It was always the case that Leicester were going to struggle to defend their top-flight crown. The Foxes’ accomplishment last season was nothing short of spectacular as they defied all the odds to become only the fifth team to lift the Premier League title in history. This season, though, they are failing to replicate their fine form. Coming into December, Claudio Ranieri’s side hover just two points above the relegation zone and have won more Champions League games (4) than they have in the Premier League (3).
There was reason to be optimistic for Leicester as they convinced Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez to turn down the overtures of rival sides to extend their stay at the King Power Stadium, though the sale of N’Golo Kante looks to have hurt the side even more than originally anticipated. Kante was one of the stars of the season, of that there is no doubt, and it’s no coincidence that, with the Frenchman adapting to his new surroundings with ease, Chelsea top the Premier League.
Without him, Vardy and Mahrez are flailing. The former netted 24 league goals last season, while the latter gained a better WhoScored rating (7.84) than any other Premier League player. For some, the bubble looks to have burst, regardless of their excellent start to life in the Champions League. However, while Mahrez is making up for his dip in domestic form to some extent in Europe’s elite club competition, Vardy’s goalscoring woes are well documented.
At this stage last season, Vardy had 14 league goals to his name from 14 appearances. This term, though, the 29-year-old has bagged only twice from 13 appearances and he hasn’t scored a Premier League goal since Leicester’s 4-1 loss to Liverpool in mid-September. With the lackadaisical showings in the final third, it’s no shock then that Vardy’s rating is a lowly 6.52 this term after he attained a 7.51 last term.
Indeed, only teammate Mahrez (1.08) has seen his rating drop further than Vardy (0.99) over the two Premier League seasons. It’s a concern for Leicester of that there is no doubt. Kante was crucial to the way the club played last season, with the club willingly sitting back and soaking up pressure before hitting opponents on the break. Without the energetic France international breaking up play, the Foxes’ have thus far failed to replicate their fine form from last season. Leicester had more shots on the counter attack (18) than any other Premier League team last term. That figure has since dropped to just two, one of the lowest.
After often blitzing opponents who have been caught short at the back, teams have become all too aware of the threat Leicester carry and their primary route to goal. “They (Vardy and Mahrez) were our key dangermen. Perhaps other teams are looking at ‘how we can keep them quiet, because if we can we’ve got a good chance of getting a result against Leicester’,” captain Wes Morgan recently told ESPN. Teams, while perhaps not taking Leicester’s title charge all too seriously, have altered their approach to frustrate Vardy and the rest.
Vardy thrives by maximising the space left between the defence and goalkeeper, noted in that of the 18 shots Leicester had on the counter attack last term, 12 were courtesy of Vardy. He’s yet to have one this season. Moreover, his average number of touches per match have dropped from 31.4 to 23.6 with the Englishman struggling to get on the ball in the final third as opposition defenders mark the striker out of the game. It’s seen Mahrez pass to Vardy just once in the Premier League since September 17th, which is all the more startling considering the Mahrez to Vardy assist-to-goalscorer combination returned five goals last season, one of the better figures.
While the latter would make surging runs beyond the opposition backline to be picked out by the former, a lack of space to run into means Vardy is failing to have the desired impact in front of goal. His average number of shots per game have dropped from 3.2 to 1.2, while of the eight penalties Vardy has won since the start of last season, just one has come this term. This further denotes that a player of the striker’s ilk requires a certain environment to thrive and while Leicester are doing all they can to implement a direct, counter attacking approach once more, opponents have clocked onto how Vardy operates and are successfully nullifying his impact.
The England international cast a frustrated figure when hauled off with 25 minutes to go in the 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough and having mustered just nine touches - one of which was in the opposition penalty box - it’s easy to see why. However, as the campaign wears on, it’s looking increasingly likely that last season was a flash in the pan for Vardy as he and Leicester struggle to match the heights of the club’s title winning campaign.
