Amartey

[lcfc043]

He’s crap. But it’s not his fault Rodge can’t see it. 

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/amartey-soyuncu-leicester-defence-chelsea-7522980

 

How Leicester City's cult hero became a scapegoat for poor start
The Ghanaian defender has been criticised for his defending again after he failed to close down Raheem Sterling for his opening goal in Leicester's defeat to Chelsea

ByJordan Blackwell
07:00, 30 AUG 2022
 

Daniel Amartey was the cult hero of last season, manfully filling in as injuries depleted Brendan Rodgers’ options in defence, performing above expectations and winning the hearts of Leicester City fans with his committed blocks and thumping tackles. This season, he is a scapegoat.

There is no doubt that Amartey has been partly at fault for some of the 10 goals City have conceded so far. He was too deep and got caught the wrong side for Ivan Toney’s goal for Brentford, and he lost Gabriel Jesus at the corner against Arsenal.

On Saturday, he failed to close down Raheem Sterling intensely enough, perhaps concerned the England international may jink around him, giving him the space to get a shot off. The deflection off Amartey’s toe took it over Danny Ward.

READ MORE: Leicester City linked with seven defender transfers as France U21 international on radar

READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers explains why Daniel Amartey is starting ahead of Caglar Soyuncu

It was a minor error made to look far worse because it ended up in the net. By the expected goals metric, Sterling’s shot had a two per cent chance going in.

Leicester boss Rodgers takes Maguire swipe at Fofana
The Foxes have reportedly rejected three bids from Chelsea as Fofana trains away from the first team

There were far bigger mistakes made during the game, not least for Chelsea’s second goal. With a man advantage, City should not have let Chelsea create a two-on-one for James Justin to deal with, allowing Reece James the chance to cross for a tap-in. This was a far bigger error, but because it’s not easy to pin it on one individual player, it has not been discussed to the same extent.

So that one small mistake should not have overshadowed what was a decent performance from Amartey. He defended with the urgency Brendan Rodgers would want. His 10 ball recoveries were the most of any player in the match, while he was the only City player to make more than one interception.

On the ball, only Youri Tielemans and Timothy Castagne played more successful passes into the final third, while only Tielemans created more chances, Amartey producing one of the passes of the match as he slipped in Ayoze Perez for his shot against the crossbar.

And that wasn’t an anomaly, with Amartey crucial to City’s ball progression this season. He ranks seventh in the division for passes into the final third, and second only to Aston Villa’s John McGinn when Man City and Liverpool players are excluded. He has made the most progressive passes, those that move the ball forward at least 10 yards, of any City player. That's important, and stops City from being as side-to-side in their passing as they are criticised for.

With Amartey's standing with fans is falling, Caglar Soyuncu’s reputation has risen during his time out of the side and there have been calls from fans for him to be reintroduced. The Turk’s uncertain future seems to have contributed to his lack of involvement, but his form at the end of last season is a factor too.

Soyuncu was poor last term, losing concentration and making rash decisions. He would likely improve back alongside his 2019-20 partner Jonny Evans, which was not a privilege he had last season, but Rodgers does not seem to have forgotten his mistakes, not least his indecision and subsequent feigning of injury in a 50-50 with Cristian Romero in last season’s defeat at Tottenham, which remains his most recent Premier League appearance.

But neither Amartey nor Soyuncu would be playing if Wesley Fofana was not moving to Chelsea, or had even behaved professionally while the details of his exit were sorted. When a replacement comes in, Amartey will return to being a sturdy back-up.

City have had a poor start to the season, but it’s unfair to pin that on any one player. City are bottom of the table because of shoddy collective defending, disorganisation in the midfield (sometimes caused by substitutions), a lack of creativity in the final third, and, in Saturday's case, iffy finishing.

Within all of those areas of underperformance, there have been individual errors, Amartey has made some. But he is also contributing to some of the better parts of City's game so far. This run of games should not compromise his status as a cult hero.

[coolhandfox]

Article call him a scapegoat, then outline 3 goals he has been at fault for.

 

The boy isn't no were near the standard need.

[lcfc_forever]

2 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Article call him a scapegoat, then outline 3 goals he has been at fault for.

 

The boy isn't no were near the standard need.

Yeah, he keeps making one major mistake that costs us, despite his general play being on a par if not better than Evans so far. It’s why opponent attackers are targeting him deliberately. 

[nnfox]

Always liked Amartey, has been a great servant for the club.  Never been our best player but always a solid squad player.  He's not immune to Brendan's coaching though and is one of many players who have regressed during his tenure.

