http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35955616 A very good and insightful article from Watford Troy Deeney on his observations of Leicester City. What is their secret? Watford striker Troy Deeney, who has faced them twice this season, tells Match of the Day 2 what it is like trying to break down the Leicester back four. Deeney: "I have played against every Premier League defence this season for Watford, and Leicester's Robert Huth is the toughest opponent I have faced. "Huth is the sort of centre-half who will let you know he is there, so to speak, with a challenge or two early in the game. "But when I got my chance, I made sure I let him know I was about too. To be fair, he did not seem to mind. "Like his team-mate Wes Morgan, who I had many battles with in the Championship earlier in our careers, Huth is old-school - an out-and-out defender who really enjoys the physical side of the game. "That is normally the side I thrive on too, but I did not have much joy against the German. He is horrible to play against, in the most complimentary way. "He heads it, he kicks it, and he kicks you - anything - he does not care, as long as the ball does not go in. "Huth is not a player who gives you verbals when you are out on the pitch - in both games against him this season, he hardly talked to me. "But in terms of talking to each other, the whole Leicester defence never stopped for the entire game, including Kasper Schmeichel in goal. "And if Danny Drinkwater did not hear the right call then he was always going back from midfield and asking what was what too. That is one of the reasons they are so well organised at the back." Deeney: "Part of my job leading the line for Watford is to occupy centre-halves - by that I mean those battles with Huth, say, to try to win headers when the ball is played forward. "But I also look to bring centre-halves out of position to the flanks and make space for my team-mates in the middle. "It is difficult to do that against Leicester because their centre-halves, Huth and Wes Morgan, never put themselves in danger of being isolated. "When Watford had the ball in wide areas they kind of left us to it, and concentrated on dealing with the cross rather than stopping it being put in. "Huth and Morgan take two positions - one takes the near post and the other takes the middle of the box near the penalty spot as if to say 'go on, cross it, and we will deal with it'." Deeney: "The other thing that makes it harder to break down Leicester than the other top teams is that both their full-backs are very switched-on defensively. "Most full-backs in the Premier League bomb on now, and I don't want to be disrespectful to them but it is often a lot easier when you are up against a right winger who has been switched to a right-back. "It seems to be more about how good they are going forward, and there are not many who are as solid as Danny Simpson and Christian Fuchs are for Leicester. "Yes, they can join the attack too, as Fuchs showed with his cross for their winner against Southampton, but if he is forward down the left then you know Simpson will drop in rather than getting up the pitch down the right too. "The whole team all know their jobs, from front to back, and they all work very hard too. "I am not surprised to find out that Shinji Okazaki is the most substituted player in the Premier League this season, because he runs himself into the ground every time. "It would be easy for the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy to say 'we are too good for this' but they don't. "Leicester are still playing the same counter-attacking football they were playing home and away in the first half of the season, but they are getting better at it and I can see why they have only lost three league games out of 32 so far." Deeney: "When the ball was played forward to me against Leicester, I had to try to bring it down and hold it up with Huth behind me grappling with me and putting me under pressure. "Then you have also got N'Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater buzzing around you too. "Kante was just everywhere against us - I was watching the Southampton game in the Match of the Day 2 production office and he was the same in that match too. "If he is taking a breather, which is not often, then Drinkwater is there doing exactly the same. "You don't know where they are coming from, but you know they are coming, so when you have got the ball you are thinking 'I need to lay it off quickly'. "It works so well because they are both so energetic. If one of them gets forward, then he knows the other has got the legs to cover for him. "If teams want to come through the middle, they have to get past those two first. "And, as we saw against Southampton, you don't just have to get past Kante, you have to keep him behind you, which is the hardest part. He has been the best midfielder in the Premier League this season." Deeney: "With Kante and Drinkwater in the middle, in front of their centre-halves, they kind of funnel teams wide, and invite them to cross. "As I said earlier, Huth and Morgan are waiting for the ball to come in but what makes Leicester different from a lot of the top teams is that their full-backs are prepared for it too. "Dealing with crosses at the back post might be a weakness with some of those sides who have wingers at full-back because they are less likely to win headers, but Simpson and Fuchs tuck in and know what they have to do. "They are very effective when the ball comes in and it means that, as a striker, you cannot pull on to them to avoid the big centre-halves either. "Allowing teams to cross is part of their attacking ploy too. "Leicester are the kind of team that want you to get a little bit confident when you come forward, thinking you are on top. "Then, when you commit men forward and are getting excited because you are having all these crosses and think the momentum is with you, that is when they pounce with a quick break using the pace of their forwards." Deeney: "The support that Leicester get at the King Power Stadium is the kind of thing that will help them get over the line. "If the team is nervy, like they were at the back end of Sunday's game, then their fans are not stupid - they realised their team needed them and raised the noise levels again. "Part of that is down to the thousands of cardboard clappers the club leave out on the seats for fans before games. "I think that actually started in the Championship play-offs in 2013, when we beat them in the semi-finals. "I remember it being a bit annoying in the first leg at their place when their fans were using them but, now I am playing in the Premier League, I actually appreciated the noise when we went there. "I don't want to sound too critical, but a lot of fans at some grounds I go to have got cameras in their hands, taking pictures of anything rather than generating any atmosphere during the game. "At Leicester, it was all about getting behind their team."
