Victor Kristiansen has been dropped from the Denmark squad and you have to feel that Leicester City’s form as a team is partly responsible.
Kristiansen had not just been included in every Denmark squad since November 2023, but had been a starter for much of that period.
Now he’s been left out and it can’t be because of his lack of game-time. Only James Justin has played more minutes than Kristiansen for City this season.
But while the 22-year-old has been playing regularly, he has been doing so for a team that cannot buy a result.
Meanwhile, the four full-backs that Denmark boss Brian Riemer did pick are all playing at more successful clubs.
Rasmus Kristensen is at Eintracht Frankfurt, fourth in the Bundesliga, while Joakim Maehle and Mads Roerslev are at Wolfsburg, who are just three places back. Patrick Dorgu is at Manchester United.
It adds to an interesting debate. Are City’s players not good enough, or are they just not performing well enough? If it’s the latter, why? Is it their fault or the club’s?
Because Kristiansen’s omission from his country’s squad won’t generate much confusion in the City fanbase. Given the form he’s been in this season, it’s not hard to imagine that Denmark might have four better-performing full-backs.
But last season, he was a regular in a side that qualified for the Champions League, starting 26 Serie A matches on loan at Bologna.
If the level in Italy is below that of the Premier League, it’s not by much. Inter Milan are looking good to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Atalanta, Juventus and AC Milan progressed through the group stage, but were eliminated in the play-offs. Roma and Lazio are in the last 16 of the Europa League.
But Kristiansen has not looked close to a Champions League-level player this season. Was he carried to success by Bologna or is he performing worse for City?
One of the criticisms of his play has been how often he gives up possession, resorting to lumping the ball up the pitch rather than looking for a team-mate.
Analysis by ESPN last month suggested he was the poorest-performing player in the Premier League when it came to passing under pressure.
But last season at Bologna he didn’t have that problem. His pass completion in Serie A was at 84 per cent. This season, it’s dropped to 78 per cent.
It’s not that Kristiansen played safer passes in Italy. The stats say he completed an average of 4.8 progressive passes per game last season, a number that’s fallen to 2.6 per game in the Premier League.
At Bologna he had more opportunities on the ball than he has had this season simply because of the average possession stats, and that would explain why the Dane’s defensive numbers are massively improved.
But the gap in possession stats doesn’t explain the gulf in Kristiansen’s ability on the ball between the two seasons.
It should force City to look inward. Because he clearly does have the capability. Is it that City are not providing options for him? Are they not giving him a pass to make when he is under pressure?
There are plenty of external factors that could be the answer. He may have felt more comfortable in Italy. He may have felt more confident playing in a team that was getting results. The slightly slower game in Italy may have helped him.
But if City go down this season, one of the big talking points will be that the squad simply wasn’t good enough. Ruud van Nistelrooy has basically already said that.
However, that does feel too easy an excuse. City have a lot of players in their squad who have had success elsewhere.
Harry Winks was a regular in a team that reached the Champions League final. There are a number of players still in the squad, like James Justin and Wilfred Ndidi, who were regulars in a City side that finished fifth. Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard have gone deep into international tournaments with their countries.
It may be the case that City’s squad isn’t good enough – and if so, that still reflects poorly on the club – but it may also be that they’re not getting the best out of players, and they need to ask themselves why.
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