Why Leicester's Great Escape of a decade ago won't be repeated | OneFootball

At one point during the 2014-2015 Leicester season, the club sat dead last in the Premier League. A seven-point gap was closed in seven games, and the now-called 'Great Escape' was completed. For any City fan that is still clinging to the hope of avoiding relegation, this remains an example of how there is still a semblance of a chance.

There are multiple reasons, however, for why those waiting for another miracle are misplacing their internal willpower. Aside from the backline looking incapable of leaving Mads Hermansen out to dry on repeated occasions, there isn't a desire from the team as a whole to get the ball out of danger areas.

Bad bounces happen in the penalty area. Look at some of the own goals from that season that was roughly a decade ago. No one could question Wes Morgan and his fellow defenders of trying throughout matches, however. A question of looking interested or showing the needed grit and determination wasn't a weekly talking point of the side.

Then in the attack, LCFC was simply much better equipped. Between the midfield engine of Esteban Cambiasso and the efforts of Jamie Vardy, the Foxes posed a more consistent threat toward the opposition goal. Leonardo Ulloa and Riyad Mahrez provided the needed boost up top and creativity to break down other squads.

Not happening for Leicester this time

10 years older, Vardy can still be a force up top, but too often he doesn't have the needed support. Sometimes the likes of Facundo Buonanotte or Bilal El Khannouss will show something positive in that regard. From the Foxes as a whole, however, it's not nearly enough.

There are plenty of reasons for this. The midfield can't win the ball back enough, the defense is too used to dropping off and staying in a low block, absorbing pressure, and the ball is lost too easily on the few occasions it does pass the midway line.

More importantly, even in what had been a mostly poor season in terms of results, there were signs of the form that City fans ended up seeing to ensure staying up in the Premier League. Compared to now, there are momentary glimpses that are too few and far between of Leicester turning things around again.