Wolves and Leicester played out a tepid draw on Friday night in both sides’ first game back from the winter break, with the 0-0 result more than worthy of a game that, besides a few missed Wolves chances and a disallowed goal, never really got going.
Having said this, the first fifteen minutes seemed to suggest that things might have gone differently. Leicester controlled the opening, hoarding the ball while probing at a Wolves side that had seen changes to make it more defensively solid – with no Adama Traore and no Joao Moutinho in the starting line-up. The Foxes fashioned a few half chances with Youri Tielemans’ deflected shot probably their best of the game, but Wolves looked the more potent on the counterattack.
While most of the half lacked excitement beyond this, things did come to a head when Wolves began to create chances just before half time. A period of pressure that seemed to have worked when Willy Boly headed the ball home from a corner move – only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR check ruled Pedro Neto’s little toe to be offside in the build-up. Wolves were dismayed and Leicester relieved.
Wolves had the lions’ share of the chances in the second half too, although Leicester again had most of the ball, although neither side made the most of what they had. Even the introduction of the unplayable Adama Traoré had little effect, with the pacy winger well-marshalled by Ben Chilwell throughout the remainder of the game. The game seemed to be in Wolves’ hands when Hamza Choudhury received a second yellow card after slipping but a supreme defensive effort from Johnny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu, and a succession of agonizing misses from Raul Jimenez, saw the score remain goalless at the full-time whistle.
Brendan Rodgers and Leicester will certainly be happier with sharing the points, having a man sent off as well as Wolves’ goal being ruled out, while Nuno will be ruing missed chances and a missed opportunity. One point raises Wolves’ total up to 36 and puts them 7th in the table, a position that would be easily enough for Europa League football if Manchester City’s Champions League ban is upheld. This news has been extremely satisfying for Leicester fans, whose Champions League place is now all but booked, and this point raises their haul up to 50 – only two points less than what they finished last season with.
VAR takes centre stage…again
The conversation both after and during the game found itself dominated, in quite typical fashion this season, by VAR. The extremely close nature of the review, a single toe in fact, made up much of the controversy surrounding a decision that had left Wolves’ fans leaving robbed of three points. Yet, and there may be some bias in saying this as a Leicester fan, the decision was correct by the rulebook. Pedro Neto’s toe was offside, however small a margin that was, and VAR has delivered a decision that is undoubtedly accurate. Yet the fact that it was ‘correct’ does not stop there from being something ‘wrong’ with the process.
A recent study into fan satisfaction found that 67% of fans enjoyed matches less since the introduction of VAR at the beginning of the season. Such high dissatisfaction with the system and a marked drop in game-enjoyability prompts the question: is the system being millimeter-accurate in the best interests of the game? When something is so clearly unenjoyable to footballing fans should it be persistently stuck to? There is a case, a natural one as the weeks after weeks of unhappiness and protests from the fans have shown, that less accuracy and more common sense might be needed when it comes to offside decisions like these.
Whilst there is unlikely to be any change until 20/21 rolls around, fixes do exist. Perhaps a lee-way gap around the line, or a set amount of time a decision needs to be made within, although both present their own problems. It is not up to fans to have the solution – only to point out the problem. Every time a VAR decision is mired in controversy, it is yet another signpost to the Premier League that change is needed. The bigger the sign, we hope, the bigger the change.
Nuno’s changes cost Wolves
There was some surprise at how Wolves lined up for this game, with two key attacking players in Joao Moutinho and Adama Traoré dropped to the bench in favour of more defensive counterparts Pedro Neto and Leander Dendoncker. The changes do make sense as Nuno wanted to nullify Leicester’s own attack with a solid 5-2-3. Dendoncker was opted for as a useful screen for the backline over Moutinho’s creativity, and Neto to run himself ragged both going forward and back, tiring the Leicester left, before Traoré could be substituted on to deliver the killer blows with his pace.
The defensive side of this strategy certainly worked as for all Leicester’s probing and possession they created relatively little, and Pedro Neto did good defensive and offensive work before his substitution. But Nuno’s sacrifice of creativity eventually cost them, as they failed to create enough decisive opportunities that weren’t thwarted by a determined Leicester defence.
Adama Traoré’s introduction on the 65th-minute mark looked as if it might be the change to turn the match – but the former La Masia graduate had a quiet game as England left-back Ben Chilwell kept him confined to the wing, despite having already played for an hour. Even with the reintroduction of Moutinho before the end, Wolves did not improve much and, with how poor Leicester were going forward, Nuno might now be regretting starting a sharper line-up.
Midfield problem on the horizon for Leicester?
Leicester may find themselves with an issue next game after Hamza Choudhury’s second-yellow card sees him pick up a one-game suspension. Choudhury, who finds himself gaining a reputation for being reckless, was filling in for the injured Wilfrid Ndidi (the side’s starting defensive midfielder), who is not expected to be back for some weeks yet. With Choudhury suspended, Leicester have a spot to fill and a question mark over who to fill it – a problem amplified when remembering that Manchester City are their next opponents.
The ‘natural’ successor to both these players is Nampalys Mendy, another defensive midfielder, but Mendy has fallen far out of favour at the King Power Stadium and has started only three Premier League games. Mendy is a smaller midfielder, not able to exert the physical presence of Ndidi or Choudhury, although is comparable to them both on the ball.
If played, Mendy is likely to be a weak point in the Leicester XI and Rodgers may change his system to avoid this – and there a few ways he could do this. Rodgers could change to a 4-2-3-1 double pivot, and play Dennis Praet alongside Youri Tielemans, sacrificing the ability to have two attacking ‘8’s with just a single ‘10’ in Maddison. Alternatively, Rodgers could play three at the back, utilising new signing Ryan Bennett, in a 3-4-3 where Maddison stays alongside Tielemans. If sticking to his reliable 4-1-4-1 we may even see Praet, a reliable box-to-box midfielder, in that defensive position – somewhere he might find unusual.
Whatever the outcome, Leicester have a problem – and no natural solution with Manchester City looming.
Man of the Match: Jonny Evans
The 32-year-old is aging finer than fine wine. He put in yet another dominant performance, reading the play and dealing with nearly all aerial threats that entered the Foxes’ box. Alongside Caglar Soyuncu, the Northern-Irishman has formed a reliable and fearless centre-back pairing that improves with every game they play.
Up Next
Wolves travel to Spain during the week to play the first of their Europa League round-of-32 ties against Espanyol on Thursday, before hosting Norwich next Sunday. Leicester have a week free but return home to the King Power to play Manchester City on Saturday evening in a battle for second place.
