Ranieri: We Switched Off

- The Foxes went 4-0 down at half time before Demarai Gray pulled one back in the second 45 minutes 

- Ranieri says it was ‘strange’ to see his side concede from three corners 

- The manager thanks the Blue Army for continuing to encourage the team until the final whistle 

Claudio Ranieri reflected on an uncharacteristic display from his Leicester City side on Saturday as they fell to a 4-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. 

The Foxes found themselves 4-0 down at half time, with three of the goals coming from corners, before Demarai Gray pulled one back in the second half – his first strike for the Club. 

But with Porto next up for the Foxes on Tuesday night, Ranieri will want to get to the bottom of a spell in the first half that he described as ‘strange’ from his players, who are usually so strong at defending set plays. 

Chris Smalling, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba all scored from set plays while Juan Mata also found the net for the hosts on the day, with the City boss keen to consult with his players on what happened. 

“It’s very strange because the first 20 minutes we started well, moved the ball quickly and put them under pressure,” Ranieri told LCFC TV. 

“Suddenly then we conceded a goal with a corner and that’s strange because we’re strong on the corner. 

“Today we conceded three goals from corners. It’s strange too because we switched off. We lost our confidence and strength. We started to try to do something but alone, not as a team. Now I want to speak with the players to understand what happened.”

There was much improvement from City after the break but it wasn’t enough to change the result, despite Gray’s stunning strike. 

Ranieri added: “We changed system and the shape. I wanted to preserve [Jamie] Vardy and [Riyad] Mahrez for the next match, Tuesday against Porto for the Champions League. 

“Also I wanted to test 4-3-3. We made a very good second half and we scored a goal, a great goal from Demarai Gray. I want to say thank you to our fans, because they supported and encouraged us until the end.”