JibrinRare call exposes Gary Rowett’s Leicester City squad truth as biggest manager mystery finally solved
Talking points from Leicester City’s 2-2 draw at Stoke and Rowett’s debut as manager, looking at the dramatic finale, the style of play, the lack of substitutions, Divine Mukasa, and more
“You can’t wave a magic wand and create a solution for everything,” Gary Rowett said following his debut as Leicester City manager. “You can’t solve it overnight.”
That’s true enough. The same, persistent frailties that have plagued City all season were evidenced again at Stoke.
City conceded inside the opening 10 minutes for the 11th time this season. That’s four more times than any other side in the division. City conceded a result-changing goal in the final 15 minutes for the seventh different game this season. That’s the most in the division.
Both goals came from crosses, something Andy King highlighted as a weakness just over a week ago.
Rowett has been brought in as a firefighter, but there are too many fires to put out, too many fires that have been raging for months. However, one was extinguished. At least for now.
After Ben Wilmot’s second goal in the 89th minute, it would have been expected that City would crumble. The Southampton catastrophe was fresh in the mind and the 2,800 travelling supporters would have been fearing yet another late turnaround.
Instead, City responded superbly, creating three chances, two which really should have been converted by Joe Aribo or Luke Thomas. If a draw was a fair result at 90 minutes, then City arguably deserved victory for the way they pushed late on.
The second-half performance, the overturning of a half-time deficit, the ending of a losing run, and the late, late push for a winner made this feel like a small step in the right direction, even with the Stoke equaliser.
But the question is whether City really have time for small steps. With one game gone and the club still in the relegation zone, the strides forward need to start getting bigger.
Biggest question over Rowett style answered
Perhaps the biggest question mark over Rowett’s appointment was how a manager whose sides typically play with less of the ball would utilise a squad that’s been built to try to dominate it.
Where would the compromise be? Would Rowett make the players play his way or would he adapt to the tools at his disposal? We now have an answer.
City had 55 per cent of the ball at Stoke, above their average for the season. If that wasn’t enough evidence, Rowett said it was the gameplan as much in his press conference.
The manager knows the problems are in defence and one tactic to protect the defence is to keep the ball as much as possible.
Discussing Harry Winks’ performance, Rowett said: “Winksy, he can control games of football in the Championship. Clearly for us at the moment, we’re better controlling the game with the ball than we are without the ball. He’s going to be a key player for us.”
Naturally, the doubts over how City would play led to doubts over Winks too. There is no player in the squad who is more indicative of a possession-based game.
It could have been that he was sidelined while the likes of Oliver Skipp and Joe Aribo, players who get through more work off the ball, were selected at the base of midfield.
But in that performance, and Winks’ role at the heart of it, Rowett has shown how he plans to play over these next couple of months, and that’s by trying to keep the ball.
Two subs and Aribo on the wing reveals squad stance
Rowett also gave clues as to how he sees his squad. The new manager used just two substitutions at Stoke, the fewest City have made in a game this season.
Opting to utilise fewer than half of the available five changes is a rarity, and given Luke Thomas for Victor Kristiansen was an injury swap, it may have been that Rowett would have preferred to make only one.
That one was telling too, the manager choosing to bring Aribo on for Jeremy Monga in a right-wing role the Southampton loanee is not used to. In selecting the Nigerian, Rowett overlooked three natural wingers in Silko Thomas, Wanya Marcal and Dujuan Richards.
Even in the few days that Rowett has been in charge, he’s spoken extensively about the number of injuries in the squad, and the surprise absences of two key attacking players took the list of unavailable players to a not insignificant nine.
Rowett has said already that he feels some of City’s woes have been caused by those injuries and that solving them rests, to a degree, on those players returning.
The limited substitutions, the use of Aribo as a winger, the frustration around injured senior players, it all adds up to suggest Rowett is going to focus on using older heads.
Yes, in Divine Mukasa and Jeremy Monga, an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old started. But they’re already at the level and progressing, whereas other youngsters in the squad perhaps need the experience to work up to the level. That’s experience they may not get under Rowett.
“The squad’s where it is,” he said. “We’ve lost big, key players that make a huge difference. We need to get players back so we can have a slightly more mature bench.
“We’ve got some great young lads who have worked really hard in training and have been impressive, but sometimes when you’re under pressure at this stage of the season, you want some calmer heads that have done it before.”
Creative heart Mukasa can be City saviour
That’s two goals and two assists in two league starts for Mukasa, and arguably he could have had more. For all Rowett’s talk of mature players, it was an 18-year-old who was City’s star man on the day.
He did not have the best of first halves, like many, but when he came alive in the second period, he was exceptionally good.
His goal was a cross, but one so devilish it deceived Tommy Simkin. The back-heel to set up Winks was sumptuous.
A pass through the legs of a defender to tee up Stephy Mavididi’s shot just past the past could have seen him rack up another assist, one he was also unfortunate not to get in the very final stages.
It was Mukasa who crossed to Aribo for his saved effort, while the Manchester City loanee also delivered a perfect ball with his weaker foot to find Luke Thomas for what should have been a last-gasp winner.
In all, Mukasa played six key passes. That’s the most by a City player in a single game this season.
The teenager is obviously a potential star of the future, but also a potential saviour for City. On the basis of his first few appearances, he needs to be an ever-present in the side.
“Divine, he’s got a lovely balance and elegance to him,” Rowett said. “First half, he was just trying to maybe play things too quickly, little ones around the corner that didn’t quite come off.
“Second half he really settled down. By getting him in that opposite pocket and by switching play to him, he can start to feed Stephy and they link quite well second half. They caused a lot of problems to Stoke. I thought he was a real positive second half.”
In the Championship, survivors cause upsets
It might ordinarily be said that any away point is a good point. But it’s not necessarily a result that feels like it’s gained City much ground.
They are now just a point behind West Brom, who lost to Coventry, but this was a weekend in which several of their relegation rivals pulled out excellent results.
Blackburn won the Lancashire derby against play-off-chasing Preston, Portsmouth won away at high-flying Millwall, while Charlton and Oxford claimed draws at Southampton and Middlesbrough, which, right now, are more intimidating clubs to visit than Stoke.
The nature of the Championship means that relegation battlers can pull off victories over sides above them fairly regularly. City are going to have to start doing that soon too.
Of all the clubs in the battle, City have, marginally, the toughest fixture list based on the home-and-away points-per-game ratios of their remaining opponents.
They’re going to have to start upsetting the odds to ensure they survive.
Jibrin
