Oh dear, oh dear. That’s now two defeats in a single week in the Championship for Marti Cifuentes and his not-so-cheerful squad. In fact, Leicester City’s losses to Hull City and Millwall (both on the road, to be fair) occurred within just seven days.
Before that, with an inconveniently placed international break interrupting their rhythm, the Foxes actually managed to beat Swansea City away in Wales. That’s no easy task, truth be told — the triumph provided the Blue Army with what’s now being labelled as false optimism.
I have to confess, I’m still offering Cifuentes a degree of support. Why? Because a 103-day stint isn’t really sufficient time for any manager to impose his identity on a side, in my opinion.
The Catalan also didn’t get a proper chance to oversee a full pre-season or genuinely explore the transfer market for his own preferred recruits. Still, things aren’t looking great! But which Leicester players failed to deliver against the Lions?
Leicester City flops from the Millwall clash
Cifuentes’ men enjoyed slightly more possession and registered a few more attempts than the Bermondsey hosts on Saturday. Yet something is clearly lacking in this Leicester team — it’s desperately short of attacking spark and cutting edge.
According to Leicester Mercury’s player ratings, quite a number of Foxes let the team down. To begin with, it’s time to drop Luke Thomas: he simply isn’t up to scratch, proves counterproductive, and contributes very little offensively. He was handed a woeful score of ‘3’ by the publication.
“Luke Thomas: He actually started the game well. He had the right idea with his passing and stood up to Azeez. But it quickly turned sour as his winger kept getting in behind, including for the goal, where he held off Thomas far too easily. The full-back then lost his composure, giving up possession for the penalty and sending simple passes out of play. 3/10 match rating”
Somewhat unexpectedly, usually reliable midfielder Harry Winks was rated a 4. The attacking trio of Abdul Fatawu, Jeremy Monga, and Jordan Ayew each received the same score. Meanwhile, substitutes Stephy Mavididi and Julian Carranza were also handed identical, disappointing ratings.