Leicester City: Winning off the pitch, losing on it
Two Foxes become Three Lions
In a tremendous moment for the Foxes faithful, Demarai Gray and Ben Chilwell were promoted to the senior English national team. Though, Chilwell was used as a substitute in the 79th minute and Gray was unused, to see a pair of promising, young, and talented players put on the Three Lions kit and call Leicester their home is terrific.
At the same time, James Maddison continues his impressive display for the U-21 team, as a senior league call up for the former Norwich player is not so far-fetched.
If Maddison is called up, that would mean there would be four Leicester players, with Maguire’s inclusion, on the English roster. The improvement and quality of play that has led to these players to become internationals is testament to Puel and his ability to develop young talent.
With so many positives and all the optimism in the world going into Saturday’s match against Bournemouth, the Foxes were surely going to make mincemeat of the Cherries. However, the outcome made the Blue Army feel anything but optimistic.
A Disaster on the South Coast
As the half-time whistles were blown, the Foxes were losing to the Cherries 3-0. Not to mention Harry Maguire had a yellow card. By the time of Adam Smith’s 81st minute goal to make the game 4-0, Kasper Schmeichel was given a yellow card and Captain Wes Morgan collected two yellow cards in the second half and was ultimately ejected of the game.
As a whole, the defense became exploited from the opposition’s counter attack, as the Leicester City defence was outplayed. On the other side of the pitch the the attack had a solid outing. However, in a frustrating trend that has become more prevalent during Puel’s time as gaffer, the lack of clinical finishing left the Foxes playing from behind for the entirety of the game. This, even though they shockingly had the advantage in every major statistical category.
Last second heroics from James Maddison’s penalty kick and Marc Albrighton’s header were not enough to salvage the match. Leicester City dropped three points, leaving the Foxes with six points and a record of W2-D0-L3.