Leicester City failed to secure a replacement for Harry Maguire in the summer transfer window, forcing Brendan Rodgers’ hand to select Çağlar Söyüncü alongside Jonny Evans at centre-half. And yet Leicester City have started the season well and are on track for automatic qualification into the Champions League.
With the January transfer window bearing down on us, does Rodgers still need to find a replacement, or has Söyüncü got a bright future in the heart of the Leicester defence? This tactical analysis will assess Söyüncü’s impact and consider whether he will still have a place in the first team come January.
Defensive partnership
Caglar Söyüncü has been paired with Jonny Evans in a 4-1-4-1 formation since the start of the season and has shown his defensive prowess. Few pundits would have backed the unproven youngster to outperform his experienced teammate. It is interesting how far he appears to have come when compared with Jonny Evans. Defensively, Söyüncü has performed better, winning 73% of his defensive duels which indicates the development he has made. He is now a stronger player who is more capable when competing against quality forwards in the Premier League.
This is supported when observing his limited success last season when he was winning only 52.8% of his defensive duels. Although the season is only fourteen games in, he is already getting noticed defensively and his defensive duels statistics are promising reading they even eclipse that of Virgil Van Dijk this season, who has won 69% of his duels. It is this prowess that is sparking interest from other clubs to sign Söyüncü, with Manchester City rumoured to be leading the charge.
The image above shows Leicester City playing a high defensive line to apply greater pressure on Crystal Palace. The inherent risk is the space in the rear for opponents to exploit on the counter. As the ball is played into space, the positioning and acceleration is impressive. With no space to turn and a good tackle employed, Söyüncü shuts down the counter. This was typical of his performance in this match, which aimed to stop the opponents gaining possession high up the field and maintaining the momentum in Leicester’s favour.
Later in the same match, Söyüncü’s physicality was more evident when he dominated the opponents’ forward line and bullied them off the ball. In the image above, the ball is played through when the full-back is caught up the field. Söyüncü’s reading of the play and his physicality gets him to the ball first and gains possession back for Leicester. He reads the play well and understands the risk and reward of being caught out of position. It is this desire to win the ball that is fast making him a cult hero at the King Power Stadium.
