Leicester City end-of-season review

The high bar of recent history

That it will not be cherished as a classic goes to show how far the club has risen in recent years. The miracle of 2015-16 set the bar impossibly high while back-to-back fifth-place finishes and 2021’s historic FA Cup success under Rodgers set a dizzying benchmark.

There will, of course, be disappointment that Leicester were unable to build on their FA Community Shield success over Manchester City. There will also be frustration that the Foxes slipped late en route to the Europa Conference League final. But a marathon 58-game campaign cursed by unprecedented levels of injury and absence should not be compared against the best of times when the going was good.

This one was tough. It was a trial. But the fact that Leicester slipped only three league places in this most challenging of environments should be seen as a triumph of the Foxes’ spirit in adversity. Fresh ground was broken, new stars emerged, silverware was claimed – this season was no write-off.

A stop-start season

Rodgers spent most of Leicester’s 58-game season trying to plug gaping holes that kept appearing within his squad. Injury, illness and international commitments dashed his pre-season plans and left his training pitches half-empty.

Due to Leicester’s extended European run and a swathe of domestic postponements in December and January, the run-in saw Leicester cramming 27 games into three-and-a-half months. From early February to late May there wasn’t a single occasion in which Rodgers had a full week to prepare his team for a game. On only four occasions did he have as many as five days to prepare, with three- and four-day gaps the norm.

It was a chaotic, Covid-hit campaign – a schedule crowded one moment and deserted the next. Matches were planned for but not played. Frustrated players grew rusty before being suddenly plunged into an exhaustion-inducing catch-up calendar.

In mid-January, a Covid outbreak – combined with a raft of injuries and players away on Africa Cup of Nations duty – left Rodgers with just eight outfield players. The Premier League granted a postponement against Everton but days later the threadbare Foxes were forced back into action in the FA Cup. Somehow, Watford were defeated 4-1 despite Rodgers having to select ten academy players in his squad.

Absentee issues also played a major role in Leicester’s Europa League campaign. Seven players and three staff members were unable to travel for the final Group C match against Napoli. Only a point was needed for progression but a weakened team was fatally undermined and fell to a 3-2 defeat. Covid had played a key role in shaping the Foxes’ season.

A defence undermined

While the injury and absentee crisis peaked in December and January, the knock-on effect – and several key injury issues that preceded it – meant that the disruption lasted the entire campaign.

The defence was hardest hit as what was likely to be Rodgers’ first-choice backline of Ricardo Pereira, Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana and James Justin failed to start together in a single Premier League game. Moreover, three or all four of those players were absent for a massive 26 of Leicester’s 38 league games.

It is telling that the Foxes looked a different team on the four occasions that Rodgers managed to get as many as three of the four in his Premier League starting line-up. They thrashed Watford and Southampton 5-1 and 4-1 respectively having already drawn 1-1 away at both Manchester United and Everton.

A solid base is key to building a successful team and Rodgers was never able to get close to setting that base, let alone building on it. Leicester’s well-documented struggles in defending set-pieces stemmed from a lack of continuity as it is impossible to become a well-drilled defensive unit when the personnel changes completely from one training session to the next. And, sadly, Leicester’s set-piece struggles also ultimately cost them in Europe, with Tammy Abraham’s header from a corner tipping the Europa Conference League semi-final in Roma’s favour.

Positives from a tough campaign

While injury problems undermined our 2021-22 efforts, their knock-on effect should strengthen us for next season. Crucial matchday experience has been gained by a host of Leicester youngsters who were not merely blooded in the Premier League but actively hardened to top-flight football; the injury crises creating a fast-track learning curve for half of the academy.

Youth team players featured on the bench more often than not, with the priceless experience of working with elite professionals on Premier League match days and European road trips a sure-fire boost to development. Many will now be ready now to either fight for a place in the full-strength squad or head off for a high-level loan move.

A couple have been able to prove their readiness for first-team action. Luke Thomas built on his promising performances of 2020-21 to make a further 31 starts for Rodgers, cementing his position as a reliable option at left back. But fellow academy graduate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall truly stole the limelight, making his full Premier League debut in December and impressing to the point that he instantly made himself undroppable. From having not played a single Premier League minute at the start of this season, he now has a whopping 2,105 top-flight minutes to his name and has barely put a foot wrong. The 23-year-old looks a star in the making.

It was also an important second half of the season for Fofana and Justin, who returned after lengthy injury absences of eight and 11 months respectively. While neither had the pre-season behind them to hit top gear upon their return, both would have found the minutes back on the pitch invaluable. Both were looking like future stars before injury and both will feel like new signings for Rodgers next season.

Similar can be said of last summer’s big signings, Boubakary Soumare and Patson Daka, who have had 12 months acclimatising to a new country, a different language and a faster league. Both enjoyed promising debut campaigns but we can expect both to find another level after a season of bedding in.

What comes next?

Some fans, frustrated by an eighth-place finish, see much need for change. But in an injury-ravaged campaign it is easy to forget just how much quality we already have. Many of our best players have barely been seen or have played in unfavourable circumstances – playing through pain, finding match fitness, suffering a lack of rhythm and constantly having to forge new partnerships.

Next term, we start fresh. Being able to call upon a consistent back four will be transformative. Having the likes of Daka, Soumare and Dewsbury-Hall firmly settled in will add depth and quality to the squad. Midfield duo Wilfred Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy have the summer to shake off niggling injuries to bring steel back to the centre of the park.

Up front, the handover from Jamie Vardy to his successors will continue and Daka has already given a glimpse of what he can do. Rodgers was cautious in easing the young Zambia international into Premier League life but his stunning four-goal haul away at Spartak Moscow in the Europa League highlighted his huge potential. Rodgers is polishing a rough diamond who could shine in 2022-23.

There will, of course, be some reshaping this summer. But any new signings will only add to a squad already bursting with top-six potential – the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Evans, James Maddison and Vardy provide a rich seam of quality and experience along the spine of the team and can pass on their footballing knowledge to rising stars and new signings. Leicester don’t need many new faces to come in for the existing squad to thrive.

We go again

After the FA Cup trophy and fifth-place finish of 2020-21, a season that ended outside the European places might be seen as a step backwards for many onlookers. However, supporters need not fear that this trend will continue. No Premier League rival came close to being as heavily stricken by injuries and Covid outbreaks as Leicester City and there is no reason to suspect the Foxes will be as unfortunate again in 2022-23.

It is certainly no reason to panic. We take from the season the silverware claimed against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Supporters enjoyed Europa League trips to Naples, Warsaw and, in a handful of cases, Moscow. We reached our first ever European semi-final in the Europa Conference League. Despite the seemingly endless setbacks, the only clubs to finish above Leicester in the Premier League were the so-called ‘big six’ and a West Ham team lauded for having one of their greatest-ever campaigns.

Okay, it didn’t reach the heights we had hoped for but the season was no write-off. And now, with no European distraction we can look forward to a campaign that promises a more fruitful domestic challenge in both the league and cups. We’re ready to show that our back-to-back fifth-place finishes and Wembley champagne celebrations were no fluke – we’re here to stay and we’re ready to go again. Come on you Foxes!