlands between games. Therefore, you would think, especially given notable tired legs towards the end of Saturday’s game, that some tweaks are going to be made. You can see Wilf Ndidi for example being swapped to suit.
The post match words in relation to Callum Doyle’s substitution at half-time was that it was tactical rather than injury. Either way you’d think James Justin regains his place and that the Den might be more suited to Jamie Vardy’s rhino skin than Patson Daka.
It looks difficult this midweek to see the rivals of Ipswich and Leeds dropping points. Leeds entertain a very, very mid-table Sunderland at their undefeated, near perfect record Elland Road. Albeit the Black Cats did surprise them in the first fixture with a 1-0 victory. On Wednesday evening, Ipswich host Watford. The Hertfordshire club have won just twice in the league over the course of 2024 but they have claimed points from Leeds and West Brom recently. Any result in our favour would be a surprise.
Our role has swapped from the chaser back to the chased again. A role we’ve shown we don’t enjoy overseeing. A successful week would be a huge step towards promotion and on Saturday evening, the noise around Leicester City felt relaxed for once. It is as a Leicester fan that somewhat makes me nervous for our outing in South London. Come on though. Five more. Probably four really. I want May relaxing, not torture.
