Hazzetta dello Sport 2024 - Issue 11: Manchester United v Leicester City
As the clock ticked into the 94th minute, another cross was put into the Ipswich eighteen-yard box to no avail. Easily cleared and Sam Morsy, the home side captain, comes away with the ball from the wreckage.
He runs into a blind alley. Bouba Soumare dispossesses him and chews up the turf like a monster truck. Wes Burns attempts to barge him. No good. Back on the deck for Wes.
Soumare steadies himself and feeds the ball to Jordan Ayew who exchanges passes with Jamie Vardy. The latter’s return so measured into Ayew’s path, who slots past the Ipswich goalkeeper into the net. A visceral roar from the away end. Pure delight with a hint of relief. Despite the dread of the previous ninety-four minutes, the celebrations were major.
While the final four minutes play out to the hint of a Leicester winner, the support is loud and fervent. This continues on the streets outside Portman Road and onwards to Ipswich railway station. Once composed, two thoughts are considered.
That last minute equaliser was so good and such an adrenaline rush, but City were for long stages so ragged and unorganised across the full game.
That the sort of moment I shared with my dad for the equaliser are increasingly scarce as age and life events catch us up.
As this week has progressed, we have seen a slight relaxation in views from the fanbase towards Steve Cooper. As the evidence grows, the realisation of where we are as a squad and its quality is dawning. We thrive in the chaos and when we must go off script from any pre-formed plan. You can argue if this is good management motivation or rather players making the most of a poor plan. We still don’t know as we approach a third of the season.
Enzo Maresca’s year at Leicester City managed to make a fanbase that desired end to end games and quick transitions become appreciative of a slow, methodical build-up. While the relationship between Maresca and the fans became strained towards the end of last season, he is now being used as the reference point for what’s considered good coaching or tactical planning.
Yet this softening on Cooper feels like a combination of two ingredients. The acceptance that the current Leicester City board won’t sack their manager whilst out of the relegation zone and secondarily, that there is a developing fondness for the non-planned, chaos approach the Foxes seem to keep taking.
The moments of glory have been so excellent; the equaliser against Spurs, the winner at Southampton and the latest edition last Saturday. The lack or concession of control can also lead to conceding late goals (Palace and Arsenal away). It also means that you have long spells of competing well without really testing the opposition (Aston Villa at home) and invertedly, long spells where we are utterly bad (Ipswich away and Forest at home). There is little consistency in result or balance in emotion towards it.
From Sunday, beginning with the visit to Old Trafford, the opposition from now to the new year is stronger. While ten points is a good return so far, it should be highlighted that we have played four of the five teams below us (equally avoiding defeat against any other is good news and something which proved a problem in our last Premier League relegation).
Can the chaos theory be suitable for the next few games?
There are similarities with Manchester United. Erik Ten Hag never had a discernable style. Then add questionable signings and you have the recipe which would often leading to moment victories but a struggle for consistency. There was never a dominant centre back partnership under Ten Hag nor a fit left-back regularly seen. While United possess great talent in attacking areas, the glue which brings it all together is missing.
We face a team on Sunday who similarly work well in the open, chaotic parts of games. This was fully exposed in our EFL Cup game where United were happy to take advantage of incredibly sloppy defending and poor defensive structure. Outside of that they did very little to craft their own chances and still have a tendency to give goals themselves. It’s important the Foxes exude control where they can and an organised defensive base.
With the lack of consistency, there are still selection dilemmas for Steve Cooper. The back four at Ipswich looked okay in close, 18 yard box defending but still conceded plenty of shots towards goal. The reintroduction of Jannik Vestergaard gave a degree of assurance but Ipswich are hardly known for their pace and if Man United look to be strong on the transition, a similar defensive line up would have issues.
Wilf Ndidi’s form has waned from a good start and after a couple of reasonable performances, the latest redemption arc is upon us. Bouba Soumare is a possibility in that role, while you’d expect Winks and Buonanotte to be remain the other part of the midfield unit.
Much like Ndidi, Stephy Mavididi’s performances have dropped from the highs of his goals against Crystal Palace and Everton. The difficulty here is the lack of options which provide the same dynamism. The attempts to play Jordan Ayew or Bobby Reid in a winger role have not worked.
There may be a new pressure as well; playing on a Sunday. Saturday sees a huge game at Molineux between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton. A win for Saints puts them in the region of City. At the same time, West Ham and Everton face off in a game where both teams are outside of the crop at the bottom but could easily be dragged back in. Ipswich are away at Tottenham on Saturday afternoon as they aim to finally achieve a victory.
The international break may be more welcome than it’s ever been before.
