Unsworth is undone by Puel
FOR one manager it was the perfect afternoon, for another it could hardly have got worse.
Claude Puel’s Leicester reign got off to a dream start as his side brushed aside dreadful Everton and went a small way to dismantling Puel’s ‘boring’ reputation.
But David Unsworth’s hopes of landing the Everton job permanently suffered a serious blow as his side were outclassed and his credentials were savaged by outspoken player-turned-pundit Joey Barton.
Boyhood Evertonian Barton, covering the game for TalkSport, compared the Toffees caretaker boss to a ‘glorified PE teacher’ and his appearance to that of a steward.
Unsworth claimed he “could not care less” about the jibes, but even without them his side’s performance did his prospects little good as Leicester ran them ragged for 45 minutes.
“The second half was far better but I wasn’t happy at all at half-time,” he admitted after seeing Jamie Vardy’s opener and a Jonjoe Kenny error hand Leicester a 2-0 lead that rarely looked in danger.
“That wasn’t the performance I expected. We were a little bit fearful, we sat back for some reason. I was disappointed with the manner of the first goal.
“Any manager who comes in wants to get quick results to get confidence rolling but you need time on the grass to get your opinions over.”
Unsworth lost defender Michael Keane before the game to an infected cut that meant the England defender was hospitalised.
He is expected to recover in the next few days but without him Everton had no answer to a Leicester side inspired by Puel’s decision to include Demarai Gray.
The winger dragged a 20-yard effort just wide of goal early on, then forced a corner that was flicked on by Vicente Iborra as far as Wes Morgan, who scooped an effort over the crossbar.
And it was the same result moments later when Ben Chilwell met another cross by the lively Gray. And it was no surprise when Gray became the architect of a fine move that brought the opening goal.
His graceful run from halfway was too quick for Everton and his eventual pass was perfect for Riyad Mahrez, whose pinpoint cross was turned in by Vardy.
Everton marksman Dominic Calvert-Lewin failed to make contact with an Aaron Lennon cross after a smart pass from Wayne Rooney and almost immediately the Merseysiders found themselves 2-0 behind.
Gray’s ambitious cross-shot seemed easy meat for Kenny to clear, but his ugly swing under no pressure sent the ball spinning off his toe and past his goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
It was classified as Gray’s goal by the Premier League, but Kenny’s horrid touch was fateful. Everton went in search of an equaliser and could have had a penalty when Christian Fuchs’ clumsy challenge sent Lennon sprawling, but the referee was unmoved.
The second half was less swashbuckling for Leicester, but they soaked up what little Everton created and closed out victory with the minimum of fuss as Puel, damned by Southampton fans last season for his side’s dour displays, made a positive first impression.
“With Southampton we played some good football and there were a lot of chances that we created but without a good clinical edge,” said the quietlyspoken Frenchman. “We were sixth or seventh in the table for the number of chances created but 20th for being clinical.
“Of course I prefer a team scoring a lot of goals, I enjoy football.
“I like the attack, I like offensive play and quality, of course.”