Player ratings vs. Liverpool

An entertaining match at the King Power but ultimately nothing tangible to show for it.

Here are my ratings.

Schmeichel: 6 - Couldn't do anything about the goals and made a couple of decent saves otherwise; distribution a bit dodgy at times.
Ricardo: 6 - Proving something of a conundrum. His attacking play is exactly what we want of a full back but his defensive play continues to have question marks over it as he's sometimes too easily passed and other times out of position entirely. Definitely worth his place in the team but not fitting in perfectly just yet.
Morgan: 6 - Had a nervy first 10 minutes and looked scared of the opposition attack, which is rare for him. Played some good forward passes as the game went on though.
Maguire: 6 - Just doesn't seem to work well with Morgan and does seem to have a habit of not performing so well against stronger attacks. Whether he would be better with better players around him, like at Man City for instance, is an interesting question.
Chilwell: 7 - Recognised that Salah wasn't going to track him and provided an outlet down the left. Another good game.
Mendy: 8 - Demonstrated very good positioning throughout and made a lot of interceptions and block tackles. Finally showing to me what others see in him.
Ndidi: 7 - Got through his usual array of tackles but also as usual looked hesitant when having to make the plays from midfield himself. Looking up and picking out passes is something he will have to add to his game if he wants to reach the next level.
Ghezzal: 8 - Impressed me a lot more than I was expecting following his decent but not great run-out on Tuesday. Showed some nice touches and was particularly impressive helping out with defending, winning several balls outright that looked beyond him. Got himself in the right place to bag a goal. Marginally my choice for our MOTM.
Maddison: 7 - A difficult rating as it depends what you expect from him. On one hand, he was well in the game today and is looking for creative plays. On the other, too many are still failing and he has Demarai Grey syndrome at times when defending (i.e. stand still and ball watch as the other team run up the pitch). But also we did lose something when he was subbed. Hopefully a work in progress that can improve, particularly given more playing time with Vardy.
Albrighton: 7 - Provided real drive and energy to close Liverpool down and win the ball in midfield. Wasn't able to provide much creatively but set the tempo that got the crowd involved. Like Maddison, he was missed when he went off.
Gray: 6 - Made a good effort of playing up front but it isn't his natural position and he doesn't know the role as well as others.

Iheanacho: 6 - Must surely be concerned that Gray - a winger - started ahead of him in the lone centre forward position, particularly when the latter doesn't look effective there. It's hard to think anything other than that Puel doesn't rate him that highly. Good closing down to capitalise on a lazy mistake from Allison (I understand he's blamed a teammate for his error*. Yeah, right.) but didn't get in the game a lot after that.
Okazaki: 5 - The substitution looked like it might add fresh impetus but actually it closed us down a bit as it disrupted things that were working. Didn't have much of an impact at all.
Amartey: 5 - Whatever the rights and wrongs of the tactics, it's not his fault that he was brought on. Went about his business with a little more clumsiness than I would have liked but wasn't terrible.


Did we play well today? It depends on perspective. I think it's mostly be said elsewhere, but we started nervously (as opposed to slowly this time) before putting together some good interchanges but ultimately not offering enough of a goal threat. What was good to see today was the urgency in pressing in midfield, winning the ball back higher and getting on the attack. That needs to continue as it will help the creativity issues if we have more gaps to exploit.
However, today was a reminder of how much the team needs Vardy in it. We can't expect too many more wins like we got against Wolves and Southampton, with bullet header own goals and moderate long shots that happen to go through two players' legs. Vardy provides a goal threat and worries defenders, and I think Puel needs him more than anyone.
As for Liverpool, they really weren't at their dynamic, attacking best today, but - like us against Wolves a couple of weeks back - if you get your goals easily and you defend well enough then you don't have to be.


*Although a poster named “Sir Robert Paisley" disputes this, so decide for yourself. I honestly don’t care.