adminLeicester City finally secured their first league victory of the season with a 2-0 win over Plymouth Argyle at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night, but manager Russell Martin was far from completely satisfied with his side’s performance.
The Foxes struck twice in a dramatic spell of first-half stoppage time to settle the contest. Will Alves opened the scoring in the 48th minute of the match with a deflected effort before Harry Howell doubled Leicester’s advantage just two minutes later with a close-range finish after Plymouth goalkeeper spilled the ball.
The victory gives Martin’s side a much-needed boost, although the night was overshadowed early on by an injury to goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk, who was stretchered off and replaced by experienced goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.
Despite the difficult start, Leicester recovered well and managed to protect their lead for the remainder of the match.
Martin delighted with result but demands more
Martin admitted he was delighted with the result and praised his players for overcoming the early setback involving Stolarczyk.
“I’m delighted and really happy for everyone, the fans, the staff and the players because we were really pleased to win,” Martin said after the match.
However, the Leicester boss immediately highlighted an area he believes his team must improve, particularly after Plymouth threatened late in the game.
“But I’m going to be hard on the players because Alex [McCarthy] had too much to do at the end, we had some fatigue.”
Martin felt his side had generally controlled Plymouth and limited their opportunities, but admitted that Leicester’s game management dropped towards the closing stages.
“I loved the result and I really liked the performance overall, particularly after a difficult start with Jakub. That can really put a dampener on things. But we overcame it and did what we had to do.”
The manager added that his players must learn how to manage matches more effectively when holding a lead.
“Still, we have to learn from that in terms of our game management towards the end of matches.”
Martin also believes the experience will be particularly valuable for some of Leicester’s younger players.
“When we did start getting up the pitch, we started playing much cleaner and getting through them… We limited them right until the end of the game, when we had some tired legs. So we’ll have to get refreshed. The young lads, who haven’t played this way before, will learn so much.”
While Martin celebrated a crucial victory, Plymouth manager Tom Cleverley was left deeply frustrated by what he regarded as a major opportunity missed by his side.
Cleverley believed Plymouth had enough opportunities to cause Leicester serious problems, particularly against a Leicester team he felt was still adapting and finding its feet.
“That’s a real sore one, a real sore feeling that one, because I think it’s a huge opportunity missed,” Cleverley said.
The Plymouth boss pointed to his team’s high press and their ability to win the ball in dangerous areas, but criticised their lack of quality in the decisive moments.
“We are coming to a side who are still finding their feet, who at times this evening looked scintillating but we turned the ball over five times in their box first half and didn’t come out with a real clear-cut chance.”
Cleverley explained that Plymouth had deliberately targeted Leicester with a structured pressing approach but admitted the transition from winning possession to creating chances remains an area that needs significant improvement.
“Our game plan was to have a well-structured press, to turn the ball over high and then to transition. The transition part needs work… Time that we have not got on the training pitch but when we do get that time it needs a lot of work.”
He felt his players lost confidence and courage after Leicester took control, producing a performance below the standards he expects from the team.
“For a big chunk of the middle of the game we lost a bit of confidence, personality and courage, and you see a much poorer version of ourselves. I need to instal that back into the players… We need to get back to what we are, and having no fear.”
Despite Plymouth registering 13 attempts on Leicester’s goal, Cleverley felt his side should have created far more.
“We hold high standards for ourselves so I’m not going to beat around the bush. Our quality was poor today… We have come here we have had 13 shots on their goal. In my opinion it should have been 25.”
The manager admitted that the overwhelming emotion following the final whistle was disappointment, particularly because he believes Plymouth failed to show their true level for important periods.
“There is an overwhelming feeling of that being an opportunity missed… Out there, we certainly forced them into making mistakes but we didn’t capitalise on it… the biggest feeling for me after that is one of disappointment because there were periods of the game where we didn’t do what I know we can do. Now we’ve got to bounce back from that.”
Abdulhafiz Teslim
admin
