West Ham Utd 2 Leicester City 0
Post-match analysis by Steve Moulds
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation.
Loathed as I am to kick our team when they are down, but this ranks as one of the worst games of football I have watched in my 55-plus years as a City fan. West Ham were no great shakes, but Leicester barely troubled them, with the blues defence once again effectively gifting the Hammers their goals.
The Club hierarchy want us to get behind the team, help to bolster performances, to give us a chance of staying in the Premier League – be the twelfth man. An almost entirely the same City team had beaten the Hammers 3-1 at home, so there was hope wasn’t there… there had to be hope? There was a good turnout by the Leicester faithful, given and 8 pm start on a Thursday night. So, give us something to cheer then City!
The match started brightly enough with City making the first attack. Resulting in a tame shot by Ndidi, but on target none-the-less, which Areola easily scooped. Cue the sarcastic chants from the away section “We’ve had a shot, we’ve had a shot…” and rightly so, as that was the highlight of our attacking intent for the first half. Not much to cheer, but something.
There followed a neutralised period of around 20 minutes. West Ham mopped up most of the possession, but to be fair to our defence, the Hammers created few clear chances, even with Bowen looking occasionally dangerous.
In the 21st minute, another West Ham attack looked to be petering out. Under no pressure, an attempted clearance by Buonanotte ended up being a pass to a Hammers player on the edge of the 18-yard box. With no defender quick enough to close him down, he clipped in a gentle cross to the two unmarked attackers. Hermanson made a miraculous point-blank save from Kudus, but the ball fell to the feet of Soucek who tapped it across the line. I know it was his birthday, but even he could not have wished for such a gilt-edged gift. The bemused City defenders stood with their arms in the air wondering how Soucek was onside – not one had moved to cover either attacker as the cross came in, having played them on-side. Cue the boos and not the cheers.
The rest of the first half was a none event. Leicester not really creating anything in the final third, West Ham relying on Bowen’s endeavours. I began to think that one-nil down at half-time might flatter Leicester and then, in the 43rd minute, the inevitable farcical, keystone kops defending led to the crucial second goal. Somehow failing to clear (yet again) a poor Ward-Prowse corner, Bowen nicked the ball from under Vardy’s feet, attempted to drive it across the six-yard line, and at close quarters it ricocheted off Vestergaard for our only goal of the night – sadly at the wrong end. Two-nil, presumably game over, any chance of cheering long gone.
Boos wrang out at half time as the team headed down the tunnel, an all too familiar sound of late. Half time chatter was of what changes could RVN make, who could be brought from the bench to inspire the team for a dramatic come back – surely some of the players must want to play for pride or even to protect their chances of decent bank balance next season. But no, the same 11 appeared from the tunnel. Polite applause only.
The second half had much the appearance of a light training session, albeit a slight improvement on the first half. Those familiar with the scenario will know how this goes. Leicester had been handed the yellow tabards and asked to try and attack the first team (West Ham) and create a goal scoring opportunity. None transpired. The Hammers broke a couple of times when City gave up possession – nothing transpired, even Hermanson wasn’t really in the match.
On 61 minutes came the main cheers from the City fans in the second half, as RVN brought on Winks (for Soumaré) and Mavididi (for De Cordova-Reid). Why these two players don’t start a game I am puzzled? Although they had no great impact on the result, at least Leicester went forward with more intent. It did result in City’s only other shot on goal, an easily saved header from Vestergaard. But it gave us something to applaud.
The reverse fixture at the KP earlier in the season, was RVN’s first as manager. Despite conceding 31 shots on goal, City managed six shots on target and scored three, to win 3-1. The team was all but the same as on Thursday night (Coady not Faes, McAteer not De Cordova-Reid) – all of the confidence and endeavour has been drained from the team since then – someone has to answer for why that has happened?
Something needs to be done to revive what looks like a zombie team heading to the second tier. We need to win at least five more games to have a chance of staying up and there are winnable fixtures in what remains of the season. As a fan, I want to at least see some fight in the team, some indication they want to stay up and not capitulate, then they might earn the fan’s respect and applause. Foxes Never Quit, we once shouted, let’s see if that is so.
Leicester City: Hermansen, Kristiansen (sub Thomas 87′), Vestergaard (sub Daka 87′), Faes, Justin, Soumaré (sub Winks 61′), Ndidi, De Cordova-Reid (sub Mavididi 61′), El Khannouss, Buonanotte, Vardy (c).
Subs unused: Ayew, Coady, Okoli, Skipp, Stolarczyk.
West Ham United: Areola, Cresswell, Kilman, Todibo (sub Mavropanos 66′), Scarles (sub Emerson 65′), Álvarez (sub Soler 66′), Ward-Prowse, Souček (sub Irving 90′), Wan-Bissaka, Kudus (sub Ferguson 73′), Bowen (c).
Subs unused: Fabiański, Ings, Guilherme, Rodríguez
Match Officials: Referee: Anthony Taylor; VAR: Michael Salisbury.