Leicester City are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performance by N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez in Leicester’s three nil victory against Swansea City at the weekend at the Liberty Stadium was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected Kante as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
‘This guy was just dynamite. His ability to run with the ball at speed and spot the pass at the same time was just brilliant. What I admired most about N’Golo Kante’s performance against a shattered Swansea was how direct he was. He was not afraid to take Swansea on and look to expose their every weakness – and they had a few. Leicester’s victory away from home has yet again put another manager under extreme pressure.’
For Mahrez, he explained.
‘The hat-trick man won the game for Leicester at Swansea. His first goal was a bit of a fluke, his second goal might have been offside but his third was a sensational team effort. I must mention Jamie Vardy at this point because he set up Mahrez’s third goal when he could have gone for a goal in a 12th consecutive game himself. There seems to be such an extraordinary team ethic amongst the Leicester players at the moment; it seems to be dripping from every team member. It’s just great to see direct, uncomplicated football reaping such fantastic rewards, instead of hearing from clever-clogs with clipboards and new wave soccer mumbo jumbo wittering on about how sophisticated the game has become. All credit to manager Claudio Ranieri. He has kept Leicester’s performances simple but effective.’
It’s always good to see us represented in this way, and well played to Kante and Mahrez for their recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the three points, albeit unfortunate not to see Jamie Vardy continue his fantastic record.
Full Team:
Petr Cech (Arsenal), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke), Winston Reid (West Ham), Steve Cook (Bournemouth), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), N’Golo Kante (Leicester), Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester), Marko Arnautovic (Stoke), Odion Ighalo (Watford).
Vital Leicester on:
Vital Leicester on:
