da dobrowin： You try to ignore the warning signs, but deep down you know they’re there.
da apostebet： They’re moving a little slower, they’re not keeping themselves quite so clean, they’re not as excited when you pour out their dinner, they suddenly get easily confused and as a consequence, they’re often more aggressive too. But is the end nigh for your beloved family pet, an inevitable date of destiny with the veterinary anaesthetist on the horizon, or the captain centre-half of your equally beloved football team?
In some senses, the differences aren’t all that great. Both will have been in your life for a very long time, and accordingly both will feel to an extent like family. That’s perhaps why it becomes so difficult to say goodbye to someone like Leicester City’s Wes Morgan. He’s part of the furniture at the King Power Stadium, a personified reminder of the greatest underdog story in the history of English football, and yet at the age of 34, it now feels like the writing is on the wall.
Morgan’s last three Premier League appearances have resulted in two double bookings and consequently two red cards. The likes of Mark Halsey have protested Morgan’s innocence, insisting the skipper was harshly treated against Everton, but history tells us sending offs in quick succession are a telling symptom of a defender reaching his use-by date. It’s not so much a matter of them being overzealous or reckless, rather simply struggling to keep up with the speed of play.
Indeed, even some of the Premier League’s greatest defenders were eventually bitten by the bug. During Nemanja Vidic’s last season at Old Trafford, which admittedly unfortunately coincided with David Moyes’ nightmare spell in charge, the Serbian was sent off twice in just six games, in defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool. In between those, Vidic decided to leave the club at the end of the campaign, much to the relief of David De Gea.
Another former Manchester United defender in Wes Brown proved that come-backs, at least momentary ones, are possible for ageing defenders. After he was sent of three times in the space of just eleven Premier League outings during the 2013/14 season, the ex-England international managed to last another full season in Sunderland’s starting XI, although just six outings in the following campaign would subsequently see him drop down to the Championship with Blackburn Rovers.
And even John Terry, perhaps the Premier League’s greatest-ever centre-back, showed his signs of decay at either end of Chelsea’s disastrous 2015/16 title defence, starting with a sending off at the Hawthorns in August and ending with another dismissal in a 3-2 defeat to Sunderland in May.
Also including an infamous substitution at half time from Jose Mourinho against Manchester City, and there was no coming back for Terry. Antonio Conte granted him just nine more Premier League outings as Chelsea won the title the year after, before the club’s Captain, Leader, Legend left for Aston Villa.
Of course, there’s nothing to dictate that history must repeat itself, but there’s not much evidence to suggest it won’t in Morgan’s case either. No Premier League centre-back has committed more fouls than the Foxes veteran this season with eleven – he’s also the only centre-back to have managed that much in just six appearances – and even away from his discipline problems, his performances have been far from superb, even if Claude Puel continues to insist the Jamaican international has played well this season.
“Wes trains well and plays well. Wes has learned other things throughout his career. He started to use the ball more than in the past. He has learned to defend with 50-60 metres of space behind him, which is new for him.
“He doesn’t have the same comfort zone as before but he gave a good response and gave his best and tried to improve at 34. It’s never too late for players to improve and take different information on board from a different manager. The intelligence of the player is to always continue to improve until the end.”
Leicester have thus far managed just one clean sheet in the top flight with Morgan in the starting XI but perhaps most tellingly their win rate from the two games without him this term stands at an impeccable 100%. That can’t all be a coincidence, Morgan suffering misfortune from being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
But what’s so strange about the situation is that Leicester already have the resources to take Morgan out of the firing line, even if it’s just for the time being. Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu were brought to the East Midlands during the summer, while fellow centre-back Filip Benkovic was immediately loaned to Celtic, and the Northern Ireland international certainly has the proven quality and Premier League experience to instantly take Morgan’s place in the team. Maybe Morgan’s latest suspension will give Evans the chance to show he can be the captain’s long-term successor alongside Harry Maguire.
And with Morgan’s contract due to expire at the end of the season, even if Puel does keep his faith in the Leicester City skipper, it feels as though time has inevitably caught up with the aged centre-half. He’s no doubt been the most incredible of servants to Leicester City Football Club, but eventually every spell of servitude, in one way or another, must come to an end.
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