Sunday 1 May 2011

Belated Conclusions from the Keepmoat Stadium

Doncaster Rovers1-1Leicester
(HT 0-0)
Brooker 50Yakubu 76
Att:11,757
BBC Match Report



  • Lot's of winners. But one of those is not Leicester City. There were some decent individual turns against Doncaster but the woeful ones that balanced them out made for a poor team performance. This was a forgettable game with a forgettable bunch of home fans. A pity for the sake of football and for the 2,000-odd travelling fans who were in fantastic voice in Doncaster's admittedly very tidy ground.



Winners
Yakubu
Despite the jeers from the crowd after a supposedly lazy first hour, Yakubu persevered and got the goal that silenced those vocal critics. It was finished in classic Yak style, a lovely piece of passing around the eighteen-yard box building-up to the Nigerian's lovely stroked finish. His tenth goal of the season for the Foxes - since only January, remember - quantifies his value to the squad: only Andy King (14) and Paul Gallagher (11) have netted more times for Leicester this term.

Darius Vassell
A great performance that saw him rewarded with an assist. Vassell's pace troubled Doncaster's defence all day and he even had the ball in the back of the net only to see it chalked-off for offside. He is becoming favoured by Leicester's fans for his hard work and perseverance, in contrast to Yakubu who comes under almost a constant barrage of criticism. Let's reflect, then, on the fact that Yakubu's goal tally that is now into double figures. Vassell has scored just four times. That, however, cannot detract from his pace, power and passion that have proven crucial in breaking-apart Championship defences all year.

Jeffrey Bruma
It was another good performance from Jeffrey Bruma, back in defence after recent successful outings in a holding midfield role. He was solid and looked like the player worthy of the acclaim afforded to him and his positioning was much better than the Foxes faithful have come to expect. If Bruma ends the season in this vein, his permenant signature would not be such a bad thing after all.

Diomansy Kamara
Introduced in the second half, Kamara brought some life into an ailing Foxes attack and it was his pace and ability that ultimately led to the Leicester equaliser. He's looking more and more like a fantastic prospective summer signing.

Kyle Naughton
Another consistent performance from the young full-back who had the run of his right wing all match long. Sven Goran Eriksson should be given a transfer budget to sign Naughton alone - anyone else is a bonus if Leicester sign this kid.



Losers
Chris Weale
Even without his nearly-moment in front of the gasping away supporters, miscontrolling the ball under pressure and so nearly conceding from a pass back, this was another performance from the Bristolian that seemed to lack confidence. Once again his ability to handle balls from long range was questioned - it is no wonder Leicester have had results 'stolen' through 'wonder goals' with Weale between the sticks - and his distribution was beyond poor. The number one position is fast becoming the priority for the off-season.

Andy King
The Foxes' top goalscorer is without goals and without a certain je ne sais quoi that he possessed in the pre-Christmas period when he was ripping-up every defence in the league. Whether players have got wise to his late runs or he's lost his mojo, King was poor against Doncaster and without him, the Leicester City midfield lacks a focal point.

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