Viral Leicester City video is harsh but does expose Ruud van Nistelrooy's major problem
The way Leicester City's defeat to Aston Villa played out on Saturday had all the signs of a team in trouble. Against a side who had underperformed and were without some of their best players, City still managed to shoot themselves in the foot.
When Leon Bailey converted from close range in the 76th minute, there was little belief that Ruud van Nistelrooy's men would muster up another equaliser, despite their spirited efforts throughout.
The winner came from a calamity of errors that were their own doing. James Justin had at least three opportunities to either clear the ball or pass. Even after his third turn, a simple pass to Conor Coady was there. His pass to Jordan Ayew wasn't bad and the forward certainly didn't help the situation but then the ease that Ian Maatsen brushes past Justin and crosses is hard to watch.
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It's now five straight defeats for Leicester, the worst run in the Premier League at the moment. We are now past the halfway stage of the season meaning the opportunities to add points to their tally are decreasing.
Things have gotten better since van Nistelrooy arrived. At 1-0 down, Leicester fought back to level and throughout the contest, defended well. Individual performances from Luke Thomas, Boubakary Soumare and Jannik Vestergaard were the highlights from the trip to Villa Park.
However, the moment which saw Justin give the ball away prior to Bailey's game summed up the problem at Leicester. Too many times have the Foxes been undone by their own mistakes and that is ultimately why they sit 19th. Conor Coady's error at Crystal Palace, Wout Faes' disaster at Brentford or Danny Ward's bad afternoon vs Wolves all come to mind.
Both goals at Villa were avoidable. Vestergaard's headed clearance lands straight to Ross Barkley before Justin's error led to the winner. Van Nistelrooy admitted that his side can't afford to make those errors, especially after putting in such a good shift.
"You've seen it, I've seen it and the players know. So there's no need to emphasise it," he said. "I can't hold anything against anyone because it was an honest mistake.
"Nobody wanted to give the ball away in such moments, but it's something you have to learn from because it's costing you. It would have been a hard fought point away at Villa and a positive. Every week we're getting closer to converting good performances into results.
“It’s not about blaming and pointing, it’s about handling the situation as a team and clearing away from danger. I don’t hold anything against one of my players.
“I can only praise them for their efforts for the way they played together as a team. It’s a foundation for points. They’re vital to give yourself the rewards.”
Listening to former Leicester goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell on BBC Radio Leicester on the way home, neither Vestergaard or Justin had appalling games. In fact, both played good parts in a decent performance by the Foxes' defence. It's just moments.
Not long after the loss at Villa Park, a video surfaced online of all the goals that Justin was at fault for. There were 19 included. In the defender's defence, some of them are harsh. Mateta's first for Palace in September was offside, Bruno Fernandes' deflected free-kick couldn't have been helped and the calamity against Wolves was more Danny Ward's fault.
By Monday morning, over 110k people had watched that video. Again, very harsh, but the simple solution is that Justin needs time away from the starting XI. Unfortunately, van Nistelrooy has only Hamza Choudhury to turn too and he is a midfielder naturally.
The manner of how the winner at Villa was conceded was a concern. Ayew doesn't escape any of the blame. The forward was visibly tired after 75 minutes of football and called for the ball off Justin. The pass wasn't a bad one at all.
Overall, it was a series of errors that led to the goal. Luke Thomas, perhaps, should have done better to stop Bailey getting a shot away, but that's far-fetched. These sorts of mistakes can’t happen when you’re fighting for your life for Premier League survival, especially so regularly. Southampton are more or less down but Ipswich have been excellent recently.
This weekend's FA Cup tie against QPR means van Nistelrooy can rotate his side and inject some much-needed confidence into his squad. It's then back-to-back home games against Crystal Palace and Fulham, fixtures that could be vital in how the season plays out.
