Leicester City Fan View: A lacklustre Foxes' display in need of plan B

Maybe the key takeaway from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Huddersfield is that we still got a point. It certainly goes a little way to compensation for the incredibly lifeless first half display from Leicester City. Devoid of any alternative plans once again though, it’s put Craig Shakespeare in the firing line for some.

The first half was our worst forty-five minutes of any game so far this season. It was a throwback to some of the dreadful away displays from last season with one difference. Had we done that last season, we’d have found ourselves trailing by the break. It’s always frustrating when a team plays you at your own game like Huddersfield did yesterday. Particularly when they closed down the ball with such enthusiasm and tenacity; exactly like we would have done previously. Instead, we looked lacklustre, slow to respond and lacking any sort of momentum to fix it.

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Not that you’d have known it, but we looked ok in the first couple of minutes. David Wagner displayed why his Huddersfield side have enjoyed a bright start to the season though. It didn’t take long for the home side to get on top and Shakespeare’s Foxes looked clueless to it. Counting ourselves lucky to start the second half on a level field, we even blew that early on. Huddersfield will be happy with how they bagged an early goal but it was in disappointing fashion that we conceded it. Harry Maguire, our rock at the back, had his first tough game for us. It showed how quickly we’ve come dependant on him too.

The Foxes were fortunate to be level so soon. The challenge on Andy King was a penalty, but a daft one to concede when it appeared King was running the ball away from goal into no man’s land. Jamie Vardy stepped up and smashed it home for the second week in a row. His desire wasn’t questionable. It was the first league partnership for he and Kelechi Iheanacho. Their understanding of one another has developed well on the training field. We saw several moments where one passed to the other who’d timed his run well. It’s a partnership that will produce the goods; just not in a game where we play like this.

Managers in charge of their first full season may get a free pass for time. Shakespeare isn’t getting that for most due to the time he’s been at the club and for knowing many of the squad already. While he might be trying to integrate some new blood into the side, slowly, due to injuries and transfer sagas, it’s not an untested formation either. Despite showing many cracks in the system, we’re still persisting with our trademark 4-4-2 and counter-attacking, though it works for us less and less these days. Wagner proved he’d done his homework and Huddersfield correctly exploited all of our weaknesses.

For the second game in a row, we were left ruing missed opportunities. It was an improved second half and we looked more of a threat. At 1-1, Vardy had the perfect chance to have put Leicester ahead. Would we have deserved it? No. If we’d have got it though, it might have instilled the confidence and energy we looked to be lacking. Superbly worked from Riyad Mahrez, the striker usually scores goals like that with his eyes closed. It wasn’t to be on this occasion, but it was a huge moment for us.

Shakespeare will remain under scrutiny for the next couple of weeks. With Iborra all but ready to play and Adrien Silva allegedly available soon, there’ll no excuses of selection issues to look at. His substitutions have to start working more effectively, and ultimately, it’s the results and points that fans want. Had that Vardy chance have gone in and meant the Foxes stole all three points, would the debate of ‘is he the right man?’ be quite so widespread. Back to back games in the cup and league against Liverpool this week give Shakespeare the chance to silence his critics.