Leicester City hit new low, Van Nistelrooy accepts relegation as West Ham win despite doing sod all

Ruud van Nistelrooy will be rueing jumping into the sinking Leicester City ship as he and his players have accepted relegation with a whimper.

After hearing I’d have the *honour* of covering West Ham vs Leicester City during this busy midweek round of Premier League fixtures, I feared that I’d drawn the short straw; the opening minutes at the London Stadium proved this was the case.

I also reported on the reverse fixture, which was Van Nistelrooy‘s first game in charge since his rash decision to join Leicester City shortly following his Manchester United exit.

The Foxes won 3-1 that night, but the scoreline did not tell the whole story as Van Nistelrooy’s side were uncharacteristically clinical in front of goal, while West Ham lost despite registering 31 shots and 3.10 xG in a game that hammered one of the final nails in Julen Lopetegui’s coffin during his unnecessarily elongated funeral.

Nearly three months on, it’s been made clear that Leicester‘s lucky home win against West Ham was not a true reflection of their credentials under inexperienced boss Van Nistelrooy. They have lost ten of their 12 matches since and their only other victory came via a visit to Dr Tottenham.

This dismal run has significantly worsened Leicester’s relegation fears, sitting five points adrift of safety before Thursday night’s trip to London.

With their next six Premier League games against Chelsea (A), Man Utd (H), Man City (A), Newcastle United (H), Brighton (A) and Liverpool (H), you’d have thought Leicester would play with a little attacking intent at the right moments and at least have a go a little bit against a West Ham side with seven home losses in 13 Premier League matches this season.

But if you thought that, you thought wrong.

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The die-hard Foxes supporters who made the long midweek trip to London to watch their side witnessed the most tepid performance from a relegation candidate supposedly fighting for safety you are likely to see.

West Ham produced a rare great showing in the shock 1-0 win at Arsenal and they surely would not have believed their luck as they were gift-wrapped the simplest of routes to their first back-to-back Premier League victories in over a year.

The Hammers were not sparkling either and much of this dull match resembled an end-of-season encounter with nothing riding on it as the players’ minds prematurely drift to their upcoming luxury holiday.

West Ham’s poor 2024/25 home form contributed to the flat atmosphere in the stands and the home players did nothing to spark excitement as they took advantage of being allowed to freely pad their passing stats and retain possession without pressure.

They did that without creating clear-cut chances in the opening 20 minutes before they easily cut through Leicester the first time they upped their tempo by only a few per cent.

Facundo Buonanotte’s weak attempt at a clearance found Aaron Cresswell. His shot was saved by Mads Hermansen, as was the follow-up shot from Mohammed Kudus, before it was third time lucky with Tomas Soucek’s simple conversion from close range.

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Van Nistelrooy planned to keep West Ham at bay with an old-fashioned solid defensive set-up and to strike on the counter-attack, but this approach was immediately undermined by his side’s inability to defend or attack with purpose.

Jamie Vardy, as he’s almost always done this season, cut a frustrated figure left isolated in West Ham’s half, while his defensive teammates showed no urgency or desire to keep out their hosts.

West Ham’s opener spoiled Leicester’s game plan, but they did not alter and were equally passive in the lead up to the second goal shortly before the interval.

A poorly struck corner caught Vardy out at the near post as Jarrod Bowen nipped the ball away. At this point, the England international was permitted to turn two Leicester players inside the penalty area, and his shot deflected off Jannik Vestergaard and through Hermansen’s legs into the net.

The visitors were a tad unlucky with the deflection, but they do not deserve any empathy as their defeatist approach to this move and the game overall was shambolic.

Leicester – along with Southampton and Ipswich Town – are simply not good enough and the three promoted sides have highlighted the widening gap between the Premier League and Championship.

Supporters can accept their side not being good enough, but their half-hearted effort was unforgivable.

There was a slight improvement from Leicester for a small portion of the second half, but this was largely because West Ham allowed it to happen and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola could not have wished for an easier night on his 32nd birthday.

After Leicester’s similarly uninspiring 4-0 loss to Brentford last Friday, Van Nistelrooy claimed Leicester’s “mood” had “lifted” and they will “keep climbing”.

But on the evidence of Van Nistelrooy’s inept tactical approach and his side’s wretched display vs West Ham, they have already accepted their relegation fate and will surely go their separate ways soon after the Man Utd icon’s almighty mistake to jump straight into a ship that’s sinking (on and off the pitch) rather than wait for the right opportunity, a la Graham Potter.