Proud Foxes Celebrate Another Point And A Record Broken

With Jamie Vardy on the brink of setting a new goalscoring record, memories of last season on most fans’ minds, and in front of the Sky cameras, it was always going to be a brilliant atmosphere before the Manchester United game. The beautiful pre-match tifo created by Foxes supporters group, Union FS, really set the stage and although the game didn’t quite live up to expectations, it’s still all smiles in the Leicester camp.

It continues to be a season of results beyond even the wildest Leicester fan’s imagination. While many expected us to crumble against a big team, Leicester fans were more reserved. While losses are inevitable, and I’m certainly not deluded enough to think we’ll keep our league position through to May, we knew we could give the away side a tough game. It was another performance to make us proud and is most certainly, a point gained. We may have joked that it’s kept our title race alive, but in seriousness, what it does is take one point closer to the magic number; forty. Now just eleven points off it, we’re equally the same number better off at this point in the season than last year.

With each passing weekend and match, the chance of us winning again feels less likely. We’re not the kind of club who can pull off an unbeaten record like your Arsenals, or Chelsea’s of previous years, right? Regardless of your thoughts, you’d have been hard pressed to predict the correct score for this match, aside from saying that a 0-0 felt incredibly unlikely.

Never before in my wildest dreams could I have expected to leave the stadium after a game against Manchester United feeling that maybe we could have taken the whole three points, not just the one and deserved them. It’s a feeling that I still find difficult to comprehend. I’ve been going to Leicester games for over eighteen years, but rarely have we deserved to beat the bigger clubs in those years. That’s not to say that Manchester United didn’t test us. They looked sluggish initially, bullied by our style in the opening minutes before getting back into it. They play the ball well and kept possession well, but didn’t capitalise on it with much attacking menace. It wasn’t surprising though that their equalising goal came from our main weakness either, a set play that a player like Bastian Schweinsteiger easily capitalised on. While it’s improved, I still hope that one day we may tighten up our defence of corners entirely.

For the first time since his run of goals began, I actually thought Jamie Vardy, and the team in general, looked slightly nervous. While we made a good start, as United steadied themselves, you could see the pressure start to build. It was a superb ball from Christian Fuchs on the counter-attack that set up Vardy and he didn’t look likely to miss. Before the ball had even touched the back of the net, the King Power erupted and the celebrations were not quite ground-shaking, but nearly. To witness a Leicester player make history, and worldwide news with it, is something quite special. Regardless of your opinion on Jamie Vardy, eleven goals in eleven consecutive goals is worthy of some praise. It’s certainly not a moment I’ll forget any time soon.

The 1-1 draw meant that although we remained above their opponents, we dropped to second due to a convincing Manchester City victory. Although Arsenal’s draw the following day, ensured we remain in second heading into December, just one loss in fourteen games now. Rio Ferdinand poised the question of whether or not the fact that Leicester were top, prior to kick-off on Saturday, was a reflection of us playing well or whether or not it revealed a lack of quality in the Premier League this season. He was quick to congratulate Vardy on his achievement but I was left mulling over his quotes.

Unfortunately Saturday’s performance was not the Foxes’ best of the season and didn’t do what the fans know we’re capable of to dispel his thoughts. He’s not alone in the things he’s saying and I do understand why, because even I hadn’t expected us to hold the position we find ourselves in, but without a doubt, we have deserved our spot so far. Ferdinand’s thoughts were followed by a quote from Schweinsteiger after the match who was probably rightfully disappointed that his side hadn’t won, but came across mildly disrespectful by saying if you come to Leicester, you should be winning. In previous seasons, I would most likely have agreed, but surely so far this season we deserve even just the smallest amount of respect? We’re not a team of superstars, but we are a team, and because of that we’re not just going to roll over because we play a big team. Nor did we entirely crumble as predicted.

Something tells me such quotes or questions won’t bother Claudio Ranieri and his team. So far they seem perfectly happy to do their talking on the pitch and I’m on board with that too. The core of this team thrived on being written off last season and it’s clear that there was a fair amount of frustration when the media once again wrote them off for relegation over the summer. For now, the style and the results have ensured that as we head into the depths of winter, things don’t seem too cold at the King Power. As we head into December, we’re already ahead of what I would have been targeting by this point but it’s difficult to avoid the topic of the jam packed Christmas period where several poor results can quickly snowball.

Leicester fans usually wouldn’t mind if we skipped Christmas. The festive period, or December in general, has never really brought much joy, or many points. Last year we were facing the grim, and usually damming position of being bottom on Christmas Day. A feat most clubs simply do not recover from. While we’re still here to tell the tale and things are of course much cheerier already this year, there’s a long road ahead. Four games in fourteen days will be a good test of our squad depth and resilience and those fixtures don’t exactly look generous either. Chelsea at home is followed by an away double of Everton, followed by Liverpool with a home game against Manchester City to kick-start the New Year. If we are to stand the test of time near the top of the table, this fixture list will likely decide it.

Although the start of season has already been an early Christmas present, Saturday brings us another tough test; a trip to the Liberty Stadium to take on Swansea City. Their manager, Gary Monk, has come in for somewhat unfair criticism so far this season, but his side desperately need three points to help protect their boss. Swansea’s not been a particularly happy hunting ground for the Foxes in recent seasons either. While we may be one of the surprise packages of the Premier League this season, Swansea’s form has also surprised many who were tipping the Welsh outfit to progress and contest for a European spot this season. Once again, you can’t see it being a 0-0 draw at the weekend.