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Speaking to Leicester City’s radio show Extra-Time from 6pm onwards on Monday 15th April, Gerry Taggart gave his assessment of the club’s defeat to Newcastle, whilst also praising the impact substitution of Marc Albrighton.
What’s he said?
Leicester have looked a considerably better team since Brendan Rodgers took over the reins from Claude Puel. Prior to the loss against Newcastle, the club had won four games in a row and their latest defeat was just their second since the Scot took charge.
It’s a run that has seen them go above the likes of Wolves in the table as they now sit proudly in seventh.
However, despite a change in fortunes, it appears they still have work to do to improve, that’s according to the voice of Taggart who picked up on one key fault from their loss to Rafa Benitez’s side. He told Extra-Time listeners:
“When you look at the game as a whole, what Newcastle did very well is they pressured at the right time. When it wasn’t on to pressure, they obviously didn’t. They allowed Leicester to have the ball but in areas of the pitch that they couldn’t really hurt them. And so there was too much time taken on the ball. It was trying to be too precise. It was only when Marc Albrighton came on that he played a blind ball over the top and they’re the kind of balls you’ve got to play. How many times has Albrighton played that ball over the top and Vardy’s on his bike?”
Work ahead for Leicester
This was not going to be a straightforward rebuild for Rodgers but he has managed to stabilise the club and more importantly get the fans enjoying the team’s football again.
Puel had gone away from the counter-attacking style that had worked so well under Claudio Ranieri during their remarkable title season and had even dropped Jamie Vardy from numerous starting XIs.
However, despite the improved form there are some key things to work on. Being too precise has arguably come about as a result of Youri Tielemans and James Maddison playing together.
There’s nothing wrong with some intricate football but as some of the top sides have found out at home against the likes of Newcastle, it’s difficult to carve out an opening when a team sits deep.
With Harvey Barnes out of form, we may well see the reemergence of Albrighton and with it, the return of Vardy rampaging into the channels.
