The recriminations from Leicester City’s Friday night horror show are still flying around 3 days on. It was not just the result, a 4-2 home loss to Newcastle United, that was so concerning. It was the overall 90 minute performance that accompanied it, that has created so much alarm for us followers of the Foxes. From the opening minute Leicester were lacklustre, insipid, second-best, and deservedly ended up losing. The irony is that the final score-line flatters Leicester, at one point they were 4-0 down. At home. To Newcastle United. With all due respect to the Toon Army, that is unacceptable, and it is understandable why so many fans are up in arms.
The worrying thing about all of this, is that we’ve been here before. Last season in fact, when Brendan’s boys threw away a 12 point cushion to lose their Champions League spot to Manchester United on the last day of the season. Incredibly, that afternoon was the first time since September 2019 that the Foxes have been outside of the top 4 positions. After that disappointment, we were told that lessons had been learned, words had been spoken and extra maturity and steel had been added to the group. We were told that the pain and disappointment of losing out on the dream of Champions League football was the extra motivation and fuel they needed to right the wrong this season. Well as it stands today, with 3 games remaining, those words are ringing slightly hollow. To throw it away and miss out once is forgivable (just), to do it again is not. Especially when history is repeating itself, almost to the letter.
The nadir of last season’s collapse was the away defeat to Bournemouth, who were eventually relegated. 4 goals were conceded, Leicester looked inept, the mental fortitude non-existent. Sound familiar to Friday? The only difference to that game was that against Newcastle, Leicester thankfully did not have a man sent off. However with Jonny Evans on crutches due to a pre-match injury, Leicester again could be going into the final 3 games without a crucial second defender.
What is so frustrating, is that Leicester have shown in their performances over the season that they are good enough to finish in the top 4. They have beaten or have took points off all those in the supposed “top 6”. They have took more points than last year. Indeed, they went into Friday’s game in 3rd position. It is not even that they are chasing a Champions League spot from a far-back position, they are already there, the majority of the hard work has been done, they just need to see it home. Sadly, it looks like they cannot. Again, they look like the pressure of being chased is getting to them.
The last couple of games against Southampton and Newcastle have resulted in a solitary point, when 6 points would have sealed it. Leicester were indeed lacklustre against a 10 man Southampton, when the footballing gods looked like they had helped the Foxes out with a dubious red card given against the hosts. Instead, Leicester were lucky to come away with a point. However it is not just those games that have cost us. 8 home defeats have also been a heavy burden on their fortunes, of which many have come against teams that Leicester would have backed themselves to win against. Fulham, Leeds, Aston Villa, to add to Newcastle United. All fine clubs and all capable of causing upsets, like they demonstrated against us, but all should have been beaten. Fulham have now been relegated. If Leicester do indeed miss out, then these home defeats are the reason why.
This should not be happening, certainly not this week. This week should be a celebration, ahead of Leicester’s first appearance in an FA Cup final since 1969. It should have been a week of joy and celebration. Especially as Leicester fans will be at Wembley to see the team in person. Given what has gone on in this city over the last 14-15 months, this should have been the focus, with Champions League either wrapped up, or a formality to achieve. Instead, we have a week of worry, stress and the FA Cup final being described as “a distraction” in some quarters, as if it is an annoyance that we are there. A viewpoint which is staggering and delusional in equal measure.
The worry over the toughness of this side under pressure also spreads to the Cup final as well. Will Leicester actually turn up on the big day against an imposing Chelsea side, or will they fall away? The League Cup Semi-Final last season against Aston Villa was yet another example of this group not being able to cope with the glare of spotlight put amongst them. The concern is that the fans jump through numerous hoops, at an extensive cost, to even get there, yet the team themselves do not bother showing up, or turn in a performance as insipid as Friday night’s. To lose is par for the course, as disappointing as it is, but to not put in any sort of performance is unacceptable as is going down with a whimper. Given the history of this group, this are not unjustified concerns.
What makes all this a lot harder to take is that the club love to push that this group is different from other groups of players in the league. They love to sell the fairytale that this is a group of underdog players, punching above their weight. And in many ways, they are underdogs. Our revenues are dwarfed by the “top 6” clubs, and yet we have shown throughout the last couple of seasons that we can compete at this level of the table. It also ignores that whilst we do not have the biggest wage bills around, we still do pay our players very healthy salaries. Indeed our wage bill eclipses our revenues, which is not a healthy business model to be in, even with the reporting lags caused by Covid-19. The harsh truth is that this group do not compare to the players managed by Ranieri, Pearson and Martin O’Neill despite that the club loves to suggest it does. Those groups had leaders, were calm under the most severe of pressures, and stood up to be counted time and time again. They also got the job done. They won trophies, they won promotions, and incredibly they became Champions of England. They were not boys, they were men. They had grit, determination and were able to scrape through even against adversity. The unfortunate truth is that the current crop is lacking in these departments.
For all that, what this current group does have what those other groups did not is talent. This group has played some of the best football I have seen in a Leicester shirt. They can pull teams apart at ease, they can play pass and move football look ridiculously simple. They can score lots of goals across the team. They can make good teams look average, and humiliate poor teams. They have strikers who can score exciting goals, wingers who are extremely skilful, midfielders that can spot passes others cannot. This is a Leicester City side that when they are in the mood, look every inch a top 4 side. They can look a team that deserves to be on the big stage. They can look a team that could cause the very best teams a problem. That afternoon in September at the Etihad will last long in the memory as they tore Manchester City apart on their way to a 5-2 dismantling. In James Maddison, Youri Tielemens and Harvey Barnes, they have players that are admired far and wide.
What this team has is talent throughout the entire team. Yet they appear a team that still cannot cope with being under pressure. It is this that yet again, which means the race to achieving a Champions League place is going to the wire and still not yet been secured. Let’s hope with the 3 massive games still to play, they can dig deep and find those reserves of grit and determination to see ourselves across the line. To fall twice at the last hurdle would be very tough to take. With that in mind, it will take all of Brendan Rodgers' managerial nous and experience to help the team achieve its goals. It is probably his toughest test at Leicester City, we all hope he passes it!
(The profile pic of this article is taken from the Leicester City twitter page, and all credit should go to them).