Today it’s the turn of Tish Krokosz from our match reporting team in the third of our series of articles providing opinions on last season as well as looking ahead…..
Before the season started what were your hopes on what we could achieve?
I had marked City to come sixth with the hope of Europa League football next season.
Given how the season panned out, in terms of success how do you rate it out of 10 and why?
8 out of 10. One mark deducted for not doing better in the FA Cup and one mark deducted for not maintaining the pre-Christmas standards and results.
Overall how do you rate Brendan Rodgers performance?
He has carried on what was started last season. He comes over well in interviews and will have a plan for each game. Unfortunately, the players let him down in the second half of the season. My only concern is his use of Youri Tielemans. I would prefer him to have a greater attacking role.
Jamie Vardy won the Player of the Year Awards, would he have been your choice and who else do you think deserves praise for their performances?
Yes, he would. To win the Golden Boot in the Premier League is a wonderful achievement. Ndidi and Pereira were nearly always dependable and Söyüncü stood in marvelously after the loss of Maguire.
What were your views on the signings made during last season?
As with a lot of City fans, I was grateful that Tielemans joined the club on a permanent basis after a successful loan spell. However, he has not been as consistent this season.
Justin was brought in as a back up to Pereira and has fulfilled that role very well. He probably did not expect to have as much game time as he had but following the injury to Pereira he fitted in well defensively, but was not as effective or exciting going forward.
Perez has had some good moments but is not consistent enough and probably a little lightweight physically. I wonder whether his natural game is more central than out on the right wing where Rodgers tends to start him.
Praet is a chameleon. He will sometimes get through a whole game without doing anything spectacular, yet will have shown that he has fitted in well with the rest of the midfield.
Which player do you think made the most progress last season and why?
I think Justin will have improved the most due to the unexpected additional game time following his introduction as Pereira’s understudy.
On his good days, Barnes has been wonderful. It would be nice to see a lot more of his attacking prowess.
Although he is far from the finished article, I believe Iheanacho has had his best season with City. He has shown more skill than in previous seasons and has made fewer mistakes.
I have always been a fan of Söyüncü, so I would say that, in his case, he has not made a lot of progress but that he has been allowed to show the strengths this season.
Which player did you think underperformed the most last season and why?
Unfortunately, I would have to say Ben Chilwell. Something changed in the second half of the season that affected his concentration and attitude. It could have been all the talk of other teams chasing his signature or it may have been something more personal. I felt his drop in consistency affected the rest of the team as well.
What was your personal highlight of the season?
It would have to be Southampton 0 Leicester City 9.
VAR – how do you feel about its effectiveness last season and what would you change?
I think any use of technology to eliminate mistakes has to be a good move and I was in favour of VAR being brought in to combat the problems of incompetent, inefficient or unfit referees. I believe that statistically VAR has brought about an improvement in the elimination of mistakes or confirmation of doubtful decisions.
As a fan, sitting, waiting for a decision to be made for what seems like ages, then I can see why there are so many criticisms of the system. I would like to see the referee make use of a pitch-side monitor more often.
I believe the most controversial decisions discussed this season have occurred due to the rules of the game rather than the use of VAR itself. Sort out the rules and VAR may become more acceptable.
Moving onto next season
If you had to choose one position where we needed to strengthen, what would it be?
Many teams play with a lone forward and attacking midfielders, but I believe that Vardy has been left on his own without sufficient assistance on too many occasions. I would like to see a more effective attacker supporting Vardy.
What other changes do you think are necessary to improve on this year’s squad?
As was shown in the last few games of the season, it only takes a couple of injuries and/or suspension to decimate our defence so I would like to see an experienced defender added to the squad especially taking into account the extra games that will come with the Europa League.
Would you be looking to add some experience to a fairly youthful squad or would you continue bringing in younger players and develop them?
The games in the Europa League will definitely call for a greater element of experience. However, I would encourage the use of the younger players in games where we look comfortable towards the end of the second half to bring them confidence and experience. The forced introduction of Luke Thomas was an eye opener for him and the fans.
If you had a chance for a word in the owner’s ears, which player(s) would you be advising to sign?
There are a lot of names being banded about in the press and many of them are unfamiliar to me so it is difficult to comment. Perhaps it depends on who goes and who stays. Currently, there are rumours that several teams are interested in Schmeichel. If he were to go I would wish to see Dean Henderson join the squad.
What are your expectations and fears for next season?
I believe City could end up in a similar position to this year and end up in the Europa League for the following season. If Rodgers is able to improve the squad sufficiently then we should be able to get through the group stages of the Europa League.
I have two fears: one is outside the jurisdiction of the club, manager, or players, that is, the effects on the game of the Covid epidemic and the possibility of games behind closed doors for a prolonged period of time; the other is a run of injuries as experienced towards the end of this season.
With the Europa League, Premier League and 2 Cup competitions, along with a condensed season, what would you give priority to and what would you be prepared to sacrifice?
My order of priority would be as follows:
- Premier League
- Europa League
- FA Cup
- “League” Cup
The Premier League is still the most important financially. Progression in the Europa League would be great for the fans, even though the matches are played on Thursday. We still have not won the FA Cup so some effort should be put into progressing to Wembley. As has been the case in previous seasons, I would not put out a “first” team in the League Cup (who is the sponsor these days?) unless we reach the final.
Any other observation you would like to make
To make way for better and more experienced players in the squad and ones who will adapt to the Rodgers style of play, we need to sell several players. The obvious candidates are those who went out on loan this season.
It would be nice to see the new training ground come into use and give the players and potential new signings something to enjoy whilst they train and prepare for what I hope will be a successful season.
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