Prioritising toughness
Going into the game, City boss Gary Rowett had emphasised the need for mental and physical toughness. After the Swansea defeat he had told reporters that ‘We have to start fighting like it really matters’.Â
What a remarkable statement. Of course, it raises the question what had they been doing up to then and who is responsible for the lack of fight? I think what he was getting at is not that the players don’t care but that he feels the squad, built to challenge at the top end of the table, is not physically or mentally tough enough to cope with a relegation battle.
Whatever the Foxes’ manager meant we would see, in his team selection, who passed the toughness test and what tactical tweaks were deemed necessary to win the game against Pompey. Rowett’s selection options were limited by injuries. The only two fit centre backs Jannik Vestergaard and Jamaal Lascells were automatic choices and Jordan James was again absent due to a troubling heel injury. Aaron Ramsey, back training now, hasn’t played for a long time and would be a risk.Â
Leicester Mercury journalists think that three Leicester players ought to be given more game time. First, it is argued that Joe Aribo passes the toughness test and should be playing. There is also a case, it is suggested, for young players Jeremy Monga and Bade Aluko to be given more time on the pitch, the former given Stephy Mavididi’s struggles this season and the latter because he offers something different steaming forward from his defensive position.Â
 In terms of personnel, Rowett ignored all of these suggestions making three changes from the team that lost to Swansea. All three were reasonable. Asmir Begovic came in for Jakub Stolarczyk, Hamza Choudhury replaced Oliver Skipp and Bobby De Cordova played in the number 10 role instead of Divine Mukasa.
Tougher but a chronic lack of quality
No Leicester fans would expect this to be anything else but a very difficult match. The South Coast club have come good at exactly the right time drawing two and winning two in their last four games, the victories coming against promotion chasing Middlesborough and Ipswich. Whilst Leicester are unbeaten on the road under Rowett’s leadership, they have drawn all five games. Not losing on Saturday wouldn’t be enough.
In the end, the Foxes couldn’t even manage a point. It was an extremely scrappy match with quality in short supply on both sides. Even the referee had a poor game. Indeed, there is a case for saying that had VAR been in use, the Foxes might, remarkably, have won. In the first half, Patson Daka was clearly clipped by a Portsmouth defender but Gavin Ward wasn’t good enough to see it. Portsmouth’s goal, too, a Ibane Bowat strike from an in-swinging corner after 63 minutes, looked like it involved a handball.
A poor refereeing performance, however, doesn’t explain why the Foxes came away with nothing from Fratton Park. They were certainly defensively strong for the most part but there was very little going forward and an overall lack of quality. Too often, the ball was launched forward to no one in particular. Rowett threw on attacking players after Leicester conceded the goal and Choudhury, Daka and Vestergaard ought to have done better with chances late on. It was all too little too late. There was hostility from the Blue Army at full time, and the players can’t say they didn’t deserve it.
On the brink
Leicester’s relegation to the third tier of English football with all the implications that involves, is now all but certain. Immediately following the defeat, the Foxes are now five points from safety with only three games left. Should West Brom win their game in hand (a three o’clock kick off against Preston) that figure would increase to eight. Should that happen then a failure to beat Hull on Tuesday night would send City down.Â
The only possible saving grace would be if the West Midlands side are deducted points for breaching profit and sustainability rules. If reports are to be believed, however, the penalty is likely to only be two or three points maximum. Of course, too, survival would still be predicated on Leicester winning their remaining games. Even the most optimistic Foxes’ fans struggle to envisage this happening. In all likelihood, City will be only the fifth side since the creation of the Premier League in the early 1990s to suffer relegations from the top flight and the Championship in successive seasons. What a disastrous season it has been.
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