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Leicester City 2019/20 Season Review: Forwards

One man leads the way again

Leicester City v Aston Villa - Premier League Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images

With the season in the books, we’re taking a look at how each of the players performed. Every other position group has been looked at, now it’s time for the forwards.

In a season where our leading scorer won the Premier League Golden Boot, our lack of finishing ability is one of the main reasons we missed out on the Champions League. The first half of the season the Foxes felt unstoppable while attacking, but after the restart it felt like exactly the opposite.

While the wings felt like a revolving door at times, the striker position was arguably our most stable on the pitch... as per usual.

Strikers

The man that has carried the goal scoring load for most of recent memory did so again this season. Jamie Vardy had an incredible start to the season, bringing back memories of the old days. He had a stretch where he scored in 8 games in a row, the first man to do that since... himself back in 2016. With that being said, most strikers can’t score without getting the ball and Vardy is no different.

He spent his time after the restart isolated up top, with very little service. He did very well to finish as the league’s top scorer while only scoring twice after the season resumed. As much as I would love to see Vardy wear the Leicester number 9 until the sun burns cold and dark, at some point we will have to find a way to replace his goals. He turned 33 this year and who knows how much time he has left.

Next up is a man that Rodgers doesn’t seem to be much of a fan of, Kelechi Iheanacho. Most of us were pretty down and out on Nacho after his first few seasons at the club, but he’s have found his footing. Almost every appearance he played well, even netting a winner against Everton.

In 20 appearances in the Premier League he tallied 5 goals and 3 assists, which is impressive given most of those appearances were either substitute appearances or if he started he was hauled off after 55 minutes or so.

With all that being said, Rodgers doesn’t seem to fancy him much. He has held Nacho out of the starting lineup or subbed him off under questionable circumstances time and time again. A perfect example of this is the Bournemouth game when he was hauled off at half after playing well. I look forward to seeing more of him next year, potentially paired with Vardy up top.

Right Wingers

First up we have Ayoze Perez, who spent most of his time out on the right wing which was clearly not his natural position. This became more and more obvious as the season wore on. His link up play early in the season with Ricardo was excellent, but when the right back was injured, Ayoze started to find things tough. Perez found himself playing through the middle more and more often when Maddison was sidelined as well. He had a tough end to the season, just like the rest of the team.

He even gave me a slight feeling of hope that we would actually qualify for Champions League.

Next we have Mr. Whippy himself, Marc Albrighton. I’ll be the first to come out and say that I love this man. He has done so much for the club. But... I think it is time for him to go. He is getting older and he just isn’t the caliber of player we need anymore, nor does he fit Rodger’s system. The time has come for another club legend to go, sadly.

Now comes my time to beg the Leicester board to please, for the love of all things holy, sign a right winger this summer. It was a position of weakness for us this season and it needs improved if the club has aspirations of competing for top 6 next season.

Left Wingers

Last but not least, we have the left wingers. Harvey Barnes made the position his own, and for the most part played well. But he has to improve his finishing. He is constantly in dangerous positions and he constantly misses the target. He has so much potential, but he has to score more consistently.

I mean, he isn’t wrong...

I threw Demarai Gray here even though he played on both sides. We saw nothing from Gray that we aren’t used to seeing this season. Dazzling feet and ridiculous pace which combine to make... almost no end product. The glimpses of his talent are enough to keep anyone interested but it just never seems to come together for him.

With Gray’s contract running out next summer, his time at the King Power may be over. I personally would like to see him stay, he is still young and has potential. But I can understand why fans would want him gone and why he would want to leave. If he does go, we will have to find another winger for the left side of the pitch as well.