By Gary Watton
December 15 2015

It sounds like a spaghetti western movie, but Leicester on Monday night was the scene of Ranieri's revenge, as the Italian's team took the once-mighty Chelsea down yet another peg. How far must the English champions fall before axeman Abramovich intervenes? Jose is certainly skating on exceedingly thin ice, and perhaps he has done himself no favours with his post-match outburst about how he was betrayed by his players who he has us believe are not fulfilling his instructions.

It has been suggested in many quarters that the team are lacking passion. Well, to be more accurate, they are lacking urgency, but in this stance they are merely imitating their boss's approach, which as always is a cautious desire to keep possession and not concede. The trouble is that although we enjoyed the surplus of possession in the first half, young Schmeichel did not have a save to make against our hapless bunch. Again, Mourinho is the author of his own misfortune. He will insist on choosing two deep-lying midfielders and only one striker, when in reality we need the formation the other way around, namely two centre forwards and one holding midfielder. Two players lying in front of the defence smacks of insecurity and excessive caution. In such an atmosphere, goals are inevitably going to be hard to come by. In fact, I do have much sympathy for Diego Costa. He plainly cannot play alone up front. Second-half substitute and goalscorer, Loic Remy, is equally incapable of playing up front by himself. Of course, when we had both 'up top' we scored and nearly retrieved the situation, but JM will revert back to his tried and failing one up front formation. He only resorts to two strikers when we are badly trailing. Unfortunately, Mourinho will not change his ways, because to do so would be an admission that he has got it wrong. Big egos rarely admit responsibility for anything.

The plain truth is that defences lie deep against us now, which leaves Costa with no space to run in behind defenders. He therefore drops deep to receive the ball which only succeeds in taking him further away from the goals. Alas we no longer have a Frank Lampard making bold runs into the box. Matic did go on a few driving forays and played quite well, but he will never score many goals in a season. Ramires I'm afraid was simply fulfilling the exact same role as Matic, and we simply don't need two players in such circumstances. Ramires true to form only needed four minutes to deliver a clumsy tackle, otherwise known as a foul. I much prefer to see him in the final third making some of his great driving runs which defenders fear. Again, the special one has other ideas. He seems to regard Ramires as something of a midfield general. Dear oh dear. Even Courtois did not escape the mediocrity. His desire to come out for high balls is commendable, but he is an accident waiting to happen. Mind you, he seemingly has little faith in those immediately in front of him, so he feels the need to double up as a centre half.

It's true that our defence did not cover themselves in glory, but I think one must simply pay tribute to the red-hot Mahrez for delivering a special cross that Vardy steered home for their opener. Mahrez then doubled the advantage shortly after the interval with an exquisite finish. Yes Azpilicueta should not have alllowed him to come on to his left foot, but credit for a brilliant goal. For many weeks now, I find myself simply envying other teams and their players, and Monday evening was no exception. Vardy may be in the goalscoring form of his life, but it was Mahrez that caught the eye. Chelsea have superstars in their ranks, but they are playing like tits at the moment. Still, I think that they are merely playing according to instructions and not betraying their boss at all. It seems to me that it is the manager who is reaping what he has sown. There has been rumours of Brendan Rodgers stepping into any possible void. I have no problem with this, purely because Brenda at least is a passionate devotee of attacking football, and that already elevates him above the cautious one. 

Next on the agenda is a match against fellow-strugglers Sunderland. This is undoubtedly a relegation six-pointer. The Blues have a chance to redeem themselves, but will they do so? Even a home win against the Mackems is looking like a tall order.

 

Leicester City 2 CHELSEA 1; half time: 1-0.

CHELSEA goal scorer: Remy

CHELSEA team: Courtois; Azpilicueta; Ivanovic; Zouma; Terry; Matic; Hazard; Ramires; Costa; Willian; Oscar. Used substitutes: Pedro; Fabregas; Remy.

 

 

CHELSEA LEADING SCORERS:

Willian seven goals

Costa four goals

Oscar three goals

Ramires three goals

Remy three goals

Cahill two goals

Pedro two goals

Zouma two goals