Leicester 3-1 West Ham: Three Foxes Talking Points | OneFootball

A smash and grab

In one sense, van Nistelrooy’s task seemed even harder given the Foxes’ recent poor form which culminated in a crushing 4-1 defeat to Brentford. The Dutchman, watching his new charges in the stands at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, could have been forgiven for regretting his decision to pick up the reins at Leicester. In another sense – adopting the adage that things cannot get any worse – any improvement in City’s performances would be welcomed by the fans.

And there was an improvement, although it probably didn’t warrant a two goal advantage over the Hammers by the end of the match. An indication of the pressure the East London side applied is indicated by the fact that they recorded the most shots - 30 - they have ever produced in a Premier League game. Van Nistelrooy stamped his mark on the team with his first selection. There were two main innovations. In the first place, he played Bilal El Knannouss and Facundo Buonanotte in a front three with Jamie Vardy. Second, he restored Jannik Vestergaard to central defence and Conor Coady kept his place from Saturday.

VAR played a pivotal role in the game. After just two minutes, a trademark Vardy run resulted in a goal, only for the assistant referee to flag for offside. For four agonising minutes, the VAR official reviewed the evidence before awarding the goal. For a great deal of the first half, the Foxes defended deep and only the heroics of Mads Hermansen and poor finishing kept the home side ahead.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Leicester defending deep and trying to hit the Hammers on the break. It worked twice. In the first, just after West Ham had a goal disallowed for a foul on Hermansen, a pass into the area by Kasey McAteer was steered home by El Knannouss for his first Premier League goal. Then VAR intervened again to disallow a Bobby De Cordova Reid before, in the 90th minute, Patson Daka, on as a second-half substitute for Vardy, stole the ball from a West Ham defender on the half-way line before racing clear to slot the ball past Lukasz Fabianski. A goal for the East London side in injury time proved to be a consolation only. So, the new manager bounce was well in evidence. Can it continue is, of course, the question on every Foxes' fan's lips?

Wilf back to his best

The Leicester outfield player of the match – goalkeeper Hermansen being the best player on the pitch – was undoubtedly Wilfred Ndidi. Restored to his customary holding role, he looked back to his best, denting the attacking intent of the Hammers with timely interceptions and clearances, often with his head, and almost scoring with a superb header. It may have worked playing Wilf in a more attacking role in the Championship but at the top level his lack of creativity is evident. Hopefully van Nistelrooy will continue playing the Nigerian in his natural position.

A much-needed win is, of course, welcome, but Leicester fans shouldn’t get carried away. At the back, West Ham were poor, and their own manager may not survive much longer. I have written that the sacking of Steve Cooper - precipitated largely, I suspect, by the growing hostility of the fans to the Welshman - appeared harsh. Yes, performances haven’t been good and the results barely acceptable. My response to the critics, though, is what did you expect? It is notoriously difficult for promoted teams to survive in the Premier League and, so far, Leicester have not been in the bottom three despite the poor run of results recently.

Martin O’Neill, commenting at the goings-on at the King Power Stadium, remarked, in the wake of Cooper’s sacking, that Leicester fans have a ‘sense of entitlement’. He is right. Younger fans, in particular, have grown up in the club’s greatest era when they won, for the first time, football’s major trophies. It is not usually like this. Indeed, as I document in my book, before the 2015/16 season, the Foxes had spent a total of only 39 days at the summit of the top division throughout their entire over 100-year history. For most of this time, survival in the top- flight and promotion from the second tier has been the club’s major ambition. Indeed, City have spent more time (63 seasons) outside the top league than in it (56 seasons) and have been relegated from the latter to the former 12 times. Maybe a reality check is needed.