Player Ratings: Leicester City vs Aston Villa

Leicester City 0 Aston Villa 1

For a team that managed to score 7 against the champions, a match against a side that’s more “Down with the Sickness” than “Disturbed” should’ve been a cakewalk. But after petulant Jack Grealish and company were allowed to do whatever they wanted, mostly in thanks to the incompetent Jon Moss, who if were a bourbon, would be so bottom of the barrel McCormicks wouldn’t allow it in their plastic jugs, they escaped with a 0-1 win.

Brendan’s decision to take off Papy Mendy for Hamza Choudhury made sense, but his tactic to sit Youri Tielemans, OUR BEST PASSER, so deep to cover Grealish, pushing Hamza up the field, was another feather in his ineptitude cap.

Kasper Schmeichel 3/10

His best play was a pass in the first half to Timothy Castagne. I fully believe he should’ve got at least a hand to Ross Barkley’s shot. There is only one place for him to shoot it, and it didn’t possess the power of a Greek God behind it.

Timothy Castagne 6/10

Put Grealish in his pocket the first half, but once every tap on the golden boy started to be called, he couldn’t stay as tight to the man as he needed. He was given excellent help by Ayoze Perez, but went missing at key times when a tackle was needed.

Wesley Fofana 9/10

Our best player by MILES. He had 6 interceptions and 9 clearances. It was a dream debut for him and it was a damn shame he didn’t walk away with a clean sheet.

Jonny Evans 7/10

It was a standard Evans performance today. With 3 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 5 clearances it was much better from a guy who almost missed out due to injury.

James Justin 6/10

He always seemed to be in the right place when we needed him to be. Offensively he did not contribute much, but Brendan had us playing mostly defensive, so he wasn’t afforded much opportunity in those areas.

Papy Mendy 5/10

There was one chance he had to be the N’Golo Kanté we signed him to be, but he turned it over directly to the Villa defense, and that was about that. He had 2 tackles and 2 interceptions, but again, I believe he should have been the furthest back of the midfield three, and not trying to spray the ball when the only passes he can complete are backwards.

Ayoze Perez 8/10

That might have been his best game in a Leicester shirt. He was hugely impressive on both sides of the ball, and if only he had someone to pass to when he got into the box, we might be talking about a different result. The man had 6 tackles. How did we lose this?

Dennis Praet 3/10

I think I’m his biggest fan, and today was not his game, which I think is down to Brendan Rodgers not playing him correctly. He was the second highest up the pitch all game besides Kelechi Iheanacho. Why do you have Praet, who isn’t known for incredible speed, supposed to be played in off a ball behind the defense that Nacho wins? THAT IS A JOB FOR HARVEY BARNES. And if you don’t believe me, watch the clip of him getting pantsed because Villa have turtles across the back four.

Youri Tielemans 7/10

HE IS NOT A DEFENSIVE MID. STOP PLAYING HIM LIKE ONE. It is more infuriating to see him in front of the back four than James Maddison on the wing. STOP PLAYING HIM OUT OF POSITION, BRENDAN. You’re not the deluded twitter account, so stop making decisions like you run the damn thing.

Harvey Barnes 6/10

UNDERUTILIZED. How you can have such a quick player be less offensive than a cm with half his pace is outright stupid. How many times did we not have an outlet? Tons. How many times did they play Barnes over the top to create that space? Zero. The majority of his touches were just passed the circle surrounding the kick-off spot. He’d be useful there if we were running the spread offense, but we aren’t.

Kelechi Iheanacho 6/10

Worked very effectively in holding the ball up and creating some great passing moves, but Brendan Rodgers offense only works if the ball is in the box when we shoot. So by never really taking a touch in the box, he did not stand a chance. He did not need to be sacrificed for Islam Slimani. They both could’ve effectively worked on the pitch, by alternating short and long, but that doesn’t seem like something Brendan was interested in trying.

Honorable Mentions Category

Hamza Choudhury 1/10. I blame Brendan just as much as you for being out of position for the goal. Be more “Oooh-wah-ah-ah-ah” than “Fear” next time please.

Islam Slimani 5/10. You weren’t given the time or tools to suceed this game, but it will happen for you. He might score 10 goals for us this season if given the tools.

Brendan Rodgers 1/10. The one is for Fofana.