Peter Crouch destroys ‘woeful’ Leicester flop in 2-1 loss vs Chelsea
Peter Crouch didn’t hold back in his assessment of Leicester City’s defender Woet Faes’ contribution during their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.
Crouch was scathing about the Belgian’s work that allowed Nicolas Jackson to open the scoring just 15 minutes into the game at the King Power stadium, describing it as “woeful.”
A Foxes goal-kick routine went wrong putting them under unnecessary pressure. Despite this, Faes had three opportunities to clear the ball but mishandled each one. Jackson pounced on the errors, stealing possession, slipping past Caleb Okoli, and calmly finishing past Mads Hermansen.
The former England international said live at half time on TNT Sport, “He had four opportunities to clear the ball. I think credit to Nicolas Jackson first and foremost, but the defending, the defending is woeful actually. It’s just, you know, a ball up here. He’s on the front foot there and Jackson’s backing in. He’s gotta go through him there.”
The ex-Tottenham Hotspur striker elaborated on the repeated mistakes, emphasising the poor decision-making from Faes that compounded Leicester’s defensive woes. “He’s got another opportunity there, another opportunity there, and he tries his overhead kick. It’s terrible defending, but credit to Nicolas Jackson for perseverance and a fantastic finish.”
Leicester face a relegation battle as Steve Cooper clings on
Football Insider opinion
Just seven years after winning the Premier League title and two years following their FA Cup triumph, Leicester City endured a shock relegation in the 2022/23 season.
However, they made a remarkable recovery under Enzo Maresca, accumulating 97 points to narrowly edge out Ipswich Town for the Championship title by just one point.
Maresca later moved on to Chelsea, with Steve Cooper stepping in as the new manager. Meanwhile, key midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was also sold to the Blues, marking another significant change for the club.
Currently sitting 17th in the Premier League, the Foxes are in serious danger of falling back into the Championship. Their inability to secure a victory in their last five matches highlights the frailty of their current squad, and this slump could have devastating consequences.
If their struggles continue relegation could become a very real threat and Cooper won’t last long. There far little in the way of inspiration against Chelsea in defeat until it was too late.
The under-pressure manager would have known he needed all his players to be on their game and he didn’t get that from Faes to hand his side another uphill fight.
He was arguably lucky not to see Wilfred Ndidi sent off for a foul on Cole Palmer, and the England star incredibly had a certain goal denied to him by teammate Noni Madueke.
But by the time Jordan Ayew’s stoppage-time penalty pulled one back there wasn’t time to find a leveller.
In other news, Exclusive: Leicester City points deduction update.
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