Alex McCarthy’s instructions have dramatically changed

When Alex McCarthy came back into the team after Jakub Stolarczyk’s ACL injury, Leicester fans instantly felt their promotion chances were a lot weaker.

McCarthy had already shown to be incapable of playing out from the back, and he continued to make a number of errors trying to pick out his centre-backs who were under immense pressure.

But Martin has clearly changed his instructions dramatically. McCarthy is picking and choosing when to go short, and against Bromley, he was often playing 30-yard diagonal passes to the wing-backs.

The 36-year-old grew in confidence as the game went on and started to ping balls with his weaker left foot with great accuracy, so clearly his distribution is not as poor as first feared.

Will Alves at wing-back is forcing teams to reconsider a high press

Will Alves, who is a winger by trade, is now being deployed as a right wing-back since Martin has changed formation to a back three.

Alves used his pace exceptionally well to get in behind Bromley on a number of occasions, and evidently it’s forcing the opposition to reconsider a high press as they know he can exploit the space on the right flank.

In turn, the centre-backs are getting more time on the ball to pick their passes, and even Caleb Okoli looked comfortable in possession last night.

Leicester are playing with a lot more aggression

Speaking post-match, Martin explained that his side are playing with a lot more aggression and they aren’t being bullied by the opposition in individual duels.

“I think we’ve found a balance between being really aggressive and really calm… we started the game with big intensity and aggression and then made it really difficult for them.”

Leicester are doing the basics a lot better and are carrying out the ugly side of the game just as well as the pretty possession-based style.

The three centre-backs won nearly every duel in the air, and John Lundstram also acted as a strong shield, as he made seven defensive contributions, according to Sofascore’s statistics.