“Oh no, Leicester have dropped the ball,” the stadium announcer cried through the PA system as two groups of supporters entertained the half-time crowd at the Vitality Stadium with a relay around the pitch.
Perhaps the announcer was merely commentating on the unfortunate, butter-fingered Leicester fan or maybe he had a premonition of what would come in the second half from the visitors — or had he simply seen Leicester regularly on the road this season?
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The 1,500 travelling Leicester fans had and what they witnessed once again had a familiar and depressing feel to it. For some, it was the final straw. They had seen enough. They have had enough.
The previous Monday’s win over rivals Nottingham Forest, as welcome and timely as it was, wasn’t a brave new dawn. It was false hope, it seems.
After that first victory of the season, Brendan Rodgers said he had seen his old team begin to return — the side that had challenged for Champions League qualification for two consecutive seasons — but on the south coast on Saturday, it was the same old story of second-half collapses and capitulation.
Leicester have now dropped 14 points from winning positions this season and have conceded 24 goals from nine games — 19 of which have come from just five away games — losing seven of them, but only on two occasions have they trailed at half-time: away at Arsenal in August and at home to Manchester United in September.
The rest of the time, they have been in games at the break, if not holding the advantage, and yet they fade gradually away in the second period, slowly melting like an ice cream in the sun. At home to Brentford, they conceded twice in the final half-hour and did the same when Southampton came to King Power Stadium, but it has been particularly galling on the road.
Against 10 men at Chelsea in late August, they conceded twice after the break. Three went in in the last 30 minutes at Brighton, four in the second period at Tottenham, and now two more inside three minutes at Bournemouth.
Those who haven’t watched Leicester regularly this season may have been shocked by what they witnessed at the Vitality as a Bournemouth side that had not scored on home soil in their previous three games snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, but for those who have followed Leicester around the country this season, there was a depressing familiarity about it.
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It is like watching someone sinking in quicksand and being helpless as they disappear out of sight. So ingrained is this mental fragility that as soon as one goal goes in, another seems almost inevitable.
That sense of helplessness must stretch to manager Rodgers as he seems unable to address these second-half slumps.
Before the collapse, Leicester started off dynamically pressing and hunting in packs. Youri Tielemans’ aggression to put pressure on Marcus Tavernier to win possession back was key to Patson Daka’s opening goal. As usual, it was evident throughout most of the first half.
What a contrast in the second half when Tielemans stood off Philip Billing, allowing him to turn under no pressure and pick out Dominic Solanke for the cushioned header that led Ryan Christie’s winner. That, in a nutshell, is why Leicester crumble. Both physically — and probably more importantly, mentally — they can’t sustain their intensity.
Tielemans wasn’t alone, of course. Others faded. They switched off at throw-ins and dead balls, and withdrew into their shells, constantly choosing the safe passing option or squandering possession wastefully.
It wasn’t as though Leicester suddenly dropped off a cliff in the game. More that it was a gradual decline that had started before Rodgers’ made a double substitution a minute before Billing’s equaliser. It had started even towards the end of the first half. There were signs of what was to come as the two teams approached the interval.
The most baffling aspect of Leicester’s decline is the quality of the players that are now struggling to sustain a 90-minute performance. While it is a young Leicester side, most are internationals and established Premier League performers who now look a shadow of their former selves.
GO DEEPER
Rodgers has 'his' Leicester back - now they must deliver over season-defining run
As it was before the Forest game, once again the pressure is back on Rodgers and his team ahead of back-to-back home games that could have huge implications for the remainder of the season. With their away form so desperate, there is now even more emphasis on picking up points at King Power Stadium.
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Crystal Palace and Leeds United, two sides also in the bottom half of the table, visit in the space of six days. It is crucial Leicester pick up two victories or clinch four points at the very least. It is crunch time already.
There may be some complacency around the narrative surrounding Leicester; that this squad is too talented and too strong to really be in a relegation scrap this season. The reality is that they already are.
There may be plenty of games still to go; three-quarters of the season. No need to panic then? But these alarming second-half performances make for uncomfortable viewing before you even consider that they’ve won just one Premier League game so far.
Rodgers won’t change his approach or his philosophy of the game, but something needs to change in the mentality and physicality of his team.
Because this can’t continue.
(Top photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
