Leicester City fans have been put through hell and back over the past few months, with many now resigned to relegation.
Leicester find themselves with a mountain to climb in their mission to avoid relegation as they’re currently five points adrift of safety.
The chances of them bridging that gap and moving above the dotted line are slim, as the Foxes have lost 11 of their last 12 matches in the league.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is powerless to prevent their pending landslide into the Championship, and supporters have started to turn on the Dutchman.
In the aftermath of their 2-0 loss to West Ham, fans called for Van Nistelrooy to be sacked, which is understandable considering their atrocious form.
But, whilst most of the fanbase wants him gone, Leicester’s owners want to keep Van Nistelrooy, with it likely he remains at the King Power till the summer at least.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s clear demand to the Leicester players
Confidence is at an all-time low, both among the fanbase and in the dressing room. Surprisingly, the former Manchester United striker is the only one visibly carrying the belief.
Van Nistelrooy thinks Leicester can survive relegation, which is an absurd take, but it shows he still has hope of turning the situation around.
Ahead of Leicester’s visit to Chelsea, the squad should feel refreshed as they’ll have had nine days’ rest compared to their opponents two days, as they were in action against Copenhagen on Thursday night.
Since their loss at West Ham, Van Nistelrooy has watched the footage back and analysed it, as revealed in Friday’s press conference.
He’s also sent a message to his players, suggesting they have to take advantage of the time they’ve had to work on improving their errors while devising a plan to somehow beat the Blues.
Van Nistelrooy says every game is ‘must win’
Leicester have failed to beat Chelsea in their last seven attempts, with their previous victory coming in the FA Cup final in 2021.
But despite the odds being stacked against them in this match and over the next few weeks, Van Nistelrooy has said every game is a ‘must-win’.
Following their trip to West London, Leicester begin an unfavourable run of fixtures, including clashes against Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle, Brighton and Liverpool.
Considering how poor they were in two winnable games, conceding six without reply against Brentford and West Ham, they’ve got no chance of upsetting the odds in March and April unless something magical happens.