‘What the heck is this?’ – Leicester fans obliterate Luke Thomas in ‘shock’ moment vs Southampton
Luke Thomas has been fully blamed as Leicester City were knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton on Saturday.
The Foxes had a distraction from the Championship relegation battle on 14 February, taking on the Saints in the fourth round of the FA Cup, only to lose in extra time.
Andy King‘s side had evened up the score quite early in the second half, with Oliver Skipp popping up with a brilliant bicycle kick, but the home side were eventually victorious at St Mary’s Stadium.
It looked for all the world as if the Championship rivals were heading to penalties when James Bree netted a winner in the 109th minute, putting the Foxes under yet more pressure.
Looking back at replays, it became clear very quickly that Thomas had lost the goalscorer in the build-up to the late goal, switching off in the most important of moments on the road.
Luke Thomas loses James Bree as Southampton defender scores timely winner
Although Leicester can now completely focus on securing safety in the Championship, defeat to Southampton will have done their players no favours in terms of confidence levels.
And if Thomas were to go on social media, he would see a lot of negativity following his role in the winning goal, being labelled “genuinely the worst footballer in the country”. Ouch.
Supporters are desperate for the 24-year-old full-back, who was also carded during his short time on the pitch, to be dropped from the squad, but very few are holding their breath right now.
- @phil_1965: “Once again, Luke Thomas gets done over. When will you learn that he’s no good? Not big enough, not strong enough and not fast enough. He’s not bulked out one bit since he started for us, and he can’t read the game.”
- @FFSPod: “Another needless free-kick given away by Luke Thomas. Such a liability man, just keep him off the pitch. Bree heads in for Saints after Daka’s deflection.”
- @Harrylcfc123: “We gave Luke Thomas a four-year contract. A FOUR-YEAR CONTRACT.”
Leicester full-back’s stats speak for themselves at St Mary’s
As well as conceding the free-kick, from which the Saints scored the winner, and picking up a yellow card, it was a desperately poor performance from the English full-back on the south coast.
He completed just 76 per cent of his passes, only completed half of his long balls, was dispossessed once, saw one shot blocked and could only win 50 per cent of his ground duels [FotMob].
Although 19-year-old Olabade Aluko committed three fouls during his time on the pitch, he looked far more comfortable than the more experienced full-back who replaced him for the remainder of the game.
King has been handed a major headache in that position now, but given that Leicester fans have been furious with Thomas previously, the former player has no plans to axe him now.