The 5 F-words on Leicester lips after firing 4 past Forest
We’re all hoping Leicester City’s 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Monday night marks the start of the club’s glorious revival. What are the key talking points as the pressure builds to back things up?
Formation
The past few weeks have felt like a constant search for scapegoats and solutions. Almost everyone has had to bear the brunt at some point or other, and we've been looking at fixes like Kelechi Iheanacho, Dennis Praet and even, for some, Jannik Vestergaard. Yet when the team news filtered through on Monday evening, the lineup had the right look.
It wasn't quite the same Leicester team that beat Southampton 4-1 in the final game of last season - that included Kasper Schmeichel, Wesley Fofana and Nampalys Mendy rather than Danny Ward, Wout Faes and Wilfred Ndidi - but it had a similar feel. We had Harvey Barnes repeatedly forcing the opposition right-back onto the defensive, James Maddison drifting in from the right to great effect and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall pushing the team forward with his driving runs through midfield.
While Maddison stole the headlines, it was Barnes who provided another key focal point. Neco Williams has been one of Forest's few bright spots so far this season but he had no attacking or creative impact on the game. Barnes kept him pinned back, providing an out ball for Leicester's midfielders throughout a first half that saw Williams booked before being replaced at the interval.
We'll never know how different things might have been if Barnes had been fit for the opening game against Brentford. As it was, his absence meant Rodgers changed formation. At that stage the manager was still pining for the return of Ademola Lookman. But even without a backup winger with the same qualities as Barnes to call upon, it seemed counterintuitive to disrupt the rest of the team for the sake of one position.
This setup feels like a template for success, but that isn't to say it's perfect. It still requires either Ndidi to improve on his recent form or Boubakary Soumare to step up and nail down that spot in front of the back four. It needs Timothy Castagne and James Justin to consistently prove they can maintain the right balance between defending and attacking, and for Rodgers to strike that balance in what he asks of them. It also places emphasis on Jonny Evans and Faes to perform at a high level when they remain in danger of being exposed.
It's a calculated risk to play Maddison as the nominal right winger. In truth, the formation is so fluid that it may be 4-3-3 on paper but, as Maddison pointed out in his post-match analysis with Sky Sports, it's often Castagne who ends up on the right wing and Tielemans covering that flank defensively with Maddison free to float about behind the striker. That means the opposition left-back will always get a few unhindered runs forward.
The Nottingham Forest Random Transfer Generator landed on Renan Lodi of Atletico Madrid and Brazil to fill their left-back spot, but Leicester coped well enough with his threat. Against more cohesive opponents it may be an issue, but when play went in the other direction Maddison twisted Lodi inside out so many times it more than justified the risk against one of the weaker teams in the division.
We face another of those this weekend, the scene of one of the low points of the Rodgers era - a low partly of his own making...
Focus
Rodgers summarised Leicester's situation in a sentence when talking to Sky after the game: 'We've got a lot of technically-gifted players and guys that are tactically very good but you can't win football matches without a desire and without mentality to defend and this season so far, that hasn't been there consistently enough.'
Jamie Carragher followed up by asking if Rodgers had been tempted to move away with his ethos to a more pragmatic approach. 'No, not really,' came the reply. This hasn't always been true. In December 2019, tactical naivety contributed to a 4-0 thumping at home to Liverpool at a time when Champions League football looked a probability. By July 2020, when the pandemic extended the season into summer, a similarly cavalier attitude in the 3-0 defeat at Tottenham sparked exasperation.
But he did.
The following season was marked by an upturn in results away at the biggest clubs in the division because Rodgers played to Leicester’s strengths. Just two months later, his approach in the 5-2 win at Manchester City wound up Rodri to the point of distraction.
There soon followed similar battling victories at Arsenal and Tottenham. Rodgers has proved he is capable of setting up a team to deal with adversity. After all, he won an FA Cup Final at Wembley by frustrating the life out of Chelsea. Regardless of putting four past Forest, that willingness to adapt his ethos needs to return for certain games.
Prior to kickoff on Monday, while analysing Leicester's recent showing at Tottenham, Carragher appeared incredulous that Rodgers was coaching his side to play as if they had the same quality as Manchester City or Liverpool's squad.
That specific clip, showing Castagne and Justin pushed up way ahead of the defensive line, focused on Ndidi surrendering possession leading to the third Spurs goal just two minutes into the second half. Yet in his own reflections on that game, Rodgers has instead homed in on the final couple of goals and sought to defend the attacking instincts of his players as they tried to mount an unlikely comeback.
That was the reason for the fifth and sixth goals but while conceding so many was embarrassing, Leicester fans were more concerned with what Carragher highlighted - naive, sloppy play in the middle of the pitch while the two full-backs were pushed forward and not in a position to cover.
Unable to strike the right balance between how and when to defend and attack, it had got to the point where celebrating Leicester goals felt pointless because imminent concession was inevitable. It happened twice at Arsenal, once at Tottenham and even the relative chasm of the nine-minute gap between Iheanacho's opener and the Brighton equaliser was galling.
