Chelsea’s 2-0 loss to Leicester City was the club’s sixth Premier League defeat of the season, having won just two of their last eight games in the league.
Wilfred Ndidi opened the charts for the Foxes with his sweetly struck left-footed shot and James Maddison scored right before half time to put the Foxes in the driving seat.
Leicester’s second of the night could be partly attributed to Chelsea’s disappointing set up in the back, as Marc Albrighton’s long ball fell right in Maddison’s path before he finished comfortably past Mendy.
Right-back Reece James, who made his comeback in Lampard’s eleven against Leicester has now come under full-blown backlash for his lack of marking that saw Chelsea concede their second. The defender was guilty of ball-watching and former footballers William Gallas and Jamie Redknapp made their thoughts known on Instagram and Sky Sports respectively.
Former Arsenal and Chelsea man, William Gallas hit right on point when he stressed on the fact that centre-backs need more protection from the full-backs, especially when it comes to long balls.
On his Instagram story, he wrote:
“As full-backs it is always necessary to protect these centre-backs on the long ball just in case if your teammate does not win his duel.”
While Sky Sports pundit Redknapp said:
“Reece James is a good, young defender with all the talent in the world but this is basic defending. I really like him, he has all the qualities. But the basics of learning how to be a right-back are going to be so important for this man. You have to expect the worse as a defender. You can see Rudiger going in with Vardy, you’ve got to anticipate it. He doesn’t look at it, he doesn’t spot it, and then it’s a great finish from James Maddison.” (Metro UK)