Back in December, I wrote a piece on this website detailing just how damaging the winter World Cup was likely to have been for Leicester City, but nobody could have foreseen the extent to which the momentum built up prior to the tournament has quickly unravelled. The fall from grace has been so sharp and so spectacular, that the Foxes went into yesterday’s East Midlands battle with Nottingham Forest knowing nothing less than a win would draw them into a scrap they don’t want.
Brendan Rodgers’ depleted side couldn’t even muster a point – something that while not ideal for their own points total, would’ve at least denied their opponents a maximum haul and a three point buffer back to the Foxes. With no quality, no concentration, and seemingly no spirit, the short-term future looks nothing but bleak for the blue contingent in the region – here are three things we learned from Forest 2-0 City.
Investment is needed, and quickly
Much of the criticism aimed towards the club this season has been down to the downgrade in standards for this season compared to years gone by. This is abundantly clear in the regular playing staff, with the likes of Boubakary Soumare, Nampalys Mendy and Daniel Amartey featuring heavily in match day squads.
The financial reserves previously available to invest in high-quality talent are simply not there, with only Wout Faes coming into the first team in the summer window. With injuries inevitably catching up with the Foxes again, and six arguable starters out injured yesterday, new faces are an absolute necessity if they are to steer clear of the relegation zone.
Nico Gonzalez is rumoured to be one of the names on the list, but with the Fiorentina man would likely command a fee in excess of €30million, something that would not be in keeping with the spending habits, or lack thereof, that the City board have exhibited in recent times. A central defender and a left-back are the highest priorities to invest in, and if those positions aren’t catered to, Foxes fans’ worst fears could be met.
Leicester City squad devoid of urgency
Ever since his stint at Swansea over a decade ago, where Rodgers guided the Welsh outfit to promotion and then an impressive first top flight season, it’s been clear that a methodical, possession-based game is part of his philosophy. At 1-0 down, deep into the second half and away at your relegation rivals, this laboured style with too many touches simply doesn’t cut it.
Even before the calamitous defending that led to Brennan Johnson’s opener, City’s men were deliberating for far too long on the ball, with zero inclination to be incisive or to penetrate the red wall they were facing. Marc Albrighton, Timothy Castagne and later, Dennis Praet, all had ample opportunities to deliver crosses into the area, yet the trio unanimously took extra touches before attempting to, leading to their centres being blocked.
Wilfred Ndidi might have been the only one showing any inclination to progress the ball, but there was too much of it. The Nigerian has never been a suitably crisp distributor, something that has not improved in his six years at the King Power, and this was on show once more with many mistimed or misplaced passes in an attempt to quickly get up field.
The mood of the fans is really turning
As the concourses filled back up with fans flocking out following Johnson’s game-sealing second goal, its televisions showed a banner being unfurled in the away section of the City ground. It read: ‘MISSING: LCFC BOARD.’
There are many clubs in the Premier League suffering a perceived crisis, particularly after yesterday’s results, but the 2-0 defeat was the first visible example of dissent from supporters towards the club’s executives. City’s next five games are against Brighton, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal – meaning there’s a very good chance the current losing run of four could extend to nine.
Brendan Rodgers absolutely will not survive that, and may not even survive it extending to six. Serious questions are now being raised about the functionality of the ownership if the funds are not being provided to invest into the squad.
It was inevitable that being funded by a duty free company would catch up with Leicester City after the pandemic with air travel restricted, and the extraordinarily low net spend in recent years relative to similarly-sized clubs proves that. The tide is turning on some fans’ opinion on Khun Top, the next 16 days will be crucial to how that relationship develops.