With the King Power Club finally turning a spineless but possessively dominant performance into a result, there is little question of whether Leicester can keep these performances going. They did it without the players expected to leave; they did it without Oliver Skipp , and now they will have mostly settled on their best XI.
Forced off with what appeared to be a nasty injury delivered by Plymouth winger Ronan Curtis in the first minute of the game, supporters will be devastated by losing the Polish goalkeeper and praying the optics were worse than the injury. The player was injured doing what he showed himself to be so good at: nailing the No.1 spot, going out and claiming the ball.
The first half involved a cacophony of errors and misplaced passes from the experienced goalkeeper, illustrating why we wanted Stolarczyk: a keeper who can play with the ball at his feet without stressing out and understands you cannot pass to someone who has a player already on them. Nevertheless, I would be extremely stupid not to praise his second-half heroics, with save after save inside the box to keep Leicester in the game. A less experienced goalie would have conceded at least once. Of course, he could have also cost us some early on, but the player did learn his lesson and stopped passing short at the back.
The best of the loan signings, I think. At left-back, McFarlane tracks back well, progresses well, and has great energy in recovering the ball, especially under pressure. We saw the defender progress well with Will Alves and Louis Page, and this resulted in plenty of chances in the final third. His support for winning possession with several challenges and successful tackles minimised Plymouth in the first half, although the Foxes collectively struggled in the second, and McFarlane was found out of position quite a bit.
As with the previous fixture at centre-back, Thomas is playing his best games for the Foxes from that more central role. By leaving the highly important mix of progression and tracking to a more capable player, the academy graduate is being allowed to use his more passionate and energetic approach to defending in the centre of the park. He was brilliant at getting in the way of a shot, blocking a run, and putting in enough challenges to be considered genuinely impactful.
Almost a star performance there? He stretched his legs constantly to block passes and shots, actually illustrated some pace for once, and marauded forward or found creative progressive passes where others were failing to. He was equally superb in the air, challenging and winning most of what he went for, bringing it down to Page or Sammy Braybrooke to take control of possession. A solid performance for Souts.
Still the most progressive and sprightly of the defenders. Joseph does really well at collecting the ball, passing off well and having neat one-twos with midfielders to support progression and retention of position, not just the ball. His underlapping when in the final third really helped the Foxes keep the ball in and around the box for longer; it just did not amount to too much in this game. On another day, he scored a worldie, and we are giving him a 10/10. But in this case, he was exposed defensively later into the game (one reason Olabade Aluko game on) and struggled to find the right pass in the final third.
Louis Page ran the show. From tackles to marauding progression, from neat, intricate passes with Braybrooke to cross-field switches of play, Page showed us every inch of why Leicester wanted to retain the player at any cost. The midfielder sets the tempo and passionately shows up all over the pitch to support his team in creating chances.
The only caveat was a struggle to find a decisive pass and occasionally dwelling on the ball too long when a pass would have been a better choice. Although passing forward is not always great when ahead of you is someone who could not finish their dinner if it were a single slice of pizza.
Another game, another great performance from the academy graduate Braybrooke. Technically gifted, does not dwell on the ball, links play brilliantly, and finds the right passes... what more can he do? Well, he could have avoided passing to certain players where possible. The Englishman is going to be vital to our season.
A bit harsh, I know. When in build-up play or pressing play, 'Bobby' is absolutely brilliant. He is technically creative, comes deep, supports the team, and overall just does a decent job of creating chances in the final third. The problem is when he is the one having to finish the chances: at least three times in this match alone, he missed the target completely when an on-target shot likely would have beaten the keeper. His inability to find the net should have led to Liam Cullen coming on for him, not Admir Bristric coming off.
I honestly have little to say. Great player, really creative, and scored a goal. His passing was exceptional, if sometimes a little wishful for a poacher-style striker, but there is no doubt that Alves must start every game on the left. Every game he has played , Leicester City has looked the brighter for it, and Will Alves will be one of those we celebrate for bursting into the senior side.
The Brighton loanee right-winger has to have nailed his starting spot. Scoring once and having another couple of shots blocked, the young player continues to show ingenuity in progressing the ball, links up really well with Joseph, and pounces well at the back post. The only improvement would be a bit of tracking back to provide an outlet for the under-pressure defence.
The Bosnian striker was not involved too much before being subbed off, but what little we did see was encouraging. Again, he comes into a good position to relieve pressure with a direct pass from defence to himself; he does try to make runs but is often not found, and Bristric does seem to get into good positions to link up with others. A bit of work needed on end product, though.
I felt Leicester City were weaker when they took off Joseph, Howell, Alves, and Bristric. Aluko was not bad; he was actually really good at getting forward and linking up in the final third with Wes Burns , but that did not really lead to much, and we were exposed quite a bit on that side even after replacing Joseph with a more defence-minded player. Burns should be good to give us a different option, but we do need an out-and-out striker like Emil Riis to start making something of his crosses.
Tommy Watson is a more direct winger, and I do like him, but not much happened for the winger, so it is difficult to judge optimistically. Bristric's replacement by Liam Cullen saw the incapable-of-scoring De Cordova-Reid upfront and Cullen in midfield, so that was a massive weakening in the side. Cullen was not bad, but the role he replaced was not performing too badly.
This article was originally published on www.foxesofleicester.com as Leicester City 2-0 Plymouth Argyle: Player Ratings as Foxes find first win .