[An Sionnach]

Fofana was dodgy against Brentford and crap against Arsenal , Dan is no great player but the scapegoating on here borders on the laughable. Oh and by the way our lousy form has nothing to do with Vestergaad either.

[kingfox]

Funny how I picked up on his ball playing & ball carrying stats yesterday then Jordan Blackwell writes an article 🤔

 

It was surprising to see though Amartey’s ball carrying stats pretty much the same as Fofana’s numbers, in terms of CB’s he currently ranks as one of the highest in the division.

 

Mistakes aside, it’s evident that Rodgers has told Amartey to be a more progressive defender over the first four games of the season.

 

Reality is though, we need someone who can do what Amartey’s been doing but who is more secure defensively.

[Dames]

I keep saying it but you can't fault the lads commitment or effort but he really just isn't good enough.

 

I used to think it was because he's never found a proper position but he's had a few years at CB now and hasn't improved at all. He's an decent squad player and someone who can come in and do a job for a few games but as a starter he's just not consistent enough.

 

He wouldn't get into any other team in the division. 

[Hamilton Fox]

1 hour ago, coolhandfox said:

Article call him a scapegoat, then outline 3 goals he has been at fault for.

 

The boy isn't no were near the standard need.

And it doesn’t even include the second Brentford goal that he stood a mile  off the attacker for 

[Hamilton Fox]

Just now, Hamilton Fox said:

And it doesn’t even include the second Brentford goal that he stood a mile  off the attacker for 

Or missing the header for Southamptons goal (maybe I’m being harsh on that one?)

[coolhandfox]

7 minutes ago, Hamilton Fox said:

Or missing the header for Southamptons goal (maybe I’m being harsh on that one?)

1st one was Ndidi missing a header. 

[Hamilton Fox]

4 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

1st one was Ndidi missing a header. 

Where the hell was amartey then, determined to blame him for that one as well..

[Hamilton Fox]

1 minute ago, Hamilton Fox said:

Where the hell was amartey then, determined to blame him for that one as well..

 

6 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

1st one was Ndidi missing a header. 

Just checked the goals, I was talking about the second.. bit harsh 

[Tommy Fresh]

20 minutes ago, kingfox said:

Funny how I picked up on his ball playing & ball carrying stats yesterday then Jordan Blackwell writes an article 🤔

 

It was surprising to see though Amartey’s ball carrying stats pretty much the same as Fofana’s numbers, in terms of CB’s he currently ranks as one of the highest in the division.

 

Mistakes aside, it’s evident that Rodgers has told Amartey to be a more progressive defender over the first four games of the season.

 

Reality is though, we need someone who can do what Amartey’s been doing but who is more secure defensively.

His pass for the Perez effort where he hits that bar is sublime, if Tielemans had done it everyone would be banging on about how much we'll miss him. Shame he isn't good enough defensively though to be starting this often 

[LcFc_Smiv]

I'd understand if he was solely costing us points but the fact is every other player bar 1 or 2 has been so far off it. I don't think he's good enough to be a starting centre back for us. But the general set up, tactics from management, and poor performance and inability to do the basics from the players for me is far more of a concern than this bloke who gets dug out every week. He has to do better with closing the ball down and when over playing from the back but it doesn't help playing in a back line that's all over the place and a non existent midfield that don't provide cover or move enough off the ball.

[Sampson]

Just now, LcFc_Smiv said:

I'd understand if he was solely costing us points but the fact is every other player bar 1 or 2 has been so far off it. I don't think he's good enough to be a starting centre back for us. But the general set up, tactics from management, and poor performance and inability to do the basics from the players for me is far more of a concern than this bloke who gets dug out every week. He has to do better with closing the ball down and when over playing from the back but it doesn't help playing in a back line that's all over the place and a non existent midfield that don't provide cover or move enough off the ball.

I mean, he definitely did solely cost us points vs Brentford.

[5waller5]

4 minutes ago, Sampson said:

I mean, he definitely did solely cost us points vs Brentford.

No.

utterly stupid game management, and the worst possible substitution cost us the points v Brentford. 
 

The manager has sole responsibility for those 2 points lost.

[Sampson]

8 minutes ago, 5waller5 said:

No.

utterly stupid game management, and the worst possible substitution cost us the points v Brentford. 
 

The manager has sole responsibility for those 2 points lost.

