45 minutes played, best ive seen city play for a little while. Do we need wellens when were playing the diamond formation? I feel he slows the build up too much and often looks for the hollywood ball! Where as today were playing with a real purpose free flowing football which im buzzing for! Danns is looking decent out wide, king looks better playing behind the front 2 and abe is in his natural holding roll where he looks class. Swap vassell with beckford and we will be an awesome squad! Only my views Come on city, bury those sheep
I was thinking the same. We seem a hell of alot more mobile and the 3rd/4th pass is going forward to runners. Still think Wellens is a quality player and will have a part to play this season, but this is the best I've seen / heard LCFC play so far this season. Still......another 45 mins to go.....
Agree, not saying i want to get rid, but he is not the 1st name on the team sheet nowdays unlike the last couple of seasons. He's the perfect player to come on when either coasting a game or if you want to protect a lead
I think the bigger thing was that King played far better than he has for a long time. Had he played that aggressively and confidently in all the games this season (and that goes for everyone) we'd have had a few more points and goals on the board no doubt. I wouldn't get carried away with this one performance, as good as it was, it doesn't make a season. Barring injuries the same 11 will start the next game, lets see if they can perform that well on a regular basis.
Emilio...agreed about not getting carried away, but... one performance? When was the last time we had 4 clean sheets in a row? And against top six teams? No, this result isn't out of the blue, it's been on the cards for a while. We're more secure at the back and teams are really struggling to get at us. Once we eventually get a settled strike force, we'll start hammering in the goals too - a deadly combination. The mantra I keep mention is still on course - win at home, don't lose away. This is a formula that will see a team end with about 92 points - automatic promotion. Yes, we will lose some games, but we'll also win a fair few away too. For me, the promotion challenge is on course - with maybe the exception of West Ham (can't wait until that particular test!), I really can't see a side in this division we should fear. There's every reason to be optimistic - things are going as I expected them to go (and I predicted automatic promotion) - so I'm one happy fox at the moment.
I think its far far too early to be writing of Richie Wellens. I think he's still a very good, classy midfielder who is our playmaker (and Sven said as much in the week) and the one player who you can say; 'when he plays well, Leicester play well'. What was encouraging was that we didn't need him and we have real strength in depth now. What will be interesting is what side Sven picks. In the midfield, I think today there was real fluency and the positional rotation and movement was the best its been for a while and that was key for me. I think Abe did very well at the base of that diamond and always started attacks well and also broke up play nicely and was a good shield to the back four. Danns was good wide and was an outlet and added a bit of width to our play because you could accuse our midfield of being slightly too narrow recently but Danns stretched Derby a bit and allowed more space for the likes of King to operate in and I think Andy had a super game as well. He definitely got more involved with the play and got a lot more touches on the ball. For me, if you were to compile a list of players who you'd say, when fit, are virtually cemented a place in the team then Wellens would be very high on that list but I don't think he should play next match because nobody in that midfield deserved to be dropped. Its a big call for the manager to make. Also, will Wellens be fit? Groin injuries are funny ones and they can take a while to heal (look how long Gerrard's been out recently).
4 clean sheets is good but this is one of the few games where we've looked a constant threat at the other end. I still stand by my comments after Cardiff that everything in front of the defence was poor in that game, and I'm still not yet convinced we'll create loads of chances or are ruthless enough. Today we were, but we haven't been in general. I don't agree this result has been on the cards for a while because whilst we've kept clean sheets we'd also scored one goal in 3 games before today. I hope we've turned a corner in that sense today as we have done at the other end of the pitch.
But don't forget, we've never been in a true position to be the complete attacking menace we will be because Beckford and Nugent haven't even played together yet! (How long must we wait!). Regarding being an attacking force and the OP's point, I think that until now, the midfield has been dominated by defensive minded players. I've never been keen on Wellens and Abe playing together, so today was a chance to see the team without Wellens. I think Danns has definitely earned a starting place in the next match. So I wonder if Wellens will struggle to get back in (Abe was another who got a lot of the unspectacular but important stuff bang on today).
Yeh hopefully we've find the right balance. For me Fernandes is more of a defensive player than Wellens as his work off the ball is his forte, I've felt Wellens has been playing too deep and it's not to his strengths, he's a technical, creative player who can also get physical, he's not a defensive player. This is not an excuse for his last 3 performances but it's not helped him. Similarly, though Abe did do his job very well today as you say, I'm not completely convinced that is his natural position either, (he in fact played further forward against Brighton in which he had a good game also). I've said a few times that I don't feel he has made any particular position his own. If displays like today and his second half against Brighton were more frequent he'd have more starts. But his recent form has been good so that's all we can say at the moment, he should keep his place if he keeps it up. I don't think Fernandes, Wellens and Abe should play in the same team at once, but any 2 of the 3 can work. Like I said though, Danns and King are good attacking players and both played together in some of the early games and neither have really impressed much until today. I still think Danns has more to offer despite a good show today, but King I thought was terrific for the first time this season. Wellens certainly shouldn't be starting the next game, but he and Johnson are undoubtedly good players who will be important for us throughout the season. It's a similar situaton for Beckford, he won't be displacing Nugent or Vassell for now (even Schlupp could be above him in the pecking order!) but he is still a Premiership player and valuable to our squad. As Greatness has said, players playing to their maximum will rightly be picked, when the majority of the squad are doing this all at once we will see it's full potential. For whatever reason the midfielders have all underperformed or have been inconsistent so far, hopefully we've turned a corner and they will all start to find form and that is when we will have real competition for places.
Agreed concerning not playing Wellens, Abe and Fernandes together. I still see Fernandes as having a more attacking style of player than the other two. I though his lobbed passed for Nugent's goal was class (hopefully an assist for my fantasy team!). Regarding Beckford, absolute certainty he will play when he is fit. Like Sven did will Mills, He will stick with a player who has cost a bit. And the sooner we see Beckford and Nugent together the better for me. Still don't think Vassell is any better than a squad player, but he's been ever-present this season, although mainly due to injuries to be fair.
Yeh agreed, but I do think it sends out the wrong message to drop a player who's just scored and contributed well to a 4-0 win. I expect him to eventually make way for Beckford but I wouldn't drop him for the birmingham game.
I don't think the opposition should be overlooked in this, derby were very poor.... don't think your being very to wellens ,he has been the most consistent performer for the last two seasons..he has played even when not fully fit..may benefit from a bit of a rest.but he is class...we need him..
..... 4-3-3 ..... I don't like it either, but i can see it happening, or using Vassell in the Danns/Fernandes positionsin a 4-4-2. End of the day he won't drop Vassell.
Was reading these posts and all I can think is WTF? We have won 4-0 against the then second placed team who are also our rivals, Vassell is on the run of his career, the team has finally gelled and and you want to drop him and play a different formation? That is why you lot aren't football managers!
I don't think anyone's saying they want to change the formation, Wizard said he thinks Sven will switch back to 4-3-3 just to accomodate Beckford and Vassell.
Last 2 years we wouldnt of been able to play without Wellens. But now we have Fernandes, Danns and Johnson all capable of coming in for him we wont miss him as much. Thats what bringing in quality players does, better players= better competion for places
