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“On Kane” and “don’t get too high” were the instructions Kasper Schmeichel shouted to a team clearly aware of the Tottenham threat on the fast break and to the key manager of much of that potential pain. “Stop Harry Kane, stop the Spurs,” was the mantra, keeping a watchful eye on the talisman while in possession and the action used by Leicester to hold it out.
But it’s one thing to have a plan, presumably similar to the one all teams have identified as the best way to beat the Spurs, and it’s another to carry it out so expertly. Keeping Kane and Son Heung-min, the scourge of nearly every other Premier League defender this season, so quiet was no small feat.
The difficulty for the teams against Tottenham has been finding a balance. Chelsea, for example, was rarely threatened, but it also posed little trouble in its stalemate. Manchester United were, of course, at the other end of that risk-reward scale.
Leicester I found the sweet spot in the second half after receiving the first goal at the end of the first.
Jose Mourinho honest view of Aurier’s defense When he arrived at the club, it seemed that he had had a positive and permanent effect. It was almost as if Aurier thought his crazy challenges were just one of those things before the Spurs boss described his defense simply as “bullshit.”
And the full-back has had an excellent response for the most part this season and it seemed he had ended the madness while maintaining the aggression that Mourinho is looking for. But the mania, as it turned out, had been suppressed rather than eradicated, as Mourinho de Aurier’s aura was temporarily pierced by the Frenchman’s old tropes to gift Vardy a goal from the penalty spot.
Aurier ducked his head as he burst into Wesley Fofana’s back, like an American footballer preparing for contact. There was no attempt to play the ball and there was absolutely no need to attempt to play the ball or the man. Roy Keane said he felt the need to bite his tongue on the Sky sports He studied at halftime, but still described Aurier’s impetuousness as “total insanity” from a guy who “doesn’t think.” Oh Serge.
But this is not a loss that can be attributed solely to one man. There was a lack of intensity on the part of the Spurs that tends to be evident in games like this – when they have most of the possession and the team is stretched. It is in these games that the defense, so solid when low blocking is employed, is separated due to the constant lack of protection from Moussa Sissoko and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, as they try to force the subject of attack.
James Maddison had a goal scored in chalk for a marginal offside, as one back-to-back ball was enough to split a large gap between Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld, who suffered in their attempts to deal with Leicester’s pace.
And it was Vardy whose movement to Alderweireld’s back caused the problem that led to Leicester’s second, with a header from the forward from a drilled cross by Marc Albrighton that bounced off the Belgian center-back and into his own net.
What was impressive was the patience Leicester showed in the game and the way they adapted as it progressed. The initial circumspection, in which they assessed the true threat, became increasingly progressive and offensive as they recognized that the Spurs threat did not warrant such caution.
And having taken the lead, they sat deeper and forced the Spurs into the awkward position of dominating possession as they hit them at halftime. Brendan Rodgers played it perfectly.
It’s a performance that some like Spursy and others will view as a step too far for players feeling the effects of fatigue, depending on their loyalties or biases. It was definitely an excellent performance from Leicester, who have now comfortably beaten Spurs and Manchester City away from home, are second in the table and have a manager just as tactically equipped as anyone else in the Premier League.
Will ford is on twitter
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