Leicester v Manchester United: an exhibition of entertainment versus boredom

In March last year, Leicester drew 1-1 with Yeovil while both teams were in the Championship. At the start of play on Saturday, Leicester were top of the Premier League while Yeovil were bottom of the entire Football League. Quite the turnaround, but perhaps what's more remarkable about it is five of the team that day also started against Manchester United on Saturday, with three more on the bench.

After drawing 1-1 with United and Manchester City's 3-1 victory over Southampton, Leicester are no longer top of the league, but in the first-half at the King Power Stadium at least, they maintained their status as probably the most entertaining side in the Premier League.

[REPORT: Vardy makes history as Leicester hold United]

Their opponents on Saturday are, shall we charitably say, perhaps at the other end of the excitement scale. United are still third in the league, just a point off the top, but boy oh boy it's been a slog watching them this season. Thus, this game provided an interesting contrast at least between two ways of succeeding in the Premier League.

This was a clash between a side that craves possession to the point of parody, opting for the slow, gradual and frankly fairly tedious build-up, and one that are currently bottom of the pass completion charts in the Premier League, preferring to charge into their opponents a little like a boxer windmilling his arms all over the place, nevertheless landing a good few punches. It was control vs chaos, predictable vs very much not so, slow vs fast. In short, entertaining vs boring.

The goal that Jamie Vardy scored to break Ruud van Nistelrooy's consecutive scoring record was a good example of the delightful chaos and unpredictability of this Leicester team. United had just plodded around to win a couple of consecutive corners, the second of which was cleared and found Christian Fuchs attacking high on the right wing. Fuchs, of course, is Leicester's left-back. Quite what he was doing there is anyone's guess, but it's all part of the fun of this Leicester team, and you wouldn't have them any other way. The Austrian full-back slipped a delightful pass through the United defence and Vardy, barreling through in that relentless style of his, fired past David de Gea. Simple, rapid, incisive and exhilarating.

In the most simple terms, Leicester are terrific fun, something you couldn't say about their opponents. After the game Louis van Gaal appeared pretty angry about the result, but less about their failure to make much of their possession, more that they lost control of the game. “Very disappointed,” he said when asked his reaction to the draw. “We gave the goal away. We also gave away other chances they had. We could have lost in spite of our dominance. I think when you want to be champions, and we want that, you have to win this kind of game, and we didn't do that. So I'm disappointed.”

Van Gaal will defend his approach based on results, and given where United are in the league it's tough to argue too much. However, it's a particularly joyless style that is difficult, to say the least, to get excited about. The travelling United support were in fine voice in the corner of the stadium, but that was very much in spite of their performance on the day, and indeed for most of the season so far.

Van Gaal pointed to the intensity of their grindingly tedious draw with PSV on Wednesday as a possible reason for their disappointing performance, saying his team couldn't train after that match such were the physical demands of it. If that's the reason they were so sluggish, then they must have been pretty tired all season.

There must be an element to which United fans now almost place entertainment over titles. The achievements of 1999, winning the treble in hugely dramatic circumstances, while playing exciting football with a freakish generation of homegrown talent, will in all likelihood never be topped. Therefore, the minimum they must ask for is something to get the juices flowing, a team to be enthusiastic about. This team, as well as they are doing in terms of simple results, is not that.

On the other hand, the Leicester support very much have something to be enthusiastic about. The noise inside the King Power Stadium, not the most inspiring arena in the world, was remarkable even before Vardy scored his goal, and was ear-splitting when it went in. Of course they are delighted and perhaps even deliriously bewildered to be in such a position in the league, but it helps that they have a team that is so viscerally exciting to watch.

“There's a very good feeling between me and the players,” said Claudio Ranieri after the game, “and this is the result.” Results are one thing, but Leicester are arguably providing something even more important for their fans, which is simple fun, enjoyment and excitement. And that's more than you can say for United.