A Tale Of Two Halves – Taggart & Roberts Assess City’s Opening Performance
Goals from Timothy Castagne and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had the hosts two to the good early in the second half on Filbert Way, before Thomas Frank’s side hit back to level the scores courtesy of Ivan Toney and Josh Dasilva.
Speaking from the studio during Monday’s episode of the LCFC Radio broadcast – just over 24 hours after the Foxes kicked off the 2022/23 Premier League campaign against the Bees – the pair analysed the point picked up at King Power Stadium…
An impressive first half display
Gerry Taggart: “If you’re a player or coach sitting in that dressing room, then you’re going to scratch your head and think how did we not win that game? First half, all the positive stuff that came out of the game, the passing for the second goal, the build-up play to get there, the one and two touch football and quick passing was excellent and a fantastic strike from Dewsbury-Hall. They were looking comfortable and in cruise control.”
Iwan Roberts: “Leicester, the way they passed and moved the ball in that first half, I thought they were outstanding the way that they kept the ball, got it wide and in good areas. The passing and the movement was a joy to watch. Castagne more than [James] Justin got himself further forward, put good balls into the box and scored a really good goal. [Youri] Tielemans hit the post, [James] Maddison had a diving header just go wide. On another day, they could have come in at half-time two or three up and it’s game over. It was a really good first-half performance. You couldn’t ask much more.”
A working system
Iwan Roberts: “Brentford had come with a gameplan of getting all 11 men behind the ball, defending deep and restricting the space behind the back four for Jamie Vardy to exploit. In that first half, Leicester kept it so simple – to the nearest blue shirt, pass and move. That little diamond in the middle I thought worked a treat, they were interchanging positions. Maddison drifted to the right, Tielemans would go at the end of the diamond, Dewsbury-Hall on the left and [Wilfred] Ndidi sitting. Brendan Rodgers probably caught a few people out going five at the back. It was great to see the likes of Jonny Evans, [Wesley] Fofana and [Daniel] Amartey coming out with the ball and joining the midfield. They did it ever so well in the first half.”
Credit to Brentford
Gerry Taggart: “Straight after the first half, there were a series of changes and that had a major role in what transpired in the rest of the game. The first goal back just gave Brentford a lot of momentum. Leicester just struggled at times to grapple that momentum back off them. When you lose a goal like that and you’re still in front, the most important thing is not to do the psychologically normal thing and go back in your shell and defend that one goal. You have to come out fighting and be on the front foot and Leicester at times did it, but on the whole sat back. That comes as a collective.”
Take positives but learn from the errors
Iwan Roberts: “I left the stadium frustrated. Everything that they did well in that first half, they didn’t do well in the last 30 minutes of the second half, which enabled Brentford to get a point that they didn’t deserve. After the second goal, which is a magnificent strike - he’s had the best start possible to the new season – then they went from the simple things to trying hard passes which weren’t there. They tried to overcomplicate things, they were losing the ball and then lost the impetus and it cost them. Sometimes you’ve got to clear your lines. I love seeing the game played like that, but sometimes when you’re under pressure, you’ve got to assess the situation quickly.”
Gerry Taggart: “The next goal is always vitally important – Leicester scored the second right after half-time and then Brentford responded to that. Then it’s about re-responding if you’ve conceded. It’s difficult when you keep going backwards. There were lots of little mistakes creeping into the game from Leicester’s point of view and you just hoped that it didn’t lead to conceding another goal but unfortunately that’s how it panned out. There were warning signs that as a team you need to take onboard.”