Leicester 0-2 Crystal: Three Foxes Talking Points | OneFootball

A good week halted in its tracks

Up to Wednesday evening, this had been a good week for the Foxes. A morale boosting 6-2 thrashing of QPR in the FA Cup on Saturday was accompanied by news on the following Tuesday that the club, against all expectations, had complied with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules for the three-year period ending with the 2023/24 season. Success in the two absolutely vital homes games, against Palace and Fulham, would cap the week off nicely.

Unfortunately, Leicester fell at the first of these hurdles losing 2-0 against a functional, but far from outstanding, Palace side. The Foxes were the better team in the first half. There were strong echoes of Enzo Maresca’s style of play in the way that City sought to build from the back with the aim of beating the opposition press feeing up the two number tens, Facundo Buonanotte and Bilal El Khannouss, to run at the Palace rearguard. They created a number of chances, albeit only half chances, which Jamie Vardy uncharacteristically wasted.

The second half was a very different matter with Palace upping their game and depriving Leicester of possession. Both goals were avoidable. The first came when the Leicester midfield allowed Ismaila Sarr to run half the length of the pitch before teeing up Jean-Philippe Mateta. The second came when Kasey McAteer, on as a second half substitute, lost Marc Guehi at the far post. Boubakary Soumare hit the bar late on but Leicester never really looked like getting back in the game. Relegation is now looking probable if not inevitable.

What’s needed

On the evidence of the last few performances – six Premier League defeats in a row - the Foxes need strengthening in all positions. The question now is whether players of the requisite quality will want to come to a club that looks like playing Championship football next season. Resources are tight too so the club are not going to be splashing the cash.

Strengthening of the back line is clearly a priority. The defensive frailties exposed by Palace reinforced this need. The imminent arrival of the Parma defender Woyo Coulibaly, reported by FoL, is welcome news. Reports linking the club with Chelsea outcast Ben Chilwell is likely to meet with mixed reaction from City fans, some feeling that by jumping ship to join the Stamford Bridge outfit he burnt his bridges with his former employers. Would he want to return anyway?

Leicester have clearly been damaged by the long-term injury to Abdul Fatawu and are in desperate need of a winger. Who might be available is not clear. A new striker is also a priority. The Foxes cannot risk relying on 38-year-old Jamie Vardy staying fit for the entire season and it is patently obvious that Patson Daka is not an adequate replacement. The decision to recall Tom Cannon from his successful loan stint at Stoke City may remove the need to try and get another striker in the January transfer window although it may be the club’s intention to sell him.

According to reports, both Sheffield United and Sunderland have offered in the region of £13 million for Cannon, bids which the Foxes, it is said, are likely to accept. This will raise much needed cash for reinvestment. The rumour mill, now in full swing, has also suggested the new Everton boss David Moyes might also be interested in Cannon. City can surely ill-afford selling him to relegation rivals.

With the game all but over, some Leicester fans began to target the Director of Football John Rudkin holding him responsible for the club’s malaise. There is certainly a case for saying that much of the recruitment over the past few seasons has been poor, particularly in contrast to competitor clubs such as Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth. An awful lot of money has been spent on players who simply do not look good enough for the Premier League. Some signings – such as Mads Hermansen, Harry Winks and Abdul Fatawu - have been up to the mark but many haven’t.

In Rudkin’s defence it might be said that the Leicester team that got relegated in 2023 was, on paper at least, strong and should never have found itself plummeting down the table. Defensive frailties existed then, of course, and were never properly addressed. By the time relegation happened, and the club’s resources were severely impacted, it was too late.

All of this is nothing new to Foxes’ fans of a certain vintage who are used to the club’s yo-yo status. This will be a new experience to those who started supporting Leicester in the last decade. They are now getting a reality check.