There is no one player that has propelled Leicester City to the top of the table. There’s not even a small group of players. Their success has been built on the team, and on the system.
But during this period of iffy form that has seen them take four points from a possible 15, they have become a little too reliant on certain players. Their last seven Championship goals, spready over six games, have been scored by either a 37-year-old striker or a centre-back.
City were again thankful for Jamie Vardy, who took his tally to 15 in all competitions this season with a point-earning brace at Hull on Saturday. But plaudits also have to go to Abdul Fatawu, whose jink and pass inside set up both goals.
It’s a good job the duo were close to the top of their game, because they needed to pick up the slack for others who are enduring dips in form at the wrong time. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Stephy Mavididi, who lead the club for combined goals and assists in the Championship this season, are now both on their longest runs without registering one or the other (five and eight games respectively).
Both were really out of sorts at Hull. Mavididi was left pounding the ground in frustration just a few minutes in and that set the tone for his afternoon, the winger unable to get any joy on the left flank. Only against Coventry when City had 10 men has Dewsbury-Hall played 90 minutes and touched the ball less often this season. He just didn’t get involved.
Now is not the time for City to be reliant on individual excellence or heroics. That’s not sustainable as a tactic. City are at their best when everybody in the team is playing at least reasonably well. They’re at their best when it’s difficult to pick out a star man. But that’s not the case at the moment, and it’s showing in their results.
A good point (when recent form put aside)
That’s not to say a point at Hull is a poor return. The Tigers were the highest-ranked of City’s remaining away opponents. They weren’t head and shoulders above Hull – it was a pretty even game – but the performance was definitely a step up on what it was at Sunderland.
The bobbly, cut-up pitch didn’t aid City’s play. Their pass completion rate was the fourth-lowest it’s been this season, with players avoiding a bad bounce of the ball by launching it up the pitch rather than trying to play it to feet.
Smooth surfaces are more suitable to Maresca’s style of football, not that he had much sympathy for his players on that front. He said: “The pitch doesn’t help us. For them, it was the same. You have to adapt.”
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