by Leicester City, somehow, are still well in the fight for promotion from the Championship and an immediate return to the Premier League this season. Despite Millwall and Plymouth Argyle losing back-to-back games in the past week, the Foxes are in the top two places.
A shocking display on Friday night at Plymouth ended with Enzo Maresca’s players being booed by most of the 1,600 supporters who made the almost 500 mile journey. To outsiders, a team with 88 points and 28 wins from 42 is getting so much criticism. For Leicester supporters, the collapse was devastating.
The writing is on the wall for all to see. After thrashing Stoke City 5-0 at the start of February, Maresca’s men have won just five of their last 12 league games, managed just one clean sheet in their last 10 Championship games and missed a whopping 72 chances this season this.
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The two carbon copies beaten by Millwall and Plymouth – deep blocks to the clear game plan of catching City on the counter – many (myself included) admitted that further promotion was no longer possible automatic. However, Saturday’s results allowed Leicester to take control of the promotion race.
Leeds United, who themselves have a permanent form of horror when the pressure is applied, fell to a 1-0 home defeat by a Blackburn Rovers side that thumped 5-0 at Bristol City three days earlier. Ipswich also failed to capitalize as their winless week continued as they failed to beat Middlesbrough at Portman Road.
In a way Leicester are in the top two, one point above Leeds and one point behind Ipswich. With a game in hand and three home games on the horizon, their fate rests in their hands.
For hundreds of supporters, Leicester’s performance and result at Home Park has caused a lot of doubt. For others, Maresca has lost faith after another example of his complete inability to change games when everything is going wrong. No plan B when the going gets tough.
However, this current situation is not just the head coach’s fault. Eight of Plymouth’s starting 11 have played Premier League football but have consistently proven unable to perform when needed most.
Speaking of The Big Strong Leicester Boys Podcast, I tried to explain one of the biggest factors in the club’s attitude issues. “There’s a sense of arrogance with some players when it almost felt like they thought they could come up and turn Plymouth around.
“When you fail to beat Millwall, you just know Plymouth will come up and fight them in the relegation break. It’s clear now that every team knows how to play against Leicester.
“I said the run in for Leicester was good because they had won the remaining seven sides but they all seem to have worked out how to counter the quality of the attack.”
For someone who doesn’t like to be behind the manager so often, doubts about Maresca have entered my head, for the first time, after the last two performances. The Italian is under pressure and has questions to answer to ease the pressure on his job.
“I’m not Enzo out and I won’t be there for the rest of the season,” I explained on the podcast.
“If that happens and the first leg ends in victory and the players don’t turn up, that means the players don’t turn up for another big game.
“My biggest concern is the Premier League. When teams like Crystal Palace come to the King Power Stadium and go on, are they going to stick to their slow-paced approach with no plan B? Leicester won’t be in to lose there. games next season.”
The expected fixtures for next Saturday’s match with West Brom have already started to take shape. Two changes have to be made with Conor Coady coming in and Patson Daka replacing him at center forward.
The striker has been the scapegoat in recent weeks and unfortunately only needs a break from the partial light after missing two big chances at Plymouth. Coady has many qualities to be awarded a place in the starting XI. It’s no coincidence that his last two starts against Sunderland and Bournemouth have been well deserved.
After a rather busy end of March and the beginning of April, Leicester have a week of rest, recovery and preparation for next week. The players have a chance to show their spirit and Maresca’s eyes will be on him after the last two games.
Saturday had a better feeling about it, certainly after the dismal feeling of Friday night. As the headline of this story says, Leicester have a golden opportunity to turn their promotion chances around and return to the Premier League.
