Leicester City have not had an easy ride as they adapt to life without N’Golo Kante, and even this early in the campaign, changes may need to be made.
Everybody expected Leicester City to have a much tougher season this time around after capturing the Premier League title last year. And so far the Foxes have had exactly that. Currently sitting in 16th place, Leicester are struggling a little more than expected.
Of course, nobody expects Claudio Ranieri to repeat last year’s incredible feat. But after keeping hold of many of his star players in the summer, a finish somewhere between 5th and 10th could be expected.
Leicester have had some difficult fixtures to begin with – Arsenal and Liverpool in particular. But the Foxes also lost to Hull City, before their only win so far in their third game against Swansea City.
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Rather than the results, it’s the performances, however, that do not seem as controlled, assured and defensively sound as last season. The biggest influence in that regard is the one sizable loss that Ranieri did suffer in the summer, N’Golo Kante.
Whilst Kante receives rave reviews for his performances for Chelsea, Leicester City are left to wonder just how they replace the Frenchman in their team. By the looks of things, Ranieri is still pondering that question right now.
Nampalys Mendy arrived from Ligue 1 side Nice to replace Kante. The midfielder is a similar player to Kante, but is he the same level? If not, then how many levels below exactly? Mendy picked up an ankle injury against Arsenal and hasn’t been seen since.
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Without Mendy – and perhaps even with him when he returns – it looks apparent that Ranieri needs to think about a change in formation. Playing 4-4-2 last year worked well with the energy and work rate of Danny Drinkwater alongside Kante.
But you need the right two players to play that way. Without Kante, Leicester look a lot more open than they did in the last campaign. On Saturday, Liverpool put four goals past a Foxes defense that was among the best in the league last season.
Kante got through so much work and won the ball back so often that the protection he gave the Leicester centre-backs was a huge part of that defense. Wes Morgan and Robert Huth probably feel like they’re doing twice the work they did last season already. The defenders’ defender isn’t around anymore.
The often flippant term of it taking ‘two men to replace one’ might actually be true in this case. Ranieri might have to put three men in midfield to do the work that two men did last season. If Mendy returns and shows he can replace Kante well enough to subside current concerns, then great.
But the way things are going, it really is going to take two men to replace Kante. Ranieri has the quick wing players to play a 4-3-3 with Marc Albrighton, Riyad Mahrez, Ahmed Musa, Demarai Gray and Jamie Vardy all able to play the wide roles. Combined with either Vardy or Islam Slimani in the lone striker role.
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Multiple central midfielders can combine to play in a three-man midfield alongside Drinkwater. Mendy will soon be returning and there is also the likes of Daniel Amartey, Andy King and Matty James. Ranieri does have the pieces to make a switch in formation.
On the evidence from the early stages of this season, a change of some kind is needed sooner rather than later.