Leicester City were beaten 3-1 by Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, and after the match their fans were quick to react to a huge call made by their manager Claude Puel ahead of the contest.
The Frenchman has been under fire from Foxes followers for a while now, and the decision to leave star striker Jamie Vardy on the bench for the high profile contest raised more than one or two eyebrows.
As it turned out, Leicester dominated much of the match, creating chances at will, but they could not convert the good openings they made, which is where the controversial decision by Puel came back to haunt them.
Vardy began the game on the bench, but with the Foxes trailing he was being readied to come on in the second half. That move was sped up when the former Premier League champions were awarded a penalty after the break.
The striker was sent onto the pitch and was given the duty of converting from 12 yards, with what would be his first touch of the football.
Vardy duly took the spot kick but saw his effort saved by Hugo Lloris, much to the annoyance of the travelling supporters. They were not unhappy for too long though, as the former England forward soon had them back in the match when he converted a good build up.
Ultimately the damage had been done earlier in the contest, and once Son Heung-min had raced clear to wrap up the points for Spurs, Leicester fans were left to reflect on what could have been.
The decision made by Puel always had the potential to go wrong, and was it to do so there was going to be an inevitable amount of questioning of it. Foxes supporters did not let anyone down in that regard, with many reacting to the choice when they posted on social media after the match.
Here are some of their messages:
#puel starting Tielmanns and not Vardy was his undoing. Those two are a match in heaven, with his forward passing Vardy would have the service he'd been missing #lcfc
— Stevie B (@spider0246) February 10, 2019
Can’t help but feel if Vardy was on from the start we would of won that #LCFC
— Tim Wakefield (@Highland_Fox) February 10, 2019
Not puel’s fault that the players missed all those chances, but Gray didn’t do a lot at all and Vardy should have started. Simple as. Then maybe one of those chances would have fallen to Vardy. #lcfc
— Nick (@nicklcfc67) February 10, 2019
We are a good side but you have to play a striker, I know it's not a certainty but if vardy starts he takes the chances, scores the penalty because he is in the game #LCFC 🦊
— Mark Hurn 🦊💙 (@m1963h) February 10, 2019
Dominated the whole game.
The last 3 performances give me hope that Puel has us headed in the right direction. Vardy HAD to start though.
Let’s see how we get on against the “lesser” teams over the next month or so.#lcfc
— Paul Michael Morris (@pmmfox) February 10, 2019
Frustrating result given how well we actually played. Tielemans looks a special player, thought the midfield 3 of him, Ndidi and Maddison worked really well. Can’t help but think what if it was Vardy on the end of some of them chances in the first half… #LCFC #TOTLEI
— LCFCFoxes.com (@LCFCFoxes_com) February 10, 2019
You can’t overlook the irony of signing a creative midfielder to put balls through to Vardy then leaving Vardy on the bench. Overall, though, a good performance. Let’s not panic. #LCFC
— b_wildered2 ☁︎ (@b_wildered2) February 10, 2019
Leicester just not tough enough, comes from not having men on the pitch like Vardy. Young/experience is a true balance, Harvey Barnes is a kid but needs 2 be balanced with senior players. We'll finish 12th place n manager takes the rap. I would happily take over from Puel. #lcfc
— Sean from Enderby (@seanfromenderby) February 10, 2019
Ndidi far better today, no pressure on him to push forward from midfield.
Tielemans superb.
But we could have gone with Ndidi and Silva or Iborra ten games ago. This is the frustration.
Vardy FAR better than Gray, but again, could have started him.#lcfc
— Andy Bisnos (@AndyBisnosLCFC) February 10, 2019
Leicester City are a better team with Jamie Vardy in the team … It's not rocket science 😤 #LCFC #TOTLEI
— Robert Coe (@RobertACoe) February 10, 2019
