But Leicester were essentially without a RB at that point. So I wouldn't say that Fraser found space as such, more that Leicester gave it to him. Fraser did OK, but a decent PL winger should have had a field day running at Leicester. Not just "OK". That was our best chance of winning the game, by scoring a third goal.
I think the interpretation could be that he definitely made us more effective up front for the 9 mins he was on, which I assume is what RM was going for. (Poss for reasons more than simply Fraser playing well). Problem was that we couldn’t afford the switch defensively and RM has to take the can for that. Fraser though is a dick for giving the penalty away and getting sent off. Anthony Taylor / VAR are dicks for not giving us a penalty when Leicester did the same to Onuachu minutes before.
Well that was ****ing awful, and yet completely predictable. Not going to bang on about the refeering because it's already been covered but jesus, that was incredibly inept and one sided. That seriously needs reviewing. The subs killed us, totally totally ****ed us in a game where we were relatively competitive and comfortable. Martin, once again has lost a tactical battle and will do against most PL managers. He ****ed off down the tunnel pretty sharpish at the FT whistle too which shows a bit about his character if you ask me. If you want to give it the big licks and the fist pumps when we're winning have the balls to stick around after a performance like that. I'm fully in the Russ out camp because he just cannot set up our team to defend, his in game management is poor and I find his stubbornness about his style infuriating. I'm blasé if it doesn't happen because Sports Republic are absolute ****ing con artists without the first clue about football, we'd end up with another oh so clever appointment who would be totally underwhelming and be **** just in a different way. Oh and the players are ****e. Really really really ****e. If I was a Derby fan I'd be feeling very happy about the next 8 months.
Thought Fraser should have taken a shot when he got through on a channel but instead did a poor cutback. Fraser not really up to the standard required at this level tbh.
We’ll have to wait for a fitness report to see if Vardy has broken another of our players. TBH I thought Yuki had a dead leg type injury at first, so hoping it’s nothing worse. Smallbone played the last 15 minutes with another hamstring injury it seems. I would like to know why Lallana isn’t getting any game time. If I watch the TSP tomorrow I will put the question in the comments for Alfie House, as he occasionally has the inside track on a few things.
Seeing Leicester’s third goal I can understand why RM would be furious. At any level that shouldn’t happen. Someone is presumably happily marking no one , hiding in the middle of the penalty area.
We never seem to defend the edge of the box for set pieces. Happened more than once today and of course against Ipswich too.
If it wasn't coaching it wouldn't happen again and again as far as I'm concerned. Surely if Russell didn't want us to do it after the Ipswich equaliser it wouldn't have happened multiple times today. He'd be screaming from the touchline for a player to get out.
Thoughts on today: - Didn’t like the starting lineup. Different horses for different courses. Away to Arsenal and home to Leicester are very different tasks and although Manning had a decent game overall, we know how limited he is as a player. - First half, good energy, mixed up our play well and most importantly moved the ball forward quickly and with purpose. Surprise, surprise we looked the most dangerous we’ve looked all season. - Last 10/15 mins of the first half though the danger signs were already there. We looked a bit panicked, dropped back a bit and lost our energy. Looked like the players wanted half time to come despite pretty minimal pressure from Leicester. - At half-time, despite the 2-0, it was so obvious that we needed the third, and at no point was I confident we’d win. - Second half Leicester noticeably upped the tempo and worked hard to press us. But the defining moment was them taking off a full back and bringing on Fatuwu. And that was compounded by Sugawara going off injured (Vardy is such a ****ing rat faced **** and I hate how he always goes away happy after playing us), KWP moving to RB and Manning (who is not a good enough defender in the championship) now being at LB against Fatuwu. Yes, ideally we would have been able to leave KWP on the left as our best chance of dealing with him, but even doubling up on him, we needed a more competent defender in Taylor on far far sooner then it happened. Martin was just so slow to react to all their danger coming through Fatuwu. And the defending against him was schoolboy. Doubling up but both just next to each other backing off together made it so easy for him. One goes to close him down, the other back him up so he can’t just knock it past him with his pace. Awful, awful defending. - The complete lack of game management and nous was shocking. And that goes for the players on the pitch and the ****ing shocking use of the subs too. Lallana should have been on second half, at least by 60mins. Who chooses a half fit Smallbone in that situation is batshit. Who chooses to play Manning at LB against Fatuwu even with doubling up on him is batshit. And none of this is revisionist. I was saying it at the game as it was happening because it was all so obvious. - Infuriating that we again concede a late, late goal from the edge of our box. - Final word for what was the most bent referee performance I’ve possibly ever seen. I couldn’t believe how bad and bias he was. I’ve lost my voice from shouting at the ****ing gimp. We didn’t lose because of him, but he certainly made our task even more of an uphill struggle. Genuinely hope we complain about his performance, even if it ultimately achieves nothing. - we are ****ed
It was definitely a penalty for them. But yeah, Paul should have had one too. (And who knows, if we get ours, maybe theirs never ends up happening.) I wonder who would have taken it? Paul himself?
Absolutely. No denying it was a penalty for them at all. Its the consistency (again) that's lacking in the decision making process.
Gone though are the days of Le Tiss, Beatts and Rickie - and even JWP. I'm not sure I'd have been confident at any of those 11 players putting the ball onto the spot.
