Pre-Season 2020 Talking Points: City's Shape, Dewsbury-Hall & 'Bright' Tielemans
- LCFC TV provided live coverage of Leicester City's friendly win at Birmingham City
- Goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Marc Albrighton sealed a 2-0 win
- Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart assessed the action on LCFC TV's Pre-Season 2020 show
- Saturday's fixture against Sheffield Wednesday is also live and free (12pm BST kick-off)
While Taggart was alongside presenter Dan Bates in the LCFC TV studio, Elliott was on commentary duties with Chris Parrott in the West Midlands for Wednesday's friendly encounter.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Marc Albrighton got the goals in an assured victory for Brendan Rodgers' men against the Sky Bet Championship opposition - and Elliott and Taggart found reasons for optimism.
Getting the shape right
Gerry Taggart said: “There obviously wasn’t the tempo that you’d expect from a competitive game of football. Brendan Rodgers would have wanted to see a good shape and we saw that from start to finish, which would be pleasing to him. In these early stages, it’s important to get an idea of playing across.”
Bright and enterprising Tielemans
Matt Elliott said: “It was neat play for Leicester City’s first goal. Bright and enterprising from Youri Tielemans. He got his hand on the set-piece and got the ball moving quickly. It was a lovely touch from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and an even better finish.”
No time to ease up
Gerry Taggart said: “Because pre-season has been condensed into three or four weeks, there’s no time to ease up. Brendan will look at the game, he’ll analyse it, and he’ll be giving pointers out to the players already at this time.”
Assessing Albrighton's work-rate
Matt Elliott said: “I thought the Birmingham goalkeeper did well for most of the game, this incident aside. Marc Albrighton, an Aston Villa boy himself, will have enjoyed getting a goal against his old rivals, even in pre-season. He did so well to close the ‘keeper down. It was great work-rate.”
Dewsbury-Hall impresses
Gerry Taggart said: “Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall played in the FA Cup last season and he came off the bench and made an impact. That’s a massive plus for Brendan. He looks like a young player who could step up and make his mark in the first team.”
Muskwe's glimpses of quality
Matt Elliott said: “I guess the penalty miss was the only real blot on Leicester City’s day really, but Admiral Muskwe did really well to win the penalty in the first place. It’s a nice turn of skill and a good burst of pace too and he was unlucky to miss. He showed some glimpses of quality.”