In Brendan Rodgers first two seasons at the club, Leicester City missed out on Champions League qualification on the final day of the season. This being regarded as a failure demonstrates the high standards Rodgers has set at Leicester and the levels he demands of his players. Despite that, the 2020/21 season finished on a high with an FA Cup final triumph against the soon-to-be European Champions Chelsea at Wembley.
This term, it has been a case of one step forward, two steps back for the Foxes. Arriving within touching distance of a top-four finish and coming short at the last hurdle twice has definitely taken its toll on the players. Never-ending injury woes and inconsistencies within the squad meant Leicester could not pose any threat of breaking into the top four this time round. They have slid down the Premier League table, currently in 9th place, with the club set to miss out on a top five finish for the first time since 2018/19.
Leicester surrendered a 3-1 lead against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, eventually losing on penalties, and endured a shock 4-1 FA Cup exit at the hands of Nottingham Forest. In addition, their Europa League campaign was hugely disappointing after a promising start. They finished third in the group and dropped into the new Europa Conference League’s knockout stages.
Being 1-0 down to PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League last week and on the brink of elimination, the whole season was hanging in the balance. Rodgers made some excellent substitutions as Leicester came back from behind in the last 15 minutes to secure their place in the semi-finals. With virtually nothing to play for in terms of the league, the club still has a chance to finish the season on a high with a first ever European trophy.
In this tactical analysis, we analyze the reasons behind Leicester’s struggles this season and why Rodgers has failed to get the most out of his squad.
Injuries
Leicester’s season has been plagued by a crippling run of injuries and COVID-19 cases. No Premier League team has lost more minutes to injury this season than Leicester. If you ask any manager in the world, they will tell you that the most crucial factor to sustaining any good run of form is consistency and continuity. Rodgers has not had the luxury of choosing a settled side and sticking by it week after week to build momentum and rhythm. He has been forced to chop and change at every corner without being able to field his strongest starting eleven at any point during the season.
Most notably, he has been robbed of his first-choice centre-backs for the majority of the campaign. Wesley Fofana only made his first appearance of the season in March after suffering a horrific leg break last August, while a hamstring surgery has also sidelined Jonny Evans for several months. In the period between December and January, when the fixtures start to pile up, Leicester had 9 senior players missing through injury and COVID-19. They would go on to lose an additional four players for the African Cup of Nations in Nampalys Mendy, Daniel Amartey, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfried Ndidi, all important assets in the squad. This forced Rodgers to raid the Under 23s to support the eight senior outfield players he had available at the time.
Leicester’s involvement in Europe also doesn’t help in terms of fatigue. The Thursday-Sunday conundrum can be a hectic one. In their 12 games played post-European matchdays, Leicester have won six, drawn two and lost four.
Playing that many games with more or less the same personnel takes its toll and leads to overusing players. That often results in injuries or rushing players back from the treatment table to cover for the shortage in numbers.
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