Watching Leicester in their recent outing vs. Watford shows the challenge. The Leicester midfield struggles to function properly. This happens when they play against a 4-4-2 set up. Many teams in the Championship have this structure. They play with a more battling style and do not rely much on flair.
Today we also see Gary Rowett pushing Jordan James into that offensive role, being often described as the 10. In the old days the 10 was one playing alongside the 9, in an attacking duo up front. Today we do feel Jordan James was lost. He does not look good as a 10. He was also giving Marti Cifuentes headaches when that was tried earlier on. To avoid that to happen you have to change the pivot and play with two 8 and a 6. If you don’t, the opponent will create an overload. They will break you down on every possible chance to gain momentum.
We are missing Jeremy Monga in this line-up everyday of the week. We feel that Gary Rowett is making a huge mistake by just having him as a doll on the side.
Gary Rowett needs to make a bold tactical change. He should try to play a 3-4-3 system to gain some offensive momentum. Otherwise, he will risk taking this team down to League One. They are playing in a very rigid way. There is one package in the back, one in the midfield, and one up front. Players seldom move in and out of the three areas and becomes very static. This team offensively depends more or less on solo approaches from each player.
Going into the last games of this season, survival is still in Leicester’s own hands. 3-4-3 would at least level the total of midfielders and at times overload the area. It would also be a more offensive approach and make the team more fluid.
Our early shape in #WATLEI 🔍 pic.twitter.com/MP6qC0yZ6V
— Leicester City (@LCFC) March 21, 2026
This would also give Gary Rowett more options. At this moment, he appears inflexible. He is not considering ideas outside the box. He is just using Daka or Ayew as the front man in this team. We’ve mentioned this before. We would like to see Jeremy Monga in the line-up from the start. Abdul and Mavididi should be on the flanks, also having Bobby De Cordova-Reid to call on if he needs another type of flank alternative.
With Jannik Vestergaard back, this is a no brainer, but if he is not fit to play, would have played Ben Nelson in there with Jamaal Lascelles and Caleb Okoli. Moved Ricardo Pereira into the midfield area. Jordan James played out left behind the forward. This change made the 3-4-3 structure more flexible. Winks and Skipp operating in the middle.
To see the team functioning well defensively is good. However, to win games, the offensive line must show more power. They need to get more assistance and more players to get forward and into the opponents penalty area. When attacking you must go with 5 to 6 players or else the potential of scoring will go down.
This would lead to the following structure and team line-up; Stolarczyk – Vestergaard, Lascelles, Okoli – Skipp, Winks, James, Pereira – Fatawu, Monga, Mavididi
The change would see this team getting more on the front foot and getting more options going forward in the field. Pereira would give the midfield area more pace.
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