If Amartey doesn’t make 2 brain farts they don’t score though. The manager might have invited pressure on us needlessly, but good defenders still deal with that pressure. If that would’ve been prime Morgan or Huth playing instead of Amartey, we would’ve still won the game regardless of the manager’s error.

 

The poster was trying to excuse Amartey of responsibility saying he hasn’t cost us points, because other players are off it too, but keep the other 10 players with the same tactics and replace Amartey with a half decent PL defender and we beat Brentford regardless.

Edited 30 August 2022 by Sampson

[LcFc_Smiv]

10 minutes ago, Sampson said:

I mean, he definitely did solely cost us points vs Brentford.

The manager not utilising subs and not being able to react tactically to the changes made by his opposite number was the biggest reason we let 2 points slip then. With regards to both goals there were numerous errors from our players, including him. We have been so far below standards in our performances, unorganised as a team and lacking in concentration at key moments for close to a year, and there was evidence of it before then, that isnt down to Amartey alone.

[5waller5]

2 minutes ago, Sampson said:

If Amartey doesn’t make 2 brain farts they don’t score though. The manager might have invited pressure on us needlessly, but good defenders still deal with that pressure. If that would’ve been prime Morgan or Huth playing instead of Amartey, we would’ve still won the game regardless of the manager’s error.

Disagree. I can’t think of a better example of how much a manager influences a game, and just how badly he did so.

 

Yeah, all goals can be analysed and one or more players could have done better, but that’s ignoring the massive context.

 

 

[LcFc_Smiv]

7 minutes ago, Sampson said:

If Amartey doesn’t make 2 brain farts they don’t score though. The manager might have invited pressure on us needlessly, but good defenders still deal with that pressure. If that would’ve been prime Morgan or Huth playing instead of Amartey, we would’ve still won the game regardless of the manager’s error.

 

The poster was trying to excuse Amartey of responsibility saying he hasn’t cost us points, because other players are off it too, but keep the other 10 players with the same tactics and replace Amartey with a half decent PL defender and we beat Brentford regardless.

Go back and watch how both goals come about, yes he's the closest man to both players when they score, but his errors come at the end of overall poor play from us as a team.

[Sampson]

11 minutes ago, LcFc_Smiv said:

Go back and watch how both goals come about, yes he's the closest man to both players when they score, but his errors come at the end of overall poor play from us as a team.

But that’s irrelevant, other teams will always breach your midfield several times a game. The whole job of a centre back is to be the last line of defence after other players make mistakes, which will always happen every game several times, he gets paid to be that last line of defence.

 

Again if you replace Amartey with a half decent PL centre back then we don’t concede at least 1 of those 2 goals if not both. He cost us 2 points by not being good enough, regardless of anything else going on. You can’t try and absolve him from blame because other players made mistakes as well, else no player would ever be at fault. Every goal has several players doing things they could’ve done better. His performances have 100% been worthy of strong criticism so far

Edited 30 August 2022 by Sampson

[Dusty]

12 minutes ago, 5waller5 said:

Disagree. I can’t think of a better example of how much a manager influences a game, and just how badly he did so.

 

Yeah, all goals can be analysed and one or more players could have done better, but that’s ignoring the massive context.

 

 

I agree to an extent. Whilst the change to take KDH off was nonsensical, it was already 2-1 and the performance levels had dropped. Players stopped winning duels as they were in the first half, couldn’t completed passes and we stopped pressing their back line. All of that happened because of the players and non tactical instruction. The first goal came from JJ poor playing out from the back and amartey being the wrong side of his man. And the second from Amartey not putting a leg in. While Rodgers made some poor decisions that game that made us worse, we would 100% of won it had the players done the basics, Amartey being a key component of that.

[Dames]

6 minutes ago, Sampson said:

But that’s irrelevant, other teams will always breach your midfield several times a game. The whole job of a centre back is to be the last line of defence after other players make mistakes, which will always happen every game several times, he gets paid to be that last line of defence.

 

Again if you replace Amartey with a half decent PL centre back then we don’t concede at least 1 of those 2 goals if not both. He cost us 2 points by not being good enough, regardless of anything else going on. You can’t try and absolve him from blame because other players made mistakes as well, else no player would ever be at fault. Every goal has several players doing things they could’ve done better. His performances have 100% been worthy of strong criticism so far

People will defend Amartey to the death because he threw a Chelsea flag in a funny video once. Thats literally all there is too it. 

[NasPb]

Amartey is a good backup especially when we're playing in a back three, nothing more nothing less. But he should be used as a RCB. There are better options than him but he's good backup.