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Leicester City player ratings v Brentford as woeful display shows Van Nistelrooy size of task
Ruud van Nistelrooy was shown the size of the task he has to keep Leicester City in the Premier League as his new side suffered their joint-heaviest defeat of the campaign at Brentford.
With the new manager in the stands to watch on before his debut as boss on Tuesday, he witnessed defensive vulnerability and a lack of attacking threat. Brentford, unbeaten at home this season, put City to the sword with Kevin Schade scoring a hat-trick.
Facundo Buonanotte had put City into a shock lead, Yoane Wissa equalising immediately, with nothing to shout about for the rest of the match. The 1,700 away fans, angry at the performance turned on director of football Jon Rudkin and the players themselves, with Steve Cooper no longer there to take the brunt of the blame.
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There was a shake-up to the line-up even before Van Nistelrooy officially takes charge. Caretaker boss Ben Dawson switched City to a back five, introducing four new faces, including Conor Coady and Luke Thomas for their first Premier League starts of the season.
The new manager nearly saw two goals in the first five minutes as Buonanotte pounced on Mark Flekken’s poor pass and drew a save from the Brentford goalkeeper, with Mads Hermansen then needing to be at his best to claw over Schade’s looping header. In the stands, the City fans made their thoughts clear, chanting: “We want Rudkin out!”
Brentford began to dominate and they penned City in for 10 minutes. Just as the pressure looked like it might become overwhelming for City, they broke free and scored.
Jamie Vardy won a 50-50 shoulder barge with Ethan Pinnock and then had the composure to offload to Buonanotte as he fell to the ground, the Argentinian rolling in his fourth of the season. It was just the third time in 13 games they’ve scored first.
But eight minutes later, they were behind. Mikkel Damsgaard pierced the City back-line and Schade teed up Wissa for a tap-in, then Schade turned goalscorer, finishing first-time at the back post after a quick Brentford breakaway.
It made the scoreline more reflective of the pattern of the game, with Brentford able to put themselves into a commanding lead before the break. City gave Damsgaard too much space on the edge of the box to find Schade, played onside by Wout Faes, the German dinking over Hermansen and the ball bouncing in off the far post.
City needed to tighten up at the back and find a spark in attack for a chance at a result. They didn’t do either and Schade had his hat-trick on the hour. Nathan Collins linked play well to advance forward from centre-back and then slipped through a perfect pass for Schade to slide in.
Dawson made changes and while the game became more even, Brentford knew the match was won. Still, their keep-ball sessions in City’s half prompted more chants towards Rudkin, as well as shouts of “this is embarrassing” and “you’re not fit to wear the shirt”. It’s first-hand evidence of the big job Van Nistelrooy has. Here’s how we scored the players.
Mads Hermansen: He’s no longer saving City with the heroics he produced in previous weeks, and the goals are flying in. He still pulled off one excellent save early on, and couldn’t be blamed for the efforts that did beat him. His kicking wasn’t great though. 4
James Justin: Another match where he will face a lot of scrutiny, and he was certainly guilty of losing his runner from time to time, in costly fashion for the Wissa goal. He did get forward consistently though to try to make something happen. 4
Wout Faes: Another shoddy outing from the Belgian. His defensive understanding with Justin is nonexistent and it leads to so many problems. Then for the third Brentford goal, he was far too deep, playing Schade on. He then became petulant, rushing out but failing to beat his men to the ball. 3
Conor Coady: There were a few headers and a decent block here and there, but there was no outstanding defensive contribution from Coady on his first league start. He didn’t make City stronger at the back. 4
Caleb Okoli: He asked too much of team-mates with his passes and then couldn’t get back quickly enough to prevent the Wissa goal. Bar win a couple of headers, he didn’t do much good. 4
Luke Thomas: The best-performing of the defenders on his first league start. He didn’t shy away from the physical battles and kept Mbeumo relatively quiet, except for the second goal, when he gambled on an interception and left him free. Got forward well in the second half. 5
Wilfred Ndidi: Another new role for City’s shapeshifter, who was tasked with being the deep-lying ball-player in place of the injured Winks. He couldn’t manage it, never asserting himself on the game, and he didn’t get back quickly enough for the third goal either. 4
Boubakary Soumare: He sat too deep at times, standing on the back three’s toes, and that kept City from getting forward. But he did work hard, and was tidy on the ball. One of City’s better players again. 5
Facundo Buonanotte: He was in the right place at the right time to tap in, but apart from that, it wasn’t a great afternoon for the Argentinian. None of his dribbles came off and so he could not provide the spark he usually does. 5
Jordan Ayew: Aside from a nice through ball for the goal, he did very little of note. He tried to do too much on the ball and continually lost it, while blazed over for City’s best second-half chance. 4
Jamie Vardy: He made the goal, showing speed, strength and awareness to beat Pinnock and then tee up Buonanotte. He was clever when linking play but wasn’t a threat inside the box. 6
Jannik Vestergaard: He made the defence steadier, but as he wasn’t in the middle of the back three, he couldn’t dictate play. There were no moments of excellent defending either. 5
Oliver Skipp: Ran hard but not necessarily effectively. Didn’t influence the game. 4
Stephy Mavididi: He dribbled at pace and forced Brentford back, nearly scoring a great solo goal. He looked most likely to make something happen and may have caught Van Nistelrooy’s eye. 6
Patson Daka: Maybe it’s rustiness, but he looked nervous to attack defenders and get first-time shots away. His runs in behind were rarely found. 4
Bobby De Cordova-Reid: Not on the pitch for long enough. N/A
