Another low point
The fixture on Tuesday night was the first of two encounters in a week against Southampton, the league match followed by an FA Cup fourth round tie against the same opponents on Saturday. Like Leicester, the Saints have struggled in the second tier after being relegated from the top flight last season. Recently, though, the form of the South coast side has improved with three wins and a draw in the last four matches.
The first of the two matches between Leicester and Southampton was by far the most important. The FA Cup is a luxury the Foxes can ill-afford this season. All that matters is getting enough points to avoid the dreaded drop to the third tier of English football.
There were hints against Birmingham, before the sending off of Bobby De Cordova Reid at least, of renewed vigour, and a more direct tweak in the Foxes’ style of play. Tuesday night’s game presented another opportunity to assess the extent to which Andy King’s regime, armed with the new January recruits, is likely to turn around the club’s fortunes.
With injuries and suspensions, Leicester’s resources were stretched to the limit. You wouldn’t have known that in the first half, though, as the Foxes probably played as well as they have so far this season. The tempo was high, the pressing from the front was very effective and Patson Daka looked a threat because of the more direct style of play. Three goals, one from the excellent Mukasa, with no reply was ample reward and well-deserved.
The second half couldn’t have been more different. From the off, the work rate of Leicester players declined as they sat back inviting pressure from Southampton who had free rein in midfield to dictate the play. Not surprisingly, the Saints got one back but rather than galvanising the Foxes, they went more and more into their shell allowing the away side to dominate possession. The nerves of the Blue Army were being tested by a second but nerves were quickly replaced by anger and bewilderment as City conceded twice more to, unbelievably, lose the game.
Do Leicester need a psychologist?
Describing what happened on Tuesday evening is much easier than explaining it. Maybe it is a mental problem. So desperate were they to win the game that they sat back intent only on protecting their goal. Lack of fitness, too, might explain the lack of intensity in the second half.
King’s substitutions played a part too. Taking off the four starting forward players left nothing up front. Bringing on Lascells to play in a back three was also, in retrospect, a disaster. I guess the point was to try and free up Ricardo Pereira and Luke Thomas to try to tackle Southampton’s midfield dominance. With the Saints playing two wide players hugging the touchline, however, the change in tactics was at least partly responsible for the number of crosses the away side were able to put in and from which their goals were created.
Stay-away fans
At half time, I felt sorry for those many Leicester fans who had stayed away. I suspect the crowd was below 25,000. By the end, though, those present envied the stay-aways. Foxes’ players left to a crescendo of boos and chants of ‘sack the board’ and ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’. It is difficult to know where City go from here. At the very least, the appointment of an experienced manager who will simply not accept the lack-lustre second half performance cannot come soon enough.