I think Praet will get game time - Maresca has made some very positive comments including, to paraphrase, that he is the most technical attacking midfielder in the squad ...
Well done the ladies, great win on pens against Man City. It seems Ok when we say we can beat the big boys but not quite so right saying beating the big girls
Back on track and good to see our ageing talisman showing that there us considerable life in the old dog yet ... Mavididi is really impressive and offers a lot more defensively than young Harvey did ...
What I keep hearing from Matt Piper on When You're Smiling is that we are still too slow in getting the ball forward, which is giving the opposition too much time to get defenders into position. Vestergaard seems to be the one tasked with receiving the first ball and getting things moving. As well as he has been playing defensively and also the danger he causes from set pieces at the other end, he's not the fastest player we've seen in getting the ball forward, so it might be time to give Conor Coady a chance. We bought him for his leadership qualities, so I'd like to see what he can bring to the team. Give him 45 minutes in the midweek game against Sheffield Wednesday to bed himself in and then perhaps a stiffer test against West Brom.
Really can't see him dropping Vestergaard - for the reasons you've given - he's also the most accurate passer of the ball amongst the centre-backs Suspect Winks will return and can see Cannon getting a run out at some stage - particularly if we are ahead.
Agree. The one question mark I have is that neither Kele or Vards are firing yet Daka is banging them in for Zambia. Forget Vardy got two, one a tap in the other a pen, he missed a couple of howlers. Cant do that in the Prem which is what we should be building to.
I agree that Iheanacho and Vardy aren't really firing at the moment, but we could be using Vardy far more than we are doing. When we get pressed high we could mix it up better and rather than try and play through it every time we should occasionally push the ball into those wide spaces in the opponents' half that Vardy is good at taking up and get the midfielders up in support. I'm sure Daka could perform the same role. We don't really know if Tom Cannon can do the same. But I agree, this season needs to be a dress rehearsal for being ready to perform in the Prem again, and our progress seems to have stalled because we are too slow and predictable and wasteful when in good positions in front of goal. Back to my original point about Vestergaard, and it doesn't seem that much of a change is required to get the ball forward quicker. If it's down to the defence being too slow or the midfield not finding the space quickly enough, the manager needs to get it sorted out soon, as a 14 point gap to 3rd place is now only 10 points and could easily have been 8 and we have to prepare to be without important players during the AFCON.
I've been picked out of the ballot for the Q&A with Enzo. Looking forward to it. Need to think of a question now
I can't believe this spin on bbc leicester we were cra# and the interviewer and MM are trying to gloss over a awful performance for christ sake let the fans have a say! i have had to switch off!
Last 4 games - won 1, drawn 1, lost 2, goals for 3. 5 points dropped against lower half of the table teams. Progress has well and truly stalled. It's not possible to hide behind the excuse that opponents raise their game because it's Leicester they're playing. I could name 20 teams in the Prem who are much stronger than anything we've played against. Hanging on by a single goal for 70 minutes against the worst side in the league who have a goal difference of -27 is not the sign of a team heading for promotion. The manager has to acknowledge that something needs improving. Not necessarily fundamental changes, but hard work and individual improvement.
Faes was pushed out to the left which certainly didn't suit him - think it has to be 2 out of four re Faes, Cody, Vestergaard and Souttar with JJ a must on the left until Doyle is back or we aquire another alternative...
Agreed. That really was a must win game and there were probably too many changes at the back and midfield where we build from. I realise that he has to rest some players and keep others game ready as the fixture list is heavy, but manage it better. Enzo said it would be a difficult one so it was important to get off to a fast start and get their heads to drop, but we don't seem able to do that. If the changes don't pay off with a win on Saturday then he needs a serious look at things.
I'm finding it difficult to complain when we are top of the league, but I do feel we pass for the sake of passing. It's like, for example we have been passing the ball around and we find ourselves on the edge of the opponents box, when we realize Winks hasn't touched the ball in the build up, so we pass back and back and back until someone gives Winks a 1 yard pass, then we try and build again. I can see what Enzo is trying to do, I really can, but I think we overpass far too much.
Cracking result - just as I was starting to think the ****ers were about to ruin my weekend by conceding another last minute equaliser in a week!
It was a very hard watch. I haven't seen a full match for some weeks and although we started brightly it didn't last long. In fact I think we've gone backwards rather than made progress. At the start of the season teams didn't know how to play against us and we looked good. However, now they have worked us out and know exactly what to expect from us because we don't mix it up enough. The goalkeeper's distribution was absolutely bottom drawer. He caused us more problems than any of their players. He's a decent keeper otherwise. The playing out from the back is so slow that we always have 11 opponents behind the ball by the time we start to move it forwards. And why can't McAteer and Fatawu try and beat their full backs? If they don't go past their man how can we hope to drag central defenders out of position and create space for our strikers? Maybe we need to give them more space to operate in rather than surround them with passing options that only bring more opponents into their space. Positives for us yesterday were the performances of JJ, KDH and Wilf. Bit of an insult to take Mavididi off and leave McAteer on, and the same with Wilf and Casadei. Nacho was never in the game. But my main concern is that, if we are going to play this same system in the Prem and we still can't make it work in the Championship, next season will be a very long and very hard one. It's all well and good having a manager who has been associated with Man City with their plethora of superstars, but we don't have the same calibre of player all over the pitch who can play the same game. The words 'cut', 'cloth' and 'accordingly' spring to mind.
Only listened to the match, imo Nacho did not seem interested and lazy! ( wondering if he is on the way out of the club) or worried about getting injured before their international cup matches start, could not understand why he was not subbed for Vardy or Cannon! but saying that he helped set up the winning goal, so what do i know.
We should start giving Cannon some game time soon. Daka and Iheanacho will be missing in January at the AFCON so that will only leave him and Vardy. Where was Praet again yesterday? Hope we’ve not got another Rodgers situation where he won’t pick him.
