What must decide Ruud van Nistelrooy's best duo as Leicester City 'addition' revives old truth
It is cruelly ironic, given Leicester City’s issues at the back this season, that they were knocked out of the FA Cup because they defended a situation so well.
The freeze frame of the moment Bruno Fernandes took Manchester United’s 93rd-minute free-kick showed an almost perfect defensive line from City. Everybody stuck to the plan, with nobody rushing back too early. They caught four United players offside.
Had they dropped deep and played Maguire onside, they would have had a far better chance of challenging for the header and sending the game to extra-time. Ruud van Nistelrooy felt that was the least his team deserved.
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That is debatable. Certainly, City were vastly improved on their performance against Everton, which they needed to be. They had to offer some evidence that that showing was a blip and not the norm.
Defensively, they were much better. In the first half, they pressed and moved well as a team to prevent United from reaching the most dangerous areas with any regularity. When they did have to defend their box, the positioning of the back-line was usually very good and there seemed a greater determination to keep the ball out of the net, while the midfielders rushed back and marshalled the edge of the box really well, making sure they were first to the cutbacks.
On the ball, they were decent. They were not a huge threat, but they were definitely better than United and while Bobby De Cordova-Reid bundled in his goal, the move that forced the rebound was inventive and efficient.
But, all of the above is really only true of the first hour. From then on, United dominated. If the game had gone to extra-time, it felt like there would have only been one winner. City didn’t have a shot after the 52nd minute and it felt like they barely completed any passes into United’s half after then either.
They had no answer to Alejandro Garnacho, who provided nearly all of the quality in United’s display. Ruben Amorim said post-match that they had targeted James Justin with the Argentinian and City didn’t adjust.
For a start, Justin, perhaps on instruction, was stationed too far centrally, and so giving Garnacho lots of room when he first received the ball. But in any case, could City have not put substitute Woyo Coulibaly on the right and used his fresher legs against the winger, and then switched Justin to left-back?
There is also the caveat that United were hopeless for the first hour. It could be argued that City were playing well enough to make them look bad, but it did feel like a lot of United's poor play was self-inflicted.
So yes, it was better from City, but still not quite on the level of the Tottenham performance. Further improvements – and better luck with officials’ decisions – are required.
All signs point to Ndidi as he revives old truth
The moment the game swung in United’s favour was also the moment Wilfred Ndidi was substituted off. It could have been a coincidence, but it most likely wasn’t.
Even with Ndidi a little rusty after two months out – his passes needed to be played with more conviction and he was a quarter of a second too late to some 50-50s – he was still a presence in City’s midfield. He’s spent the best part of a decade protecting defences at this point, so he knows where to be to avert danger.
It was the first opportunity van Nistelrooy had to re-establish the midfield partnership from his first two games and he took it. Not only that, but he named Ndidi captain too. All signs point to Ndidi and Soumare being his preferred pairing in the centre of the pitch from here until the end of the season, fitness pending.
In the absence of a host of January signings, van Nistelrooy described Ndidi as an “addition” this week. His post-match assessment of the Nigerian provided further evidence that he sees him as one of, if not the most important player.
“You’ve seen the game, the way he played, the way he lifted the team, on the ball, off the ball,” van Nistelrooy said. “His performance was excellent, but also his leadership.
“Not only the captain’s armband he wore, the way he led the team, the way he demanded from his surroundings, coaching, talking, preventing situations from occurring. I thought Bouba and Wilf had a great partnership today on the ball but also off the ball to control the game.”
Harry Winks will be the man to make way. It didn’t help that, although his pass completion was higher than Ndidi’s, it didn’t feel like it. City were overwhelmed by United at that point and Winks did little to turn the tide, giving the ball away and allowing them to build attacks.
At this point, it would be a surprise if Ndidi and Soumare weren’t starting together against Arsenal. It feels like the old days again, when Ndidi is one of the first names on the teamsheet, and when there was the sense that City can't win without him.
Chemistry must decide centre-back duo
With Caleb Okoli starting his first game under van Nistelrooy, that’s now four different centre-back partnerships the manager has used. It feels like he’s come full circle.
The last time Okoli and Wout Faes played together in a two-man centre-back pairing was Steve Cooper’s final game. But that was only because Jannik Vestergaard was injured. Okoli had actually been dropped by Cooper a few matches earlier after a couple of mistake-heavy games.
Again, Okoli’s place in the team may solely have been decided by Vestergaard’s absence, but his strong performance in the wake of the Dane’s torrid outing at Everton now has fans calling for the Italian to start regularly. It only furthers the idea that nobody, not even van Nistelrooy, knows what City’s best centre-back partnership is.
First, it was Conor Coady and Vestergaard, then Coady and Faes had a game, with Faes and Vestergaard partnering up since then. None of the combinations have yet earned van Nistelrooy a clean sheet.
When the manager has made changes at centre-back before, he’s pointed to the different attributes each of his defenders has and what’s best for facing each opponent. That's sensible. But it does feel like he also needs to consider which duo work best together.
Perhaps more than any other position on the pitch, the understanding between two players is vital at centre-back. The best centre-backs do come in pairs. For all the good work Faes and Vestergaard did last season, it doesn’t really feel like they have that defensive cohesion between them.
Okoli, wobbly in his recent substitute outings, has now thrown his hat into the ring to be considered for more regular game-time. This was a very good showing, one where he did all of the defensive basics well, and then provided an amazing goal-line clearance, sliding in when some of his team-mates had resigned themselves to conceding.
It will be interesting to see who van Nistelrooy picks at centre-back against Arsenal, and whether the chemistry between them will have an impact on his choice. It feels like it needs to if City are to begin to keep clean sheets again.
Balance needed to not cramp El Khannouss's style
It doesn’t feel totally sensible to build a team around one player, because if they get injured, the gameplan goes down with them. But, saying that, it does feel like City should do their utmost to get Bilal El Khannouss on the ball as much as possible.
Perhaps because he’s now adjusted to a new country, but perhaps also because of the confidence van Nistelrooy has filled him with, the Moroccan is now consistently the best player on the pitch for City. He’s the man that’s going to make things happen.
Simply, City need to get the ball into his feet as much as they can. They need players on the pitch that will create space for him, make runs for him, connect with him. City’s attack is still largely missing that spark, but they come alive when El Khannouss gets on the ball.
It does sometimes feel that when the likes of Jordan Ayew and Bobby De Cordova-Reid come inside, as they tend to do, they can cramp El Khannouss’s style a little. It makes it more congested in the middle and harder for him to weave his magic. There’s a balance to strike. El Khannouss needs support, but he needs players to spread the ball to as well.
Collective fan power needed to force change
This was City’s third trip to Old Trafford this season and their third defeat. Fans journeyed hours up the A50 and M6 in the Friday traffic to get there, and then saw their team concede a last-minute goal that should not have counted.
But supporters will grin and bear all of that for the love of the game and for the loyalty to their club. However, they shouldn’t have to pay £62 for a ticket.
In the pandemic, clubs were shown how empty the game is without fans in the grounds. They should not be charging them through the roof for them to get in.
A boycott by City supporters over the pricing saw around 1,800 tickets of the 3,100 allocation returned to United. The move picked up some traction on social media, and the consensus was that United’s prices were abysmally high.
But they are not the only guilty club. Lots are hiking up ticket prices. It feels like it’s going to require more collective action from supporters, across all clubs, to get things to change.
