3 things to help hunt the in-form Foxes
I thought I’d resurrect the occasional ‘Three Things’ articles which have been a feature on Vital Villa in years gone by: a look ahead to the next match and what we need to do to get something from the game.
Leicester are in red-hot form at the moment, on a winning run which surpasses anything they managed in their title-winning season of 2016. They have won seven in a row and in any normal season would be top of the league, but for Liverpool’s own ridiculous run.
In fact, Leicester have won nine of the last 10, the only blemish being a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Jurgen Klopp’s all-conquering reds.
Against this backdrop, it’s hard to see Villa getting anything at all from this match, despite being at home. So where should our focus lie ahead of this important match?
1. Tighten up defensively.
Keeping clean sheets has been a major problem this season and has compromised the good work we have done in forward areas (we’re the 7th highest scorers in the division so far). As a result, we have thrown away a significant number of points from winning positions and conceded many more goals than we should have – something which will surely rankle with former defenders Dean Smith and John Terry?
Tyrone Mings’ early season form has begun to stutter, while an injury to Bjorn Engels and the suspension to Freddie Guilbert has de-stabilised the previously settled (or at least, settling) back four.
Mings has been at fault for a couple of important goals in the last few matches, and although I can’t see Dean Smith dropping the England player anytime soon, bringing back Engels might be a step towards re-establishing a more solid back line.
We need to try and prevent teams from getting crosses into the box as we seem to struggle defending them and despite his otherwise excellent form, Tom Heaton is too rooted to his line in my opinion and needs to take charge a bit more often in an area where we’re struggling.
2. Stop Jamie Vardy!
Obvious, but true and vitally important.
Jamie Vardy is the league’s form striker at the moment, on a seven-game scoring streak and in with a chance of beating his own record of 11 consecutive matches set in the momentous title season.
Stopping him will be extremely difficult – I don’t think our centre-backs are the fastest out there, so ideally, we need to cut things off at source and keep James Maddison and Harvey Barnes quiet – a big job for Matt Targett and Guilbert and they will need bailing out by a strong midfield.
I’d like to see Douglas Luiz and Marvelous Nakamba in the middle, ahead of the more lightweight Conor Hourihane. Leicester are dynamic all over the pitch and we’ll need strength and fitness to compete – Luiz and Nakamba bring this in spades.
I’d actually like to see a shift in formation towards a 3-4-3, with Ezri Konsa, Mings and Engels as the three, with Guilbert, Targett, Luiz and Nakamba across the middle, with Jack Grealish and John McGinn pushing on in support of the forward, probably Wesley, but that’s another debate entirely! But I can’t see Dean Smith tinkering at this moment, so we should expect the usual 4-3-3, with minor personnel changes.
3. Manage the game better.
One criticism I (and many others) would have of Dean Smith and the coaches is the game management. They seem to let things run too long before making changes to tactics or personnel, and on a number of occasions this season, the substitutions they do make have left many of us slightly non-plussed, to say the least.
I love our brand of football this season and our have-a-go attitude, but this has cost us on occasions – Arsenal and Liverpool, to name but a couple. I think most of us would have been happier seeing Henri Lansbury or even Konsa introduced for Wesley when leading 1-0 against Liverpool with minutes to go, rather than an anonymous and ineffective Jonathan Kodjia (no disrespect to Kodjia, but he was not the man to help contain and relieve the considerable pressure Liverpool were piling on at the end).
If we find ourselves ahead against Leicester heading into added time, I for one would be more than happy to shut up shop, rather than to keeping looking forward and trying to finish the match off on the break.
Of course, that’s not to say I enjoy us sitting deeper and deeper – point number one alludes to the fact we struggle to hold on to a lead, but by becoming more compact and solid defensively, we might have a better opportunity to hold firm. If we deny Leicester the space they need, half of the battle will be won.
Please feel free to add your thoughts, either below or in the match thread in the forum.
In truth, I am not expecting anything from this very difficult examination, but I’ll take a point, ideally a clean sheet and further confidence coming to the end of a tough run of games.
UTV.
Christmas is coming, and it would be remiss of me not to remind you of mighty leader’s book, an ideal stocking-filler for that special Villan (or non-Villa, for that matter!) in your life.
“A fascinating look at his battles and victories…” (it says here…)
You can see all the details, how to buy and the reviews at: The Fear.net/ and on Amazon (if you don’t have Prime, it is cheaper to buy directly and means he can donate more to the AVFC Foundation: Amazon and reviews there: Fear Conquers All – Reviews