I thought that article was very interesting and insightful as well. Fair play to Leicester, with everyone expecting them to drop off they've not only kept defying expectations, but also kept working incredibly hard for each other and gotten better and better as the season has gone on! They deserve every success they get.
This is what I envy most about Leicester fans. They're fortunate that they have a team that leave it all out on the pitch win, lose or draw. We have the better quality. If only we had a manager that demanded more from our lot every time they pull on that Arsenal kit. I (and I'm sure most Gooners) am not demanding we must win trophies. It's just effort. We know the quality is there. With full commitment the prizes will naturally follow at some point. I find myself feeling guilty for hoping Leicester get beat. It is just hard not to appreciate hardwork.
It also begs the question, why are Arsenal the only team to have done the double over them this season? Just curious.
It's like a throwback story of the 1970's/80's. They've defied big business, money orientated football and got results based on good old fashioned teamwork, grit and determination. Brian Clough would be proud of what they've achieved this season and winning the title would be their just desserts.
Slightly related- do you think Arsenal fans would accept that sort of centre-half? For want of a better word, a thug, though I don't mean that in a negative way. I know there's a history there but I think Ryan Shawcross would be ideal. Would never happen, of course.
We tend to want CB's who are also good with the ball at their feet as we like to play out from the back and with pace. I think that's the main reason we won't sign someone like a Shawcross or Huth. They suit their team's style, but not Arsenal's or Wenger's. Mert is a good example, he was slow before, but he's gotten even slower now on the ball, and whenever he gets the ball, he always slows our play down, with having to touch the ball too many times, and that in general hurts our overall play to move the ball quick and fast, by the time Mert gets and releases the ball, the opposition team has managed to get into their positions and sit tight. If you even look out our DMF's, other than Flamini, Elneny-Coq are very good with the ball on their feet, that's always Wenger's style, he doesnt want someone who can just defend and be a hard man, but someone who can also play some proper football with nice passes-plays.
I think that's a bit snobby. Why go for a defender who can pass rather than having one who can defend alongside all the others who can pass a bit better, to complement them? It's not like the likes of Shawcross and Huth don't know what to do with the ball at their feet.
Well it might be snobby, but that's the thinking. How many times have we seen a good player left out of a side because he didnt fit a certain type of managers philosophy? It happens to the very best as well, just look at Ibra at Barca, Mata at Chelski, the ****load of good strikers United have let go under LVG.
As long as they can defend and providing they know how to pass a ball, I don't really care what 'type' of player they are.
If he fits the manager's vision of his tactics and team, then yes. I'd like to go back to a more solid team structure, back to the invincibles era. But times have changed and we're now looking at more skillful, mobile players in all positions, even goalkeepers are more mobile like Lloris and Neuer. But Leicester have shown that making it simple is sometimes the best.
They've made everything looks just so simple. All this talk of pressing, counter pressing, Tika-taka has just given fancy names to complicated tactics. With no disrespect to them but they've got big cb's who head and kick it away, 2 CM's who run around and put opposition under loads of pressure when they get the ball in leicesters half, and have 2 quick players up top and on wing who chase down everything and exploit the space teams leave when they push players forward. They've not put themselves in danger by trying to overplay things out the back like many teams try and do. Their football isn't always a joy to watch, they're very direct but we've all become football snobs all wanting to play lovely football while winning games 4-0. They are still decent to watch as they look a real threat with pace though, unlike say Chelsea under Mourinho where they'd win 1-0 but would bore the teams to a 1-0 win.
Leicester are currently very good at getting points. I'm not entirely sure they're a sustainably good football team yet though.
That's exactly how you win the title, you keep it consistent and gt those points no matter what. They should win the Premiership because they are playing like Champions.
What a lot of people forget is that Leicester's run comes off the back of last season as well. Under Pearson, they went on a miraculous run of form to stay up and they've continued that into this season.
Not really what I was getting at. Nick Matthew is fantastic at winning squash matches even if James Willstrop is a better natural squash player. Leicester are good at getting wins at the moment but I can't see what they do as being a sustainably successful method of challenging year after year. I look at them and think 'Greece 2004' rather than 'Spain 2008'.
But isn't that the name of the game, getting wins consistently and winning the title? They keep it simple but they are also capable of playing some good stuff. Also, how many teams in the Premiership play outstanding stuff? Even if they don't win the Premiership again, at least they can say they did when all the odds were against them. They would have achieved something that no other club has and will achieve in the future.
