Leicester City 0 v 0 Leeds United
Report by Stuart Dawkins
Both teams put a lot of effort into this game, but the most positive thing I can say about it is that, with any luck, it was dull enough to help persuade Sky TV to stop moving the kick off time of so many City matches this season.
A sunny, but blustery, King Power stadium greeted the first home match of the season, at the by now traditional kick-off time of – erm – 4.30pm on Sunday. A large and vociferous Leeds contingent were joined by the City faithful, for the first glimpse of Pearson's new 3-5-2 system in a competitive home game.
So, what was new for the new season? A few things: there were no electronic advertising boards. The big screens now have a useful new scoreboard/clock mode. There is still no announcement, or even screenshot, naming the substitutes (Why not? The official answer about 'loss of atmosphere' makes no sense). City's new home kit looked positively mundane compared with the mock-Fosse Gold sported by Leeds and the mauve (yes, mauve) worn by the match officials. Konchesky now has hair.
Leeds started stronger: getting a lot of possession on the right hand side, which was mostly wasted. City looked the better passing side, but created little. Vardy looked sharper than he had done last season. Schmeichel dealt with the (many) Leeds crosses, otherwise the whole first half passed with as little incident as I can remember in 45 minutes of football.
Indeed, the main talking point was the referee accidentally blocking a Leicester attack, then trying to compensate by back-heeling the ball in the direction of a City player. Apparently, the official match stats suggested City made two shots in the half, and Leeds none; that was a generous count in my view.
The first fifteen minutes of the second half continued in the same vein. Neither side was playing badly, but neither side showed any real spark of creativity; two well-matched sides nullifying each other.
Around the hour mark, Dyer and Knockaert replaced James and de Laet for City, whilst Poleon replaced Hunt up front for Leeds. City moved to a 4-3-1-2 formation, with Moore moving to right back and Knockaert playing behind the two strikers. The game livened up quite a bit for about ten minutes: both Vardy and Nugent sending shots wide on the turn, and there was even a two-minute spell when each side fashioned a decent chance – but could not put a shot on target,
With fifteen minutes to go, Wood replaced Vardy and the very tall Smith replaced Varney up front for Leeds. The game was now a little more open, and each side came close to creating a decisive chance.
By far the most inspiring move of the entire match was when Woods chased a lost cause and kept the ball in play on the right wing, just inside the Leeds half. He turned, put his head down and ran towards goal for twenty yards, then struck a low shot which cannoned off the right-hand post: another two inches to the left and I would probably now be righting of a 'gutsy, professional performance', such can be the margin of error in football!
The match finished at 0 – 0; a deserved score. Both defences will have been pleased with their afternoon's work.
It is dangerous to make judgments based on just one match, but I was not fully convinced by the 3-5-2 set-up. Leeds got behind the City defence far too often, particularly on City's left. Whilst Whitbread was, as ever, dominating in the air, he and Konchesky looked slow at times when pressed by the Leeds right winger and former-City right back Peltier.
Moore had a good game, and Schmeichel looked more confident dealing with crosses than I have seen him before. City's midfield passed the ball better than Leeds, but too often there were repeated quick passes to men already well-marked.
There looked to be more purpose about City's attacks once Dyer and (particularly) Knockaert were on the pitch. In truth, though, Leeds had their best chances during that period too: so that balance of creativity versus defence remains a tricky dilemma for Nigel Pearson.
I suspect Leeds will have a better season this year than last, so a point against them is probably not a bad result, but even Sky Sports at its most over-enthusiastic would have had difficulty calling this game an example of the Championship at its best.
Leicester City: Schmeichel, De Laet, Konchesky, Morgan, Whitbread, Moore, Drinkwater, James, King, Vardy, Nugent. Substitutes: Logan, Dyer, Danns, Waghorn, Schlupp, Knockaert, Wood
Leeds United: Kenny, Peltier, Lees, Pearce, Warnock, Murphy, Green, Austin, McCormack, Hunt, Varney. Substitutes: Ashdown, Drury, White, Brown, Tonge, Smith, Poleon
Attendance: 22,725
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation