Claudio Ranieri should drop Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, says Tony Cottee
Monday 13 February 2017 20:45, UK
Leicester would benefit from dropping Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy in their bid to avoid relegation, according to former player Tony Cottee.
The Premier League champions sit one place and one point above the drop zone, having lost 2-0 at a resurgent Swansea on Sunday.
And while Mahrez and Vardy inspired Leicester to league glory in 2016, the duo have mustered up just eight league goals between them this campaign - a stark contrast to the 32 they had at this stage last season.
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri admitted he may be too loyal to the likes of Mahrez and Vardy, and Cottee believes it's time to leave the pair out of the starting XI.
"Ranieri should be loyal to his players for what they did last season, but there comes a point where you have to look at how those players are performing," said Cottee, speaking on Premier League Daily.
"Mahrez has been well off the pace this season, nowhere near the player he was last season.
"Vardy has not been the same player either. There's a slight argument that the service has not been as good, which is true to a degree, but neither player on form is worthy of retaining their place.
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"Ranieri has to look at all options and he needs to look tactically. Traditionally it's 4-4-2 for Leicester, but can he play a different system? Does he need to play three centre halves? They've tried it a bit this season.
"You look at Islam Slimani, Shinji Okazaki, are they better players than Mahrez and Vardy? Probably not, but they've got to try it."
Vardy's tally of 24 league goals last season saw him pick up player of the year awards from both the Premier League and Football Writers' Association.
The striker became a regular in the England squad as a result, but the 30-year-old has suffered in front of goal this season - scoring just six goals in all competitions.
And Cottee, who scored 34 goals for the Foxes between 1997 and 2000, says Vardy is clearly suffering from a lack of confidence.
"They're at that stage where they need results," Cottee added. "Last year Vardy went into every game knowing he was going to score and that Leicester were going to win - it's the best feeling in football.
"But it works the other way as well. When you go on one of those runs and can't see where your next goal is coming from, you don't believe you're going to score, you lose confidence and as a team you lose game after game.
"That's where Leicester are. Ranieri is the one who has got to take responsibility and make the changes to get them out of this mess."
