Frank Leboeuf on ESPN.
Frank Leboeuf on ESPN.

“I was really happy with” – Frank Leboeuf names Chelsea player who impressed him against Leicester

Frank Leboeuf has revealed he was surprised at how Chelsea handled their game against Leicester on the whole and singled out Joao Felix for praise.

The Blues ran out 2-1 win winners against the Foxes on Enzo Maresca’s return to the King Power Stadium thanks to goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez.

The result means Chelsea remain in third but have closed the gap to Manchester City in second to just one point following their defeat against Tottenham.

Leboeuf happy with Felix

Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto were unexpected absentees for Chelsea, but their absence handed both Joao Felix and Benoit Badiashile their first Premier League starts of the season.

Felix and Cole Palmer both started together for the first time, which is something Maresca had spoken about, with Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson completing Chelsea’s attacking quartet.

Whilst Felix didn’t contribute a lot from an attacking perspective his work off the ball and his defensive work rate was very good and he surprisingly won the most duels in the game.

Joao Felix dances beyond a Leicester defender. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Felix started his first league game of the season against Leicester. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Chelsea will certainly play better football this season, but it was a good performance and bar a few moments here and there they handled the game well.

Leboeuf was happy with how Chelsea performed and singled Felix out for praise, highlighting his performance in the first half.

“I was happily surprised by how Chelsea handled the game most of the time, except maybe the last five minutes,” he told ESPN as cited on X.com.

“I think Leicester had two big chances. But otherwise, Chelsea dealt with the game all 90 minutes long and they showed so much maturity and happiness playing their football.

“I was really happy with Joao Felix in the first half, Nicolas Jackson did very well, scoring a goal and almost got a second. Badiashile also had a great game.”

It was an encouraging performance and the perfect way to start an important run of fixtures in the build-up to Christmas with the Blues looking to cement their place in the top four.

Tags Frank Leboeuf Joao Felix
Chelsea News