Shape the future? How Leicester City should line up against Southampton
This is always a terrible idea, but let’s see how we get on. Ruud van Nistelrooy should make changes for the visit of Southampton. We want… seven. We’re aware we might get two if we’re lucky.
Jakub Stolarczyk
Jakub Stolarczyk is, like Mads Hermansen, 24 years old. We’ve seen enough from him in 16 games for the club over the past couple of years that he merits a full Championship season as Leicester’s number one. Stolarczyk has real stature and presence. His ability to come and claim the ball from set pieces is a major plus. We should give him the confidence that we trust him.
Hermansen has suffered a drop in form since his mid-season injury and the concept of getting £30million-plus for him now seems unlikely. He still appears our most saleable asset though, which is a sad indictment of the way the club has been run. Positions of strength continue to be squandered. The refresh should happen all over this team and club, and difficult decisions will have to be made.
Woyo Coulibaly
At this stage, I think we have to assume that Woyo Coulibaly has been atrocious in training. Nevertheless, when you’ve gained four points from 19 games, you have to change what you can just to show that you will. There is no better audition for Coulibaly ahead of next season.
James Justin has been hard done by this season, asked to play an almost impossible role by two successive managers and barely given a rest until recently. Nonetheless, we know what Justin is capable of and in the right system, he will be one of the best right-backs in the Championship next season if he stays. Coulibaly is an unknown quality - let’s see what he can do.
Conor Coady
By default. Conor Coady has played about as well this season as you’d expect a 32-year-old podcaster to play at Premier League level. The sheer gulf in quality between the two divisions means there is a chance he could be effective next season if surrounded by better quality. Only then would his alleged leadership qualities be able to emerge.
But really, this is because Wout Faes is not the answer to anything and Jannik Vestergaard has been binned yet again. Ben Nelson is the real future.
Caleb Okoli
Because he’s not Wout Faes. And because he’s our joint top league goalscorer since the first week of January.
Luke Thomas
Perhaps the biggest surprise of this season hasn’t been how bad Leicester have been - it’s that our best player in the past couple of months has been Luke Thomas. There have been long periods in the past when Thomas hasn’t looked good enough at Premier League level but we won’t be in the Premier League next season and suddenly there are large numbers of fans who would trust Thomas to make the left-back role his own.
He still lacks pace and physicality but as long as he can play against Mohamed Salah every week, he’ll be fine.
Sammy Braybrooke
One of the most baffling examples of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s approach this season is his desperate desire to stick with Wilfred Ndidi and Boubakary Soumare as a midfield two. Ndidi should be sold for anything approaching £10million in the summer, while Soumare is clearly halfway out the door. Try. Something. Different.
With Ricardo seemingly injured yet again and Harry Winks still seemingly on the spritz, it looks like it will be Wilf and there’s an argument his height would be needed in this side to defend set pieces if nothing else. But we’ve reached such a crushing low that it would be refreshing to see something dynamic.
It would be a huge step up for Sammy Braybrooke. He’s got real talent though and is more comfortable in possession than Ndidi, who was understandably pressed by Wolves. When else are we going to find out if Braybrooke is able to make the leap?
Oliver Skipp
Nobody is going to pay the book value of £16million for Oliver Skipp so we’re stuck with him next season. Is that such a bad thing though? Skipp has the potential to turn his reputation around, especially at a lower level.
The main mark against him remains the ridiculous fee, which wasn’t his fault. He hasn’t really had a run in the team this season and perhaps efforts on the training ground have dictated that, but it would still make sense to start him here.
Bilal El Khannouss
One of the few prospective summer sales along with Hermansen, Bilal El Khannouss has dipped and deviated in form throughout the season but he’s shown an impressive mix of talent and application for the majority of his short time at the club.
Like many others, he has arguably been let down by van Nistelrooy’s inflexibility. He isn’t a natural goalscorer and with no other creative players around him to bounce passes off or make runs, he’s struggled to play his natural game. As soon as Stephy Mavididi was restored to the starting lineup, El Khannouss looked more effective.
Will anyone come in for him? Apparently there is interest and he has a reasonable relegation release clause in his contract, but he hasn’t dazzled and made his exit a certainty. Put it this way, he’s more likely to be here next season than Facundo Buonanotte is. That’s enough in the current scenario to get you in a team for the future.
Jake Evans
Top scorer in PL2. Versatile enough to play on the right wing as well as up front. Older than Jeremy Monga. Why hasn’t Evans had more of an opportunity, given we haven’t scored at home since… well, you know the rest. Monga might seem the obvious pick here but it feels inevitable that he’ll be off to one of the biggest clubs in the country and Evans is physically more ready for first team football.
It would be great to see him given a chance. And yes, a Monga start would also be about the most exciting thing we’ve seen this season. It’s a low bar.
Kasey McAteer
Another who has elevated himself purely through not being Jordan Ayew or Bobby Decordova-Reid, Kasey McAteer is not Premier League quality but we know he’s a good Championship option.
Would this season have resulted in safety if Abdul Fatawu hadn’t missed any of it? No, but we’d have got more points than we have. As it is, McAteer’s energy and physicality is about as good as we can do out wide at the moment. Another who has missed periods through injury but arguably unfortunate not to have played more often, as poorly as that reflects on Leicester’s transfer policy last summer.
Jamie Vardy
The exception that proves the rule. The future is not a 38-year-old who’s already said he’s leaving in four games’ time but we need to try to get him these two goals. If there was anyone else worth playing, we could say the club is bigger than any individual and drop him to the bench.
But it’s Jamie Vardy.
