What Went Wrong At Leicester City?

The worst thing for Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri was that losing 1-0 to League One side Millwall in the FA Cup on Saturday was no surprise. That said, even allowing for the Premier League champions’ fall — they are just a point above the bottom three and without an away win all season — the manner of their fifth-round defeat was a mortifying embarrassment. Another one.

Even if the FA Cup was a low priority given Leicester are fighting on the rarely paired fronts of relegation battle and the Champions League, losing to Millwall only heightened the sense that Leicester are almost totally lost under Ranieri. It seems incredible to say so within a year of the most remarkable title success in modern times, but they may need to lose him to find direction.

Beyond Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Sevilla and perhaps not even its second leg, if things go wrong in Andalusia, Ranieri and Leicester’s prospects become a dark cloud of uncertainty.

The Italian offered little in the way of excuses for his players on Saturday. In fact, he sounded sick of them. “I want to speak again with the players and say we have to fight every match,” he said.

Millwall were down to 10 men for the last half hour, after defender Jake Cooper was sent off. But that only galvanised the South Londoners’ determination. Leicester, meanwhile, lost their grip on the game, and Shaun Cummings’ 90th-minute winner blew the roofs off the four stands at the New Den. It was the least that Millwall deserved after the sheer grit of their second-half performance.

As Ranieri acknowledged, the Lions had shown the fight and team spirit that once carried Leicester to the Premier League title.

“It is strange because last season we won like this, by being more determined than the opponent and playing with more heart than the opponent,” Ranieri said. “We could also lose but we would fight every match. I want to see this, the fight until the end.”

Are any of Leicester’s players willing or able to fight for Ranieri? It appears not. The Italian had made 10 changes to the team that lost 2-0 to Swansea the previous week, and had also been heavily criticised by him. The result was worse.

Things might have been different without the heroics of Millwall goalkeeper Jordan Archer, who made a series of saves — the best at point blank from Shinji Okazaki — but Leicester were disjointed, disorganised and dispirited against an opponent oozing with desire. The home side were clearly desperate to reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup and claim the prize of beating a third Premier League club following victories over Watford and Bournemouth. To clubs like Millwall, just like Saturday’s non-league heroes Lincoln City, the old trophy still matters.

Leicester, who have looked distracted in the Premier League, were anything but interested in the cup, and the defeat once again exposed the poor recruitment that followed May’s trophy celebrations.

Goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler was shaky from the early stages; January addition Molla Wague in defence was always troubled by the hard work and wiles of Millwall striker Steve Morison; Nampalys Mendy struggled to impose himself in midfield; forward Ahmed Musa, who cost £16 million in the summer, showed some searing pace, but that only exposed his lack of composure when presented with opportunities to either shoot or supply a pass to a teammate.

Even Ranieri could offer no solutions on the sidelines. Demarai Gray, by far Leicester’s liveliest attacker and the best hope of victory, was hauled off rather than Musa. On came Jamie Vardy to be barracked by a home crowd swelled to a highest attendance since 2001 (just over 18,000), while Riyad Mahrez, last season’s PFA Player of the Year, was not even used from the bench.

“You’ve had your f—ing party, you’re going down, down, down,” sang the local fans to the tune of Slade’s “Cum On Feel The Noize.” Eventually, and rather predictably, such exuberance spilled into a postmatch pitch invasion and a stand-off with Leicester fans. A combination of police, stewards and PA announcer repeatedly reminding that the pitch was staging a match with Peterborough on Tuesday night took over 10 minutes to clear the masses.

In manager Neil Harris’ mind, Millwall supporters were merely celebrating in customary, earthy fashion. “It’s a big moment for us so I would expect to see people on the pitch,” he said. Leicester’s big moments of a year ago, meanwhile, now seem more fantastical than they did back then.

One day, they may build a statue to honor Ranieri at the King Power Stadium for delivering an impossible dream. By then, the disasters of this season might be forgotten and forgiven, but the club has lost its fight and direction under him.