Shakey got sacked after about 6 games. Not interested in the league table at that time Ranieri as I said. Took his eye of the ball too much. It was a big factor in our slump which cost him his job Yes im sure Eddie Howe wouldnt have been interested in managing a team that has just won the title but now we have all been bored to death he is well up for it
So did we come close to the relegation zone since the great escape as was my original statement? And you think that a new manager would play about the old manager's style - you think a team that was around the relegation zone the last 2 seasons is more attractive then a mid table team now? I like how actual facts are just dismissed by you with tangent about your hatred of Puel - has been a real feature of your posts the last few weeks.
I think we can all agree home performances and results have been crap for a while. However away form is decent, something like 5th best defence and right up there for clean sheets. I hate how we seem to start slow and go behind and wish we’d just go with confidence from the start but we do seem to manager to recover most of the time to get something. My memories of season 2 under Ranieri and Shakespeare’s reign was hoofing it long and watching it come back, barely getting out our own half, no goals, lots conceded and absolutely no hope of getting anything from games. I’ve been watching since about 2000 (I’m 26) and the seasons where we played good football can probably be limited to the title seasons in both premier league and championship. Maybe league 1 but it’s not really a football playing league. The majority of the rest of that time we’ve been crap. This hatred of Puel is personal, purely and simply
The is no hatred of Puel. There is a hatred of his football I along with most fans want to see us have a go when we play at home. Especially against the likes of Cardiff and Southampton. Teams who are struggling in the bottom 3 and cant score goals Yet he plays 3 holding midfielders. Where has Iborra been all season? Wheres Silva? I get neither has set the world on fire here but they offer something different. Ndidi has looked exhausted for weeks. Mendy’s performances are dropping aswell week by week. Choudhury was nowhere to be seen 5 games ago. James is a waste of time Our strikers get no support or service and are extremely isolated. This problem hasnt been fixed or attempted to be fixed. Mahrez bailed us out last season and he isnt around anymore and it shows Why I am so against Puel? He is allowed to make mistakes like everyone. But he makes the same ones every single week. He doesnt change his ways. He was forced to change against Chelsea and Man City as we wouldnt have touched the ball all afternoon else The reason I want him gone is he wont ever change from being a defensive manager. Ive got no problem with his approach in away games but at home I want to see us get at teams. Thats how we achieved the great escape. We became fearless in our play and attacked teams from the start and never stopped We start games too slow, there is no intensity in our play or creativty. Puel wont change so we have to change him There is no personal hatred from me or the majority of people who want him gone. We can all see its broken beyond repair and Puel isnt the man to fix it. He is trying to same methods that havent worked at all and wont be he cant or wont change
Whether by accident or design I don't think we can go out and play attacking football from the outset purely because of the squad we have. Other than Maddison there are no flair players in the squad, certainly not Silva and although I'm a fan of Iborra his tempo is to slow (irrelevant now as he is no longer with us, Silva should have gone first). Ndidi would be in everyone's team and up until lately Mendy has been like a new signing he has been that much of a bonus. Choudhary I do think offers something different in that he moves from box to box so quickly. I think we can all agree James doesn't appear to be anything like the player he was and King is an older more experienced yet slower version of Choudhary. To say we have strikers using the plural isn't valid as we only have Vardy. Iheanacho was tried for quite some time and currently cant it a barn door so now isn't even in the team. So I don't see what alternative there was to the team that was put out against Southampton, it was just the execution of the game plan that was wrong. I wouldn't be unhappy to see the same team out against Wolves or in our next home game.
I think the issue is the formation we play doesnt suit us. I thought in the summer with us signing a number 10 in Maddison and not really replacing Mahrez. Signing a wing back in Ricardo and so many centre halfs we was set up perfectly for a 352 like we did during the great escape It would allow Maguire to excel like he did at the world cup running off with the ball more freely as there was always 2 men back. Morgan wouldnt be shown up for his lack of pace. Soyuncu would get more games and use his pace to cover Chilwell’s defensive issues would be as apparent and neither would Ricardo’s. Both have improved defensively Puel can have his 2 sitting midfielders if he wished but still not im everygame. England didnt play Dier and Henderson together Vardy gets support from Maddison behind in the 10 and Iheanacho actually plays as an out and out striker. Something he hasnt done for us This is what I think we should have been playing as it suits the players we have. Mahrez has left a massive hole that Gray and Ghezzal havent come close to filling In the 352 there is no Mahrez to replace. Ricardo gives the width and Maddison the creativity. We just dont have the players or quality to play Puel football
Its the constant swapping of the team that im against, there will never be chemistry between players when they are playing in different positions week in and week out, being asked to play different roles or even being dropped to the bench. Have found an exclusive clip of Puels game management and Vardys reaction please log in to view this image
Good critique - only thing I would add is the deterioration of Vardy has hit us hard as well. I'm not sure if he can plough the lone farrow like he used to any more without breaking down and we can't seem to find another way to play him which is bad news as we are still dependant on him.
It's not that he can't play that way, it's that he is building up injuries - need to either manage his time or have him not running around and buggering himself up but we can't seem to find a way to do that as of yet.