Thankfully, along came a team that had let home leads against fellow newly-promoted clubs become 3-2 defeats. Against Bournemouth, Forest conceded twice in 12 minutes. Against Fulham, it was three times in six minutes.
So it shouldn't have been a surprise when Barnes struck just seconds after the restart following Maddison's opener. But we've been more used to that focus slipping after scoring. This time, Faes made a decisive interception and Leicester were back on the front foot straight away. It was yet another action reminiscent of prime Caglar Soyuncu. It won't always play out this way, but Leicester seemed more focused and concentrated than in any other game.
Fragility
The reason it was so important that the team remained focused is obvious. For most teams a three-goal lead means game over. Yet even at half time, a lot of fans would have only felt able to relax with the addition of a fourth.
Part of the fragility problem has been the jitters every time Danny Ward is called into action, either to make a save or with the ball at his feet.
In each of the previous two games at Brighton and Tottenham, Ward had faced 11 shots on target. Against Forest, it was just 3. There are a lot of statistics around these days - it's easy to produce the numbers but harder to successfully analyse them, particularly when you're trying to do it within a character limit.
Suffice to say, Ward has faced some unfair criticism. He has been decried for conceding a high number of goals from the relatively low xG number of the chances Leicester have given the opposition. Look at Son's finishes for Spurs though - a goal scored from outside the box will generally have a low xG number, but that doesn't mean it's easy to save.
For an even better example, look at the goals conceded by Forest on Monday evening. Dean Henderson could not have saved any of them. No wonder he was frustrated.
Ward's situation is similar to that of Rodgers. For Rodgers, one victory against weak opposition doesn't win the fans back overnight. For Ward, it'll take more than one clean sheet. Both have done enough to get further opportunities to prove themselves.
Another reason for nerves has been set pieces and as Forest won an early succession of corners, there were flashbacks to the fragility Leicester showed at the City Ground in February. This time, despite Steve Cook, Cheikhou Kouyate, Scott McKenna and Taiwo Awoniyi towering over most of the home side, there were strong defensive headers from the likes of Faes and Dewsbury-Hall in the first half and the brittle confidence in the stands was strengthened a little.
The worries over the goalkeeping situation and set piece concession will be there for a little while yet, but we were desperate for hope in those areas as well as wanting to celebrate goals against a team from up the road. Sighs of relief all round.
Fortune
With the game goalless, Awoniyi was sent clear by Morgan Gibbs-White. Awoniyi hit the post, the ball rebounded and Forest's grip on the game was soon gone entirely.
There had been enough in the performance up to that point to suggest Leicester's superiority would have secured a comeback but the first goal was always going to be vital for two teams low on confidence playing in front of a home crowd all too willing to turn. It was still a pivotal moment decided by the width of a post.
Instead, a group of accomplished, forward-thinking players in the prime of their footballing lives took the game by the scruff of its neck. That set of players hadn’t lost their rich ability during the winless run. As Maddison admitted in his post-match interview, even after such an imposing personal performance, sometimes you're still reliant on those moments when you dread to think how things might have gone.
On the subject of fortune, spare a thought for the three West Stand season ticket holders from Shepshed who missed the entire first half on Monday, left to listen in bittersweet fashion as the goals flowed while the M1 was closed in both directions. At least they had Patson Daka's backheel to enjoy in person.
Flair
Finally, to the star of the show - and Maddison sparkled on a night when Leicester badly needed a star, adding two goals and an assist to the ever-growing numbers people point to when forwarding his credentials for the plane to Qatar. He's the player you want on the ball and someone opposition managers will have headaches about as he drifts around to find space, knowing he is capable of such creativity.
It seems almost belated that Maddison has won over the majority of Leicester fans when you consider the current national clamour for Gareth Southgate to start noticing him. In his time at Leicester, though, he's gone through periods of poor form and unreliability due to persistent injury problems.
As an example, many fans have pointed out how this struggling side is largely the same team that won the FA Cup less than 18 months ago. Maddison didn't start that game, his introduction as a substitute one of ten appearances in a row without a goal.
If Tielemans was the star of a 2020/21 campaign that ended with silverware then Maddison undoubtedly took that mantle last season. Even more impressively, he's managed to maintain that fine individual form into these opening games despite the chaos surrounding him at times. He is now the magician we turn to, following in the footsteps of greats.
The combination of the Monday Night Football spotlight and the proximity of the World Cup will intensify the focus on Maddison even more in the coming weeks. Those opposition managers will try to ease their headaches by coming up with plans to nullify his threat.
Ultimately, even if they succeed, that may mean more space for the likes of Barnes, Tielemans, Vardy or Daka to show their own qualities. The performance on Monday night showcased what Rodgers wants from this Leicester side and when it works, it's so good to watch. We've got a few more days to revel in the afterglow.