When November arrived ten years ago, Leicester City were in the midst of a very different season.
On Halloween 2015, the Foxes had just fought back to win 3-2 against West Brom. Riyad Mahrez scored twice and Jamie Vardy scored the winning goal.
With this result, Leicester moved into third place in the Premier League. Three weeks later, they took top spot and would maintain that position for most of the rest of the campaign on the way to that famous title.
If we look to today, things look very different. Leicester currently sit 14th in the Championship, their lowest position in the pyramid since September 2012.
Martí Cifuentes’ team has won just four of their first 13 games, and only one of those wins came in their last nine.
They previously suffered relegation in 2023, but bounced back quickly under coach Enzo Maresca and won the title.
So what’s going wrong at Leicester this season?
Lack of offensive edge hurts Fox
Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring against West Brom in the 2015 Premier League
It goes back to the win at West Brom 10 years ago. Vardy’s goal was his eighth in a row in the Premier League, moving him towards a new record of 11 games in a row.
In the last championship, he scored 18 goals despite starting only 18 games. What would happen if Leicester showed such deadly play in front of goal?
The three players who have started as Leicester’s strikers this season – Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka and Julian Carranza – have scored just one goal together so far.
Jordan Ayew has started nine games for Leicester this season and scored just one goal.
Vardy, 38, has already racked up his scoring tally in Cremonese’s Serie A campaign this season, scoring twice in six games. Leicester centre-back Jannik Westergaard has scored more goals than any striker.
Ayew, who has scored one goal, has started in nine of Leicester’s 13 games in attack. He has been a viable option in the Premier League for a number of clubs since 2015, but has primarily been played out wide or behind the main striker in a variety of roles.
He has yet to hit double figures in an English league game in his career. Choosing to lead the 34-year-old now as his main number nine feels more like a necessity than a choice for Cifuentes.
His substitutes, mainly Daka, also failed to make an impression. Amazingly, he has found the back of the net just once in his last 50 games for Leicester. Carranza, on the other hand, started just two games all season, playing for about an hour in both games before being removed.
Leicester have only scored 15 goals in total in the Championship so far. Of the top 13 clubs, only one has less.
Perhaps worse, they can’t even seriously claim to be missing or creating opportunities. They are pretty much in line with their expected goals (xG) this season, currently sitting at 15.3.
Some questionable management appointments
Ruud van Nistelrooy led Leicester to just three wins last season.
Claudio Ranieri returned to that 2015/16 season and won the title. Since then, one can only argue that the appointment of two permanent managers has been a real success at the club.
Brendan Rodgers won the FA Cup in 2021 but led the team to the start of their slide into relegation in 2023, while Enzo Maresca returned them to the top flight a year later.
Between Ranieri and Rodgers there were Craig Shakespeare and Claude Puel, and between Rodgers and Maresca there was briefly Dean Smith, but Dean Smith was given eight games and was unable to stay in the Premier League.
Since Maresca, the Premier League has had Steve Cooper and Ruud van Nistelrooy, but they each won just three games in a miserable relegation season, and now it’s Sifuentes.
The Spaniard is a shrewd operator and won praise for some of his work at QPR. But it’s a completely different job to anything he’s faced before at Leicester, and the jury remains adamant.
Threat of point deductions remains amid financial uncertainty for owners
Leicester City Chairman Ayawat Srivaddhanaprabha
It’s clear that the uncertainty off the pitch isn’t helping matters on the pitch. Leicester spent no money on permanent transfers over the summer, but the threat of point deductions still looms at the King Power Stadium.
Sky Sports News reporter Rob Dorsett:
“(As always) there is no indication as to when Leicester will hear the findings of the independent commission into its alleged breaches of profit and sustainability regulations in 2023/24.
“That makes things tough for Cifuentes and his players, who could see more than nine points erased from their record at some point this season.
“Equally worrying is Leicester’s financial dire situation. Their loyal and devoted owner, King Power, is waging its own business battles in Thailand. Profits are falling and the exclusivity of the tax-free business is being challenged.”
“There is no indication that it will directly impact the football club’s revenue stream and there is no doubt that chairman Ayawat Srivaddhanaprabha (or ‘Kun Top’) is focused on his father’s football legacy.
“Mr Srivaddhanaprabha is taking a more hands-on approach at the club, as well as acting as acting CEO, following the departure of Susan Whelan, who had been with the club for more than 10 years.
“However, it remains unlikely that they will spend many resources to strengthen their squad during the January period.”
big week ahead
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Leicester vs Blackburn Sky Bet Championship highlights.
Leicester have two games left until the next international break, the last important break of the first half of the season.
Losing at home to Blackburn on Saturday, Sifuentes and his team faced the venom of the King Power Stadium, their first home defeat of the season.
Two goals from Andri Gudjonsson gave Rovers a deserved victory, but it provoked a hostile reaction from Foxes fans as supporters chanted “I don’t deserve to wear the shirt” at the final whistle.
The coach asked for a reaction after the game.
“It was disappointing and I understand that the fans were frustrated. I wanted to get to know the supporters better after the game. It’s about being together.”
“The fans have a right to be angry when we lose, but I can say that even the most die-hard Leicester fan in the world is not as angry as I am at the moment.
“We need to give something back to them and get through this difficult time together. That’s the only way.
“But no matter what direction the crowd is in, we need to be better. We knew the situation when we came here, but we are 100 percent determined to change the situation.
“Everyone needs to take responsibility for their response to this. We need to be better. I’m here to help the players. Maybe one bad behavior can cause another emotion. It’s not easy for some, but we need more.”
“The only way I know is to try harder. We have a chance against Middlesbrough now so we need to react strongly.”
On Tuesday night, they host a second-placed Middlesbrough team. Leicester will be hoping to occupy such a position, but they currently sit just ahead of Sheffield United in the relegation zone and just as far behind Boro on points.
We then travel to Norwich on Saturday. This season, the team itself is in crisis, as they have not even gained a point in six home games.
Cifuentes and the Foxes need a positive few days or there could be a change of direction again.
