Chilwell’s eyes on goal not exit!
Football’s back! Report, reaction, analysis
WHEN the music stops, it becomes clear this isn’t football as we know it.
After three months away, Leicester City returned to action on Saturday and, in the midst of a pandemic, everyone knew it would not be the same.
But if you’d arrived blindfolded, you’d have known no different.
The speakers pumped out the prematch tunes you hear around the country and there was enough activity in the one open stand and on the touchlines to give the idea that there were more than 300 people inside the ground.
Then, the music is cut and the first player walks out of the tunnel. There is no roar from the stands – just one bloke clapping.
That’s when it’s clear it’s not a normal Premier League match.
Here’s what else we noticed from inside Vicarage Road.
Watford bring the colour
The yellow and red on their badge make the Hornets one of the more colourful Premier League sides anyway, and they made the most of that to deck out the lower tiers of the three unused stands with tifos of Graham Taylor, Troy Deeney and other local heroes. Shirts filled the remaining seats.
They would have preferred their fans to be there, but Watford made the best of a bad hand. As far as lockdown venues go, Vicarage Road certainly looked the part.
Sunday league walkouts
The gathering in the tunnel is usually when the tension ramps up. Friendly former team-mates shake hands, enemies exchange glares. The two sides then emerge to a cacophony of noise.
Not so on Saturday. Teams have to make their way out separately, to avoid a prolonged period in close proximity.
City came out first, led by Kasper Schmeichel and they were welcomed by one man at the back of the Sir Elton John Stand, solo applauding.
At least City had some semblance of organisation about their entrance. Watford came out in dribs and drabs, much like a pub team, hungover after a big Saturday night, might make their way on to a pitch on Sunday morning.
Silence followed by silence
There were two symbols of solidarity at the start of the match as the two teams gathered around the centre circle to remember those affected by Covid-19 and then to take to one knee to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Usually, these acts are followed by the cheer of a pumped-up crowd, bellowing out the noise they have held in for the previous minute. It was just a smattering of claps at Vicarage Road.
Without a crowd, the players’ shouts and calls were clearly audible, and it showed the differing approaches footballers have to their team-mates’ mistakes.
When Harvey Barnes took too long to play a pass to Jamie Vardy, and when Ben Chilwell played a ball behind him, both players received a groan of frustration from the striker.
When Youri Tielemans overhit a cross
field pass later on, Schmeichel showed more encouragement than irritation, shouting, “Right ball, Youri, unlucky!” followed by a booming clap from his gloves.
Social distancing enforced
With the 300 people at Vicarage Road trying to keep two metres apart, the overflow of the City squad ended up next to the makeshift overflow press bench.
Matty James and Eldin Jakupovic were sat up top with first-team coach Adam Sadler, who was feeding back tactical analysis from a higher vantage point.
But when James and Sadler moved closer to have a chat, the stewards were quick to intervene and place everybody back into their own two-metre spaces.
Shakey wins the shout
With no crowd to drown anybody out, there was an opportunity to see which member of the two sets of squads and coaching set-ups had the biggest set of lungs.
Step forward former City boss and current Watford assistant manager Craig Shakespeare, who bellowed: “Hold!” at the Hornets’ backline during a City spell of pressure in the second half. There was no decibel meter to check, but Shakey gets the win in our ears.
They really do call him Sharky
There are three types of Premier League footballer. Those that live with hairdressers (which is plenty, apparently), those that have braved the shave, and those that have got a mop top.
Marc Albrighton falls into the last category, so much so that Wilfred Ndidi has said in training that he looks like Boris Johnson.
That seems a little harsh.
But Albrighton is used to being the butt of the joke in the City dressing room.
Playfully nicknamed Sharky by Vardy for the size and shape of his nose, it’s now been said so often that it’s become his call-sign on the pitch, even if Marc has fewer syllables.