Leicester City’s title-winning skipper Wes Morgan believes the club’s current defenders are losing sight of what should be their primary and most essential responsibility.
Morgan, a pillar at the core of City’s backline for nearly a decade, feels Marti Cifuentes’ team shows a lack of urgency and hunger to stop chances, and doesn’t do enough to overpower their opponent.
While City’s goals-against record is not among the poorest in the Championship, they’re on a streak of 12 games without a clean sheet, last shutting out the opposition in the goalless draw with Coventry in mid-September. Only Norwich are on a longer drought without one.
Morgan recognises that City’s defenders may have their qualities in possession, but he wants to see them doing more to keep the ball out of the net.
“When you play at the top level, you sense danger,” Morgan said, speaking with LeicestershireLive via Casino.org, helping to find gambling sites. “You read the game and you try to put yourself in positions to not concede chances or opportunities.
“When I look at the defence, sometimes there’s a lack of urgency, there’s a lack of desire. Forget about trying to play out from the back and look pretty. What’s my first role? What’s my first job? That’s to defend.
“You’re up against a man. Make sure that man knows he’s been in a tough game. That’s how I played my game and I don’t quite see that.
“The defenders have their strengths and when they play out it can look really good, it’s good for the team, and it’s what the manager would want.
“But at some point, you’ve got to think, ‘I’m a defender, I need to make sure I dominate my opponent. The player I’m playing against, I need to make sure that at the end of the day I come off the pitch and say I dominated and won that battle.’ I don’t see that happening.”
City have slumped down the table recently, because that’s not been their sole issue. Scoring has not been straightforward for them either.
Their three forwards – Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka and Julian Carranza – have three goals between them this season. Former talisman Jamie Vardy has now scored four on his own in Serie A.
“They’re not scoring enough goals and they’re not keeping them out at the back,” Morgan added.
“When I watch them, there are good players, there’s good build-up, there’s a structure to the play. But I don’t think there’s an out-and-out striker to get you the 10-plus goals you’re going to need. And at the back there are far too many mistakes that are going to cost them in games.
“They went through a phase where they had a lot of draws, but at the moment, those draws are ending up in losses. It’s really disappointing watching them.”