If ever a struggling team needed a template of how to avoid relegation they could do worse than emulate Stoke City from the Tony Pulis era and it is no fluke that Leicester City’s remarkable turnaround in fortunes has coincided with the loan signing of Robert Huth from across the Midlands.
Not only has this encouraged Nigel Pearson, the Leicester manager, to play with three central defenders but it has increased the kind of cussed but assured resilience that Huth exemplified during his four years as a regular at the Britannia Stadium. In the 12 games the German defender has played since arriving on loan, Leicester have kept five clean sheets and picked up 20 points.
So it was no surprise that Pearson’s team should win again on Saturday, for the sixth time in a remarkable run of seven matches that has allowed them to climb from bottom to 15th and three points clear of the relegation zone.
Leicester have played a high-tempo, high-pressing game throughout this eventful first season back in the Premier League and always looked capable of scoring goals. They have tested teams with their spirited openings, and Riyad Mahrez’s two goals inside the first 19 minutes gave them a winning platform against Southampton, but they are now defending with much greater solidity and organisation. Huth heads, tackles and organises with great conviction.
“The lads are buzzing at the way things are going at the moment,” Huth said. “I know we started picking up wins in the last seven games, but the spirits have never been down.”
He agreed there are similarities with the fighting spirit he exemplified at Stoke. “I was speaking to friends about that and saying I was surprised that we were bottom because we have pace and we’re still in this predicament,” he said. “It baffled me some games that we didn’t get a draw or a win sometimes. It was about time it turned for us.”
Kasper Schmeichel’s fourth clean sheet in five games seldom looked in doubt, even if he produced a couple of saves for the cameras from long-range efforts from Sadio Mané and Toby Alderweireld’s free-kick, and the goalkeeper paid tribute to a defence that is also guarded intelligently by Esteban Cambiasso and flanked enthusiastically by Marc Albrighton and Jeff Schlupp. “The lads in front of me are brilliant,” Schmeichel said. “The three at the back have been absolutely sensational, an absolute pleasure to play behind. Huth has been brilliant since he came in. His character, his class, his presence has reflected it – and it’s been the same with Wes [Morgan] and [Marcin] Wasilewski.”
Leicester have been competing to gain a position where they possess control of their own fate and now, with games away to Sunderland, themselves on the up, and relegated Queens Park Rangers, salvation is Leicester’s for the taking.
The 3-5-2 system also allows a player with the talent of Mahrez to enjoy the luxury of playing in between a hard-working front two and a midfield pairing behind him and the Algerian took his goals superbly, driving in low from the edge of the penalty area and then capitalising on the space created by Jamie Vardy and Leonardo Ulloa to score from close range.
Despite trailing off so much that they have collected just one point from their last six away games, Steven Davis maintains that Southampton are not actually staging a bid to avoid qualifying for the Europa League. Finishing fifth and sixth in the Premier League will earn entry into the unwieldy, squad-stretching tournament, plus seventh if Arsenal win the FA Cup.
In mitigation Southampton were missing James Ward-Prowse and Morgan Schneiderlin in midfield and Ronald Koeman has overseen a superb first campaign in charge despite all last summer’s departures. “It has been a great season overall but we don’t want it to fizzle out,” Davis said. “We want to finish the season on a high. The Europa League is still realistic. We have to get back to basics, winning games and putting in good performances. Everything else will take care of itself.
“We didn’t start the game well, Leicester City did. They are fighting for their lives and had an intensity in their play that maybe was missing from ours.”
Man of the match Robert Huth (Leicester City)
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