Boos not his concern, says Leicester City boss Claude Puel
Leicester City were greeted with resounding boos following their 2-1 defeat to Southampton, but that’s none of Claude Puel’s concerns, the Frenchman has said.
The Foxes were condemned to their second successive loss on Saturday, having already crashed out of the FA Cup courtesy of a super effort from Newport County.
The fans were expecting Puel’s side to respond well against the Saints; however, what happened was quite the opposite as Leicester showed little intent.
More than the defeat, it was the manner that was quite embarrassing – which prompted the boos. For Puel, though, it’s of little concern. The 57-year old insists that he must “keep my focus and concentrate on the team”.
"“The fans are disappointed like us and it’s a normal thing, it’s not my concern, I have to keep my focus and concentrate on the team.“It’s a big disappointment, we wanted a good response after our cup game. The players were focused, perhaps a little nervous, and we showed this in the first half.“We wanted to perform, we wanted to have a reaction and our concentration was perhaps too much. It was a difficult scenario.“We didn’t manage the first half well. It would have been good to have come back without the second goal but it was harsh and it was a bad moment.“We played with desire and intensity in the second half but we didn’t perform enough.”"
You have to say, the boos are all justified. You cannot play with three defensive midfielders at home against a team fighting for its Premier League status.
It was a very tough watch – especially the first half – and it is only and only Puel who must take the blame for the performance. He should have set Leicester up to fire on all cylinders and push Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side into their own half early on, but instead, the 4-3-3 that he employed sent the message that Leicester were too scared to attack and that they were the inferior team.
If Puel wants to see his bring his project to fruition, he will have to get rid of this habit of throwing too much caution when it is least necessary.
Next. Harvey Barnes’ recall could be a defining moment for Claude Puel at Leicester City. dark
He has all the resources to play a free-flowing and fearless brand of football, and he simply needs to put them to good use. If he fails to do that, then a sacking might not be too far away.