Last season Leicester City went on to do the unthinkable by winning the Premier League title. However, the new season has brought with it new challenges and expectations. More importantly, their triumph last season means that Leicester also have to contend with the resulting Champions League campaign this season.
What made Leicester’s achievement even more commendable was the fact that they did so by possessing one of the smallest squads in the league. However, having a relatively small squad also meant that there was certain stability and consistency about Leicester’s line-up in most games last season. And this stability and consistency went a long way in guiding Leicester to the title.
However, defending a title is a completely different ball game from winning one. Moreover, having made a rather slow start to their Premier League campaign this season, Leicester now lie in 11th place; already playing catch up in the quest to defend their title.
Depth and defending the title
One of the things that Leicester would have to do to have any chance of retaining their title was to add depth to their squad during the transfer window. The biggest step that Leicester has taken in that direction is signing Islam Slimani from Sporting Club de Portugal on deadline day for a club record fee of £28 million.
Moreover, Slimani’s performance against Burnley on Saturday showed everyone what he is all about. The Algerian has always been a proven goal scorer and maintained that reputation by marking his Premier League debut with a brace, as Leicester eventually ran out 3-0 winners at home.
What Slimani brings to Leicester
Still only 28, Slimani has been in the limelight ever since he joined Sporting in 2013; and coming off the back of scoring 31 goals in 44 appearances for Sporting in all competitions last season, Slimani has truly established himself as one of Europe’s top marksmen.
But what Slimani brings with him is more than just a guarantee for goals. He also possesses precious experience of playing in the Champions League from his time at Sporting. Having made his Champions League debut for Leicester last week, Slimani’s experience and contribution will go a long way in determining how far Leicester go in Europe’s top club competition.
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On the face of it, the prospect of Slimani partnering Vardy upfront for Leicester is a potentially mouthwatering one, given the number of goals the duo can possibly score this season.
This belief is further vindicated by the fact that, in their short time of playing together, they already seem to have developed a very good understanding of each other’s position on the pitch; as seen in the buildup to Slimani and Leicester’s second goal at the weekend.
Moreover, if Slimani and Vardy’s collective performance against Burnley was anything to go by, the duo will certainly be a force to reckon with for the remainder of the season. Not only will Slimani be Vardy’s perfect partner in crime, Slimani will also share the goal scoring responsibility with him.
As good as they may collectively be, let’s not forget their individual attributes that make them so successful as a pair. While Vardy has electric pace upfront, Slimani is more of a target man for his team; and if they play to their strengths, they can be absolutely unstoppable on any given day.
The role of the others at Leicester
As potent a duo Slimani and Vardy may potentially be this season, their potency will only be actualized if they are aided by the rest of the Leicester line-up. However, Leicester does possess the necessary ammunition to feed Slimani and Vardy, with the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Demarai Gray and Christian Fuchs among others in their ranks.
It’ll also be interesting to see how Claudio Ranieri uses Ahmed Musa, since he’s another player known for his blistering pace and ability to run in behind the defensive line. Together, in Musa, Gray and Vardy, Leicester possess one of the fastest counter-attacking teams in the Premier League and given how successful counter-attacking football was for Leicester last season, there’s absolutely no reason why Leicester should change their methods for the remainder of the current campaign.
However, while Slimani and Vardy are almost guaranteed to start most of the remaining games for Leicester this season, the wealth of talent that now exists at Leicester implies that certain first team regulars from last season may have to start games from the bench. This includes the likes of Shinji Okazaki and Leo Ulloa among others.
But Ranieri can be certain that such players will always put a shift in whenever called upon; as was the case against Chelsea in the midweek League Cup encounter. Moreover, Ranieri will need to call upon every ounce of the squad depth that is now available to him, given the multitude of competitions Leicester find themselves in this season.
All in all, despite doing some of the most unassuming transfer business in recent history, Ranieri has managed to bring in much-needed depth to his Leicester City squad. Now all that remains to be seen is how he utilizes this depth, so as to try and emulate the success of last season.
