Leicester City lose again. Their Premier League season could see them relegated. Here are the three things we learnt from another abysmal loss.
From rumours of Jesse Marsch and interim managers to being once again in the doldrums of the relegation battle. It is probably over for the Foxes: I do not know where they can get points from if they do not get points against relegation rivals. There are no positives to take from the match.
Leicester City’s mistakes
The only goal of the game came from an unusually atrocious pass from talisman James Maddison. It is an unfortunate testament to how the King Power club have fallen that their losses have been incessantly due to their own hubris, mistakes, and poor play.
Against Aston Villa, we saw two goals due to mistakes. Wilfred Ndidi’s pass particularly. Again today, a midfielder was put under pressure and sought to reduce the pressure with a pass back; that pass is weak and then annoyingly intercepted.
We miss the pass in attack, miss the pass under pressure, miss the pass in defence. Clearly we have a pattern: Leicester cannot pass the ball. This is what the Foxes need to fix most: clean, neat, non-technical passing from now on. Otherwise, they will keep giving possession and conceding on the turnover.
This being said, perhaps a lack of defensive organisation is to blame. Players do not trust each other, individuals thrown out of the XI for seemingly no reason, and no real coaching to unify their defensive vision or make them track back. We either need three centre-backs or we need a head coach: Jesse Marsch.
Lacking creativity
The King Power side had 14 shots to Bournemouth’s 19, with only four of our shots being on target. Now then, this could come under mistakes with poor choices for the final pass or shot, but more acutely we clearly are not creating enough clear cut opportunities. The Foxes may create one or two, but for entire swathes of the match they could do nothing.
The first half was even worse than the dross against Aston Villa. Build-up play was nascent, passing lethargic, off-the-ball movement stagnant: there are not many worse assessments to place upon the former European-place challengers. In possession, Leicester City did not know what to do until parts of the second half. They would pass around aimlessly and fail to construct anything of note. Pathetic.
As such, what the King Power club needs is to bring back some passion and creativity, a bit of desire and hunger. There are those players who already have that, but seldom do we see it. Some of the U23s would provide a better backbone of energy to the side. Honestly, we need a refresh before the end of the season.
On top of that, we need a new style. Boring, cautious, possession-based football was what failed Claude Puel. It is time for exciting football. It is time for that American Jesse Marsch and some aggressive ‘S.A.R.D‘ football to create entertainment and chances.
A need for change
All of this boils down to a negative group of players, little freshness, and no exciting coach to galvanise supporters and players towards a common objective. I believe Graham Potter is the right man for the job, but the reality is that he will not be joining the Foxes.
The team needs and overhaul. The club needs a restructuring. The coaching setup needs reshuffling immensely. Unfortunately, this may all happen while in the Championship, but hopefully we can emulate Vincent Kompany’s Burnley and get on with it quickly.
Therefore, all seven of those on expiring contracts must go. All players earning over £100k must go, all players who are trash must be moved on, and Leicester need to bring in an exciting if not necessarily preferred head coach.
The answer for now is the American Jesse Marsch. An entertaining brand of football, a total commitment to aggressive play, and a clear vision of what players will need to be signed to refresh and take the Foxes forward. Look towards the Red Bull teams, because we need some of their players.