Leicester City Rise Continues

Article by Jonathan Smith

Things seem to be getting better and better for Leicester City at the moment. The 4-1 win over fellow promotion challengers Derby County on Friday evening cemented their place at the summit of the Championship and they will remain there this weekend having built a seven point gap between themselves and Burnley. The Foxes are sitting pretty on 54 points with a healthy goal difference of plus nineteen. They’ve won their last five league fixtures scoring fourteen goals in the process and conceding just five.

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It’s not only the results that have been pleasing though. The style of football that City have been playing, in their last two home victories in particular, has been attractive on the eye and difficult for opponents to contain. When in possession, it’s virtually a 4-2-4 system with Lloyd Dyer on the left, Anthony Knockaert on the right and David Nugent linking up with Jamie Vardy through the middle. Danny Drinkwater and Matty James have formed a formidable central midfield partnership in recent weeks, combining work-rate with their ability to pick a pass. The full backs, Ritchie de Laet and Paul Konchesky, have found the perfect balance between attacking and defending and Liam Moore’s youthful exuberance and athleticism is complimenting Wes Morgan’s solidity and composure at the heart of the defence. Kasper Schmeichel has recovered from a few early season bloopers to produce some fine displays. He didn’t have much to do against Derby but was tested regularly from distance against Millwall and had to make some great saves in City’s 1-0 win at Loftus Road.

The grit and determination that Leicester are showing on the road is almost as pleasing as the attractive, attacking football on display at the King Power Stadium. City travelled to Millwall, where they have come unstuck previously, and ground out a 3-1 win in testing conditions. It also showed their strength in depth as many of the usual starting eleven were rested due to the hectic nature of the festive period.

News of the club’s debt being cleared by their Thai owners has added to the positivity amongst most supporters although the on-going contract situation regarding key players, and Nigel Pearson, is a topic that is still being dragged up by the local media on a weekly basis. Of course, it’s understandable that players will want to sign new contracts as soon as possible, either with Leicester City or elsewhere, but the situation doesn’t appear to be having too much of an impact on their performance levels at present. If anything, it seems that they’re pushing even harder to make promotion a reality and be rewarded for their efforts sooner rather than later. Sometimes situations like this can inspire players. Back in 2002, the City players had some of their wages deferred until promotion to the Premier League was confirmed and they went on to achieve that. Whether or not the thought of losing some of their wages helped spur them on is impossible to say but I’m guessing it was in the back of their minds at the time. A similar thing could be happening at the club right now. Some of Leicester’s players are on very rewarding contracts as it is but promotion could add a few more thousand pounds on to their weekly income; enough of an incentive to inspire most people. You would hope that the thought of playing in one of the best leagues in the world would be enough inspiration for any footballer but they are human beings and money plays a part, just like in any other working environment.

The togetherness of the current squad is apparent. There doesn’t appear to be anyone throwing their toys out of the pram because they’re not playing every week. In fact it seems to be the complete opposite. When Gary Taylor-Fletcher came on and scored against Bolton Wanderers he decided to celebrate by grabbing a couple of bibs, worn by substitutes whilst warming up, and performed a cheerleading routine with his makeshift pom poms. It was later revealed that there had been some banter flying around between the players about Taylor-Fletcher’s role in the team and he had been labelled a cheerleader due to him regularly finding himself warming the bench. It’s great that the club now have characters that don’t take themselves too seriously. If you go back to the Martin O’Neill days, there was a similar team spirit and togetherness about the club with characters like Ian Marshall who enjoyed a bit of banter. In recent years there have been a few players who have joined Leicester City and their egos have outweighed their ability. I can’t see players like that signing for this club while Nigel Pearson remains in charge which is something all Foxes fans should be thankful for.

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