Leicester City 1 Chelsea 2: A villain, a local lad and an ex-manager play their roles
Externally, we've hit the point in the season where media figures can't understand what Leicester fans are concerned about.
Internally, we may not be in the drop zone yet, but the last win was over a month ago, and well, we’ve been here before so it's hard to generate positivity.
Win or not, we needed to see something to inspire some faith as Enzo Maresca rolled back into town.
The Foxes had been away from the King Power crowd for a month following the horrific implosion against Nottingham Forest. Even with a full Kop tifo from Union FS to look forward, excitement pre-match was somewhat lacking.
It has been a testing week for even the more optimistic fans and this game had the potential to be overshadowed by the return of Enzo Maresca and various former players reprising local hero and dastardly villain roles.
With Facundo Buonanotte suspended, we were already down one creative player before the season ending injury Abdul Fatawu sustained on international duty. Everybody had their own interpretations of what team Steve Cooper should select to combat Chelsea's strengths and mitigate our gaps.
Establishing his best eleven has been, still is, a work in progress for Cooper. So perhaps nobody should be surprised that his team today was a bit of a surprise with who did and didn't start. The selection didn't inspire hope or excitement though.
After the defeat at Manchester United, Cooper made four changes; Caleb Okoli was back in to partner Faes, Vestergaard out of the squad entirely. Boubakary Soumaré retained his spot and Bilal El Khanouss, Jamie Vardy and Kasey McAteer replaced Fatawu, Ayew and Buonanotte.
Any fears about a heavy defeat incoming weren't alleviated in the first thirty minutes. It was a poor performance from the Foxes, who looked disjointed and sloppy. Our ball management and defending left a lot to be desired and we were fortunate to only concede once.
Faes absolutely at fault for the first goal, as close to a gift as we've given this season, Nicolas Jackson opening the scoring. It was a woeful day generally for our defensive players, Kristiansen perhaps the only one getting a temporary pass, though his set piece taking could have been better.
A Moroccan spark in a creativity drought
It hasn't been the ideal week of preparation, injuries coming off international break, off pitch drama with the shirt sponsor and this game didn't seem to be changing the luck. Harry Winks was forced off with a groin injury just nine minutes in. Skipp is a like for like replacement but the injury beds at Seagrave are full enough already.
For a team playing at home, we didn't offer much in attack at all. Earlier in the game we tried long balls which without a target man feels wasted and suggests there is no plan. McAteer coming in offers something but he looks rusty and short of confidence after being frozen out for a long period. He’s not proven he can cut it at this level yet.
The home side did provide a glimmer of hope towards the end of the first half. El Khanouss with an initial move that got the crowd going before McAteer found himself open, registering the first real Leicester chance to generate sarcastic cheers of “we've had a shot”. Chelsea hadn't capitalised on our frailties and at half time it was still 1-0.
The Moroccan was one of key players in terms of trying to get an attack going. He's got some tenacity and it was great to see him trying to fire up the others when we got our first reaction going forward. He’s up for the fight at least.
He suffered the way many would when trying to impose on the game, there wasn’t much outlet ahead of him. He and Vardy enjoyed a couple of little one-two moves but then there was nobody in the box to target.
Bilal isn't the finished product but there is something about him, a spark we’re missing without the likes of Fatawu. If we can get him, Mavididi and Buonanotte in the same team, this does give us a chance. Or something to look forward to, anyway.
Leicester fans know better than anybody that a Maresca team with just a one goal lead who are content to pass it around the back are there for the taking with a bit of pressure and nous. We’d started to apply that pressure a little, but without any end product and still making the careless moves.
Which is probably why the second goal hammered the nail into our small coffin of hope. Fans left in numbers and the atmosphere went fully flat. The end of the game didn’t really attract any boos but so many had already wandered out, seeking something, anything else to lift a damp, fruitless day.
Leicester were guilty of repeating the same crimes, Cooper left it late yet again to introduce any substitutes. Yes the bench is lacking some depth but we needed Mavididi earlier to try and get that pressure and something different, Ayew too. It’s no coincidence that their inclusion at least helped us get into the Chelsea box a bit more.
