Moving Target – Robert Huth

Earlier this week, Leicester City announced the signing of Robert Huth on a three-year deal from Stoke City. The German centre-back joins the Foxes’ ranks after enjoying a hugely successful spell on loan last season, tallying 14 appearances after making the switch in January.

The History

Born in East Berlin, Huth spent his early years training at a couple of local youth academies (VfB Fortuna Biesdorf and 1. FC Union Berlin), before Chelsea identified his potential and brought him to Stamford Bridge in 2001. Having joined the Blues at the tender age of 17, Huth made his first appearance in the final match of the 2001/02 season, but failed to cement a regular starting berth due to the fierce competition from John Terry, William Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho. The 6ft 3in defender recorded just 62 appearances and two goals during his five-season spell with Chelsea.

Huth then made the switch to Middlesbrough in pursuit of first-team football, with the Yorkshire club stumping up £6 million to land their man. A catalogue of ankle injuries contrived to restrict the Germany international to just 25 appearances across his first two seasons at the Riverside Stadium. Boro’s relegation to the Championship in 2009 saw Huth plot a route back to the Premier League with Stoke City, having registered two goals in 63 outings for his new club.

Huth instantly established himself as a mainstay in the Potters rearguard and went on to feature in all but 15 of Stoke’s league fixtures in his first four seasons at the club. Consecutive knee operations then limited Huth to 13 appearances in the next term and a half, before Leicester snagged him on a loan deal in February of this year. Starting every fixture under Nigel Pearson, Huth bagged one goal during his stay at the King Power Stadium – by the time he left the Britannia, the big German had netted 18 times in 188 outings across all competitions.

Early on in his career, Huth enjoyed a regular starting role in Germany’s senior squad, partnering Per Mertesacker in the 2005 Confederations Cup. He went on to notch two goals in 19 outings, earning his last cap back in 2009.

The Prospects

When Huth arrived at Leicester after Gameweek 24, the Foxes ranked joint-bottom alongside Queens Park Rangers in terms of clean sheets (four). The following 14 Gameweeks harvested six shut-outs, with five clean sheets arriving in their final seven match-ups. Whether Leicester can emulate those late-season performances without the looming spectre of relegation is another matter, though.

Considering that Pearson opted to field three centre-backs in either a 3-5-2 or 5-4-1 set-up in the second half of the campaign, Huth offers the security of starts alongside club captain, Wes Morgan. Indeed, even if Pearson switches to a four-man backline, Huth’s minutes looks unthreatened, with Marcin Wasilewski the likeliest candidate to drop out in the heart of defence.

Delving into the data, Huth and Morgan caused all manner of problems for opposing defences during the run-in, furnishing Leicester with a potent aerial threat from set-pieces. From Gameweek 25 (his first match for Leicester) onwards, Huth ranked joint-third among all defenders for total attempts (16) and lead the way for efforts inside the box (15), with his solitary goal coming in a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over West Bromwich Albion. Morgan, meanwhile, placed second in terms of shots inside the box (13) and attempts on target (five).

Elsewhere at the back, the rampaging Jeffrey Schlupp was a Fantasy favourite in the first half of the campaign by virtue of his out-of-position potential on the left flank, resulting in two goals in the first 13 Gameweeks. The arrival of Christian Fuchs not only places question marks over Schlupp’s minutes next time out, though, it may well afford us the best route into the Foxes defence, with the Austrian – a set-piece specialist – likely to be handed the left wing-back berth should Pearson continue with a 3-4-1-2.

Bearing in mind that Leicester finished the previous season with the fourth-worst defence, there’d be no surprise if their main defenders remained around the 4.5 mark. Should Fuchs come in at 5.0, though, Huth and Morgan are likely to battle it out for our attentions as cheaper alternatives and with a favourable start to the season (SUN, whu, TOT, bou, AVL, sto), Fantasy managers may well be eyeing up the German as a viable budget option for our five-man defences.

Further Reference

Robert Huth Wikipedia Page

Robert Huth Transfer Markt Page