Forget going up, relegation is the worry

MARTI Cifuentes was dumbfounded. “I don’t think I've ever seen that before,’ he said about watching his Leicester City side go two goals down inside four minutes.

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He was perhaps alone in his bewilderment. For City fans, it didn’t seem that farfetched.

They saw their team concede after 10 seconds at Everton in February and then trail 2-0 inside six minutes.

At home to Newcastle in April, they were two goals behind after 11 minutes.

Yes, Saturday was a more rapid capitulation but it was hardly out of the ordinary.

In all of those games - on Saturday, against Everton and against Newcastle - City went on to let in a third before halftime.

Throw in Tuesday's match at Southampton, and last season’s embarrassments at home to Brentford and Wolves, then that’s six times they've been losing 3-0 at the break in less than 12 months.

So the first-half showing was not an outlier but the sort of performance that’s become all too common of late.

After the Southampton defeat, Cifuentes said the loss wouldn't define City, but how they reacted would.

Was that the true City on display against Sheffield United, then? One where they appeared to lack energy and motivation and were completely overwhelmed by their opponents?

Really, Cifuentes’ surprise over the speed of the first two goals was a surprise in itself.

Because when asked why he thought his team had begun so poorly, he pointed to deep-seated problems, as if he knew City had a recent history of early calamities.

“Everybody knows why I’m here,’ he said when asked to explain the slow start.

“I came here to fix some issues. I never said those issues were easy to fix, and that it would be quick. I’m aware of the things we need to improve.”

Cifuentes didn’t explicitly say on Saturday what those issues were, but it would not be unfair to guess he's referring to the culture around the club, something he’s mentioned frequently.

It does feel like the slow start might be a mentality issue, but it’s deciphering what exactly the problem is.