Shakespeare claims there is no secret to Leicester success
utes, they then withstood a spirited second-half siege to earn a first Premier League win away from home since last April. They are doing the basics right: pressing the man on the ball, defending well, running for each other.
“I always felt we just needed to get 1-0 up in a game,” said goalscorer Robert Huth. “Once we go ahead, we don’t tend to lose games.”
It is one of the vagaries of momentum that while Leicester, on 30 points, feel like a club in pristine shape, West Ham, on 33 points, feel like a team in crisis. Part of the reason for that is the sense that Slaven Bilic’s side are failing to learn from their mistakes.
It was the sixth time this season that a team had visited the London Stadium and plundered three goals or more. Their basic passivity, their lack of intensity, the absence of pressure on the ball, are all contributing factors.
Clearly, Bilic can see this better than anyone. So, why is the Croatian not fixing it?
Are the players failing to respond to him? “Come on, that’s a really cheap question,” he retorted. “Mistakes happen.”
“It hasn’t been the perfect start,” admitted Jose Fonte, the defender signed from Southampton in January. “Things are not going well for us, and there’s only one way I know to put it right, and that’s to work hard. Better days will come, I’m sure of it.”
The international break may well have come at a good time for both teamst Ham need a rethink; Leicester need a recharge.
Meanwhile, West Ham winger Michail Antonio has withdrawn from Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the games against Germany and Lithuania due to a hamstring injury, the club announced last night.