A late penalty wasn't enough to salvage anything for Cooper's side. Even if Ipswich were to upset Manchester United, we’ll remain outside of the drop zone for now, but the slide towards it is alarming.
A tale of three very different receptions
Union FS celebrated 140 years of Leicester City with a brilliant tifo to mark the occasion in the Kop. That it was during a game with a few ex-Leicester narratives was just a coincidence. The club should celebrate the efforts more, it was a great spectacle for the cameras and a boost to Foxes fans.
Lunchtime kick offs often have the feel of a crowd who have been rushed, would possibly rather be eating something or elsewhere. The tifo helped provide some of the atmosphere pre match but it wasn't to be sustained with the on field efforts as they were.
When our support was called into question from the celebrating away ends, the question sprang to mind of what exactly do you want us to support? We're a team still devoid of a real identity and when the points are being secured, that can be ignored but this is a tough spell and just having a bit of grit from time to time doesn't cut it.
Like it or not, Maresca always had a clear plan and style. One his current crop of Chelsea players seem to have adapted to already. What played out was the type of performance we saw a lot of last year, which brings us to the first of our three receptions.
Has there ever been a return of a manager who was in charge so recently that was so…unacknowledged by all parties who aren't Sky Sports? For how much the club ignored it and with no boos or applause, it's almost as if Maresca was never really with us. A marriage of convenience where we're both happy to carry on like it didn't happen.
Consider that in fine contrast to the unabashed vitriol aimed at Wesley Fofana. Leicester fans have neither forgotten or forgiven there. Ben Chilwell may have borne some of that grief if he still had a place in this squad. That Fofana so obligingly stepped into the role of villain in the second half won't help future meetings.
It was his block, sticking his leg out, that brought Mavididi down in the box. A penalty every week except apparently in this game. VAR had a look but didn't seem it worthy of sending the referee to the monitor. Fofana had completed his turn as villain of the week with a smirk to the crowd.
A strange afternoon was brought to a close by a rare inclusion in Chelsea's Premier League squad for a local boy sold to balance the books, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Maresca gave him a mini cameo for him to get a pretty unanimous positive reception from the home crowd and we had a chance to say goodbye to him at the end of the game.
Naive and just not good enough
Part of our game plan appeared to be trying to soak up the Chelsea pressure, a nod to the variance in talent and capabilities of each team. But to do that there needs to be some control, discipline in defence and you need to get to the second balls.
Cooper has tried a few tweaks and changes to the backline and the personnel and ultimately none of it has really worked. We haven't strung together many convincing defensive performances. It fits the theme of what our best lineup actually is.
Today each of our centre backs were culpable for the goals. Faes on the first with such poor decision making and Okoli on the second, not even facing the direction of play and seemingly none the wiser to the threat. We lacked some fight today, too often we lost out on second balls or made careless passes.
There was a lack of control from the team generally. Our entire midfield were on yellow cards by half time, seemingly accepting the challenge of if you can't beat them for pace and talent then just lash out at them. It didn't leave us in a position of strength or give us flexibility to risk things in the second half and given our lack of bench options felt incredibly naive.
This game offered a fair summary of our season thus far in large points, we aren't getting completely destroyed, we're in the game for portions but we just don't have quite enough. It leaves a numb feeling sat in the stands watching it play out.
It's not just the on pitch naivety wearing thin either, it's Cooper's insistence on bemoaning the referees post match. There were some bizarre decisions today but with or without them, it doesn't change the fact that we didn't look assured of one goal, let alone closing a two goal deficit. It may be in the spirit of protecting his squad but it's grating on fans and officials now.
Whether Cooper remains the manager or the club switches it up, the question mark lingers over whether the squad as a whole has enough about them to survive and the tipping scale is leaning to no.
Today was a free hit of sorts but a chance to build some momentum or inspire something ahead of the next big tests. The players looked disappointed at the end and the gaps in our transfer approach are harder to mask up front and in central defence.
The pressure is on for the next two games which present some of the last realistic chances to gain points before the end of 2024. Right now it feels like the slide towards the bottom three is very much on.
