Why Leicester still failed in the Premier League

It is a revealing statistic. Leicester, champion of England in 2016, became the first team to chain nine consecutive losses at home in the Premier League without scoring the slightest goal. The last trace of a leicester goal at the King Power Stadium dates back to the meeting against Brighton (2-2) of December 8, 2024. Yesterday, against Liverpool, the Foxes were once again reduced to silence. Dominated by ultra-masters of their subject, they ended up giving in to a strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 76th minute. This success (0-1), acquired with patience by Liverpool despite a great Hermansen, brings the men of Arne Slot a little more closer to a 20th title of Champion of England. For Leicester, on the other hand, the cleaver fell. A year after finding the elite, the club is already sentenced to a return to Championship. With sixteen defeats in the last eighteen games, the dismissal of Steve Cooper then the arrival of Ruud Van Nistelrooy will not have been enough to stop the fall.

“” We were not good enough all year round, it's true. But when we look at the season, we realize that we were not up to par. We have to look at the mirror as players. And we must now try to put this club in a better position this summer because we have not been good enough. We have been criticized and we will continue to be because it is deserved. Since the first minute of the season, we have not been at the level required to be competitive in the Premier League, because it is a competition that chews you and spit you out. We are not good enough and this is something that we have to examine because we are absolutely devastated “Commented defender Conor Coady, recalling the inventory of one season to forget.

Lack of precision, feverish defense and lesson to remember

But then how to explain this so -called? In 33 days, the Foxes collected only 18 points, distributed fairly between home matches and those outside (9 points each). Their offensive ineffectiveness resulted in only 27 goals scored, while their defense sank with 73 goals conceded. A crying imbalance that illustrates the helplessness of a team never really at the level of the Premier League. And the club also does not seem to have learned the lessons from its previous lifts to the elite.

“” This reflects a club that needs to be rebuilt. But how and with whom, are the biggest questions for the club, while Leicester faces one of its biggest crossroads», Analysis Nick Mashiter, in an article for Bbc . “” Collectively, as players and as a club, we failed. There is simply no way to hide it, and I refuse to consider any suggestion in this sense. I have been in this club for so long, we have known so many highs and success, and this season has been only miserable, and for me personally, a total shame. It hurts, and I know you can feel it too“, Also said Jamie Vardy, an emblematic figure of the club.

Van Nistelrooy wants to stay and rebuild

But Ruud Van Nistelrooy had nevertheless sounded the alarm in winter: the workforce he had inherited lacked depth, and the absence of reinforcements, in particular to compensate for the injury of Abdul Fatawu, weighed heavily. “” During the winter transfer window, it was not possible to strengthen and that is what the team really needed “, He regretted. In the absence of means, Leicester could not keep the pace of others, like the Wolves who have invested nearly 43 million pounds for three major recruits. At the closing of the transfer window, only two points separated the Wolves Foxes, today, the gap went up to 17, recalls the Leicester Mercury . “” The gap is large between the promoted and the other 17 teams “, He insisted, believing that” Some key positions“Should have been reinforced, even if the economic realities forced the club to”adjust your expectations».

“”I am very disappointed that it is now a certainty. We have continued to hope and fight, but in recent weeks we have seen the gap widen. We saw him coming, even if we have never abandoned, and we have oriented our attention to the future using these last matches to end the season as best as possible“Also said the coach after the match against Liverpool. Before adding: “My goal is to lead the club. (…) The new season begins very quickly and you have to start preparing to go ahead. The sooner the better. I will work in the coming weeks, it is my role to act in the interest of Leicester».

If a departure had been mentioned in the British press, the latter could, with relegation, be delayed. “”The dismissal of a second coach of the season has financial consequences and, given the budgetary constraints, this option will be necessary to consider. Can Leicester allow himself financially to dismiss Van Nistelrooy, but, in the future, can he afford not to do it?»Comments theBbc. What is certain is that Leicester will have to find the sports and economic levers necessary to raise their heads once again.