The sobering truth is that Leicester City have been sleepwalking towards a shock result of this magnitude for some time.
The Foxes’ decline this season has largely gone unnoticed, but their humiliating defeat at the hands of local rivals Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup has shone a light back on Brendan Rodgers.
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Leicester have won just four of their last 17 games in all competitions, with the Europa Conference League – a competition Rodgers claimed to have not heard of earlier this season – the Foxes only chance of silverware this season.
According to the bookmakers, the Leicester boss leads the sack race this week, and if his post-match comments are anything to go by, the Northern Irishman appears to be at the end of his tether with his players.
Leicester City hit a new low on Sunday, but their performance in the FA Cup had been coming
‘Our players have to look at themselves in the mirror and prove they are good enough to be here,’ said Rodgers after their 4-1 defeat.
‘A lot of players have to improve. It was an awful performance. I have to apologise to the fans. We needed physicality and authority and lacked it.
‘There was a lack of hunger and you get destabilised when you make errors. That’s the first time since I’ve been here that I was embarrassed.’
Rodgers’ dismissal would represent a crashing comedown from that magical day at Wembley just 10 months ago, where they defeated Chelsea to win the FA Cup. Those lofty heights are lightyears behind them now.
The Foxes were dumped out of the FA Cup by local rivals Nottingham Forest, losing 4-1
Brendan Rodgers blasted his players and is losing his patience amid an underwhelming season
Rodgers sought to remind his stars of that amazing feat last week by showing them their FA Cup trophy in a team meeting. If Sunday’s display is anything to go by, it did little to inspire them.
‘Too many players think they are top players but are a long way off,’ said Rodgers in a scathing analysis of his squad. ‘Some players may have achieved everything they can here.
‘I watch training every day and for some it’s everything they could dream of, they’ve won the FA Cup – that might be it [for them], but it’s not for me.’
Leicester’s current league position of 10th is a far cry from their recent back-to-back fifth place finishes. The Foxes have long sought to disrupt the ‘Big Six’ and should have secured Champions League football on both occasions in the last two seasons.
Rodgers has long been blighted by injuries to key stars this term – with Wesley Fofana, Jonny Evans and Jamie Vardy all sidelined for long spells – but the manager’s stinging rebuke of his players on Sunday was a clear indication that regardless of key absences, his side are simply not doing enough to maintain his high standards.
Defensively, Leicester have been absolutely feeble and the statistics serve to back that up
Defensively, Forest demonstrated that the Foxes are all over the shop, and the statistics certainly underline their deficiencies at the back.
Only five teams have conceded more than Leicester’s 37 goals in the Premier League this season, including relegation strugglers Watford, Newcastle, Norwich, Leeds and newcomers Brentford. This time last season, the Foxes had the sixth-best defensive record in the league.
No side has conceded more goals from set pieces than Leicester this season, either. Rodgers has long insisted on utilising a zonal marking system, but the sheer amount of goals conceded has caused him to switch to man-to-man marking. In total, they have let in 17 goals from set pieces this campaign.
Kasper Schmeichel has faced plenty of shots on goal, too, with Leicester’s 109 shots on target against bettered only by Manchester United, Leeds and Norwich.
The Foxes have conceded more goals from set pieces (17) than any other top flight side
Only five teams have conceded more goals than Leicester’s 37 in the Premier League
More pertinent, though, is a lack of intensity among Leicester’s forwards. In the last couple of years, the likes of Vardy, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison have led from the front in winning possession in the final third.
Yet only Spurs, Everton, Newcastle and Watford have a worse sum of ball recoveries in the final third than Leicester’s 83 this season. To put that into context, Leicester were seventh in the league for possession won in the attacking third at this stage last season.
The Foxes’ lack of attacking guile has also come to the fore this campaign. Leicester are 15th in the league for chances created from open play (151) – they were eighth at this stage last season – while they are sat rock bottom for chances from set pieces (13).
Despite not creating many chances from open play or set pieces, Leicester boast the best shot conversion rate in the Premier League (14.35).
Leicester have also dropped off in terms of intensity, with fewer ball recoveries in the final third than this time last season
That is thanks in large part to the contributions of Vardy, who has scored 9 goals this season with only Diogo Jota and Mo Salah scoring more. As a result, the 35-year-old’s absence has been a bitter blow for Rodgers.
Kelechi Iheanacho worked well in tandem with Vardy last term but has scored just two league goals this time around while Patson Daka has shown promise but has been unable to fill the void vacated by the English marksman.
Of course, Covid outbreaks and subsequent postponements have had an impact on the east Midlands side, with games against Norwich, Everton and Burnley postponed.
Yet every Premier League side has faced their fair share of Covid adversity, while it cannot be said that Leicester were in a rich vein of form prior to the Omicron surge – winning just two of six games before their scheduled New Year’s Day clash with the Canaries.
And it is likely to get worse before it gets better as Leicester travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Thursday night. Granted, the Foxes earned a surprise victory over Jurgen Klopp’s side in December, but their defence is primed for another shellacking if they don’t tighten things up fast.
The Foxes have been hampered by injuries to key men, none more so than Jamie Vardy
The 35-year-old’s absence has been duly felt, particularly considering his shot conversion rate
‘It’s back to the drawing board for Brendan Rodgers,’ Martin Keown said on BBC 5 Live.
‘He wants to see better performances and they can’t keep shipping goals – it’s been a disaster defensively.’
Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara expressed concern that Rodgers’ comments could be an indication that he is eyeing the exit door.
‘They fell apart. Oh my god, they’re all over the place,’ he said on talkSPORT. ‘Just the positional sense, the whereabouts of the team, the back four.
‘The best back fours, they’re solid and they’re compact. If they step up, they all step up.
With a slim chance of reaching Europe again, the Foxes’ season appears all but over now
‘The goals they’re conceding, set-pieces, players dropping when they shouldn’t drop, all over the place, really bad.
‘His comments after the game, he was kind of saying we’ve had this team for a long time, that’s worrying,’ he added.
‘What’s he getting at there? Is he getting at, has he taken this team as far as he can take it?
‘Because when you start coming out and saying “we’ve had this team for a while, it’s a poor performance, it’s looking a bit worrying” that says to me that your time might be coming to an end.’
With Liverpool, West Ham and Wolves up next in the league, Rodgers needs a bounce back and fast.
Leicester’s owners have displayed a ruthless streak before in sacking Claudio Ranieri months after winning the Premier League, and the Northern Irishman could be next on the chopping block. Who could have envisaged this possibility just 10 short months ago?