Okazaki has to start

[GingerrrFox]

Okazaki has to start yesterday proved that. He is crucial to the way we play. He allows us to play the 4-4-2 as it turns into a proper 4-2-3-1 when we haven't got the ball due to his work rate and selfless pressing and defensive work. I'd go Slimani as I've not been impressed with Vardy this season and think he needs a kick up the arse. Thoughts? 

[HighPeakFox]

Seems a reasonable position to be taking to me.

[Wolfox]

I agree...

 

really to tough question

 

Vardy didnt didn't do too badly with him last season?  However, our style has adapted somewhat since last year and Slimani seems to have a bit more threat... I'd have Slimani above Benteke too

Edited 23 October 2016 by Wolfox

[Royston.]

play it by ear.

 

Okazaki and Slimani should keep their places for now and its up to vardy to try and force his way back in.

[Stadt]

It's Okazaki's role that is essential, not necessarily him. Slimani was a mistake because the balance of the team has been completely disrupted (although I think he will prove to be a good signing). We should have splashed the cash on a creative second striker or attacking midfielder.

[Mark_w]

Voted Vardy to redress the balance a bit. We should be switching between Slimani/Vardy depending on the opposition, fitness, game plan etc.

[adam]

There is no way we will be leaving slim on the bench. 30 million quid sub wouldn't look too great on Ranieris transfer dealings. 

[st albans fox]

Okazaki hardly ever finishes a game. He is hardly likely to be able to play every match! 

[stevelcfc]

Totally agree, like others have said alternate Vardy/Slimani depending on the opposition and thus Albrighton and musa to counter the lack of pace in the team and balance things up. Would like to see another player similar to Shiji come in so we have another option.

[Keith Wellers Tights]

1 hour ago, Royston. said:

play it by ear.

 

Okazaki and Slimani should keep their places for now and its up to vardy to try and force his way back in.

100%

[Foxxed]

Slim initially, not just because Slim's been awesome since he's started, but because Vardy seems hungrier when he has to earn his place. After dramatically rising so quickly, it's probably confusing for him now he's at the "top"!

[Sionnach gorm]

Just three weeks ago we were ready to ship Sinji to Siberia, now he's the saviour.  I trust that our coaches look at the player performances during training.  As for Sinji I think his work rate has always been there.  He should get a chance.  But I'll trust our coaches first.

[Captain...]

It's not as simple as 'who partners Shinji?' It is a team game and the balance of the team is what counts. We saw last season when Vardy was suspended Claudio brought in Ulloa, but also swapped out Albrighton for Schlupp to give us some extra pace.

 

Shinji wasn't the only change on Saturday, Musa came in to give us a more attacking direct winger to compensate for the loss of Vardy's pace but allowed by Shinji playing as a third midfielder off the ball. This is with King and Drinkwater in midfield, both busy and win the ball back but neither are out and out ball winners like Kante. 

 

It doesn't mean Shinji must start, but it does mean Ranieri needs to trust and use the squad more. Rotate Vardy, Mahrez, Slimani, Albrighton with Shinji, Musa, Gray, keep them all fresh keep them fighting and be prepared for January and the AFCON.

 

Same in midfield with Drinkwater, King, Mendy, Amartey.

 

Look at Simpson, his place has been under the most threat from Hernandez, dropped a few times and has been superb since he has regained his place. King lost his place to Amartey won it back and has looked very good. He knows he has to be at his best otherwise we have players waiting. The same will happen with Vardy when he comes back. He will be fired up.

Edited 24 October 2016 by Captain...

[ALC Fox]

Vardy needs a rest. He'll come back into the side firing on all cylinders after another couple of games starting from the bench. So Slim and Okazaki for me.

[dpjfox]

When we have  another central midfielder available we may play 4-3-3 therefore allowing Okazaki Slimani and Vardy to play upfront

[filbertway]

As wookie says, it's not necessarily Okazaki but that role he plays. That being said, we don't really have anyone else at the club that can do what he does. Well, I'm not sure about Kapustka as he's not allowed to play for us, but I can't think of anybody else that would be able to contribute to midfield and attack the way he does.

[lgfualol]

Slimani and Okazaki. Vardy just encourages shit longball.

 

[sylofox]

3 hours ago, Captain... said:

It's not as simple as 'who partners Shinji?' It is a team game and the balance of the team is what counts. We saw last season when Vardy was suspended Claudio brought in Ulloa, but also swapped out Albrighton for Schlupp to give us some extra pace.

 

Shinji wasn't the only change on Saturday, Musa came in to give us a more attacking direct winger to compensate for the loss of Vardy's pace but allowed by Shinji playing as a third midfielder off the ball. This is with King and Drinkwater in midfield, both busy and win the ball back but neither are out and out ball winners like Kante. 

 

It doesn't mean Shinji must start, but it does mean Ranieri needs to trust and use the squad more. Rotate Vardy, Mahrez, Slimani, Albrighton with Shinji, Musa, Gray, keep them all fresh keep them fighting and be prepared for January and the AFCON.

 

Same in midfield with Drinkwater, King, Mendy, Amartey.

 

Look at Simpson, his place has been under the most threat from Hernandez, dropped a few times and has been superb since he has regained his place. King lost his place to Amartey won it back and has looked very good. He knows he has to be at his best otherwise we have players waiting. The same will happen with Vardy when he comes back. He will be fired up.

Shame we fvcked up big style and never got any new centre backs. Then perhaps we would not have had players queuing up to score from corners.

[StriderHiryu]

Pick players based on current form rather than reputation! Vardy is a legend but he's off the boil right now. Shinji and Slimani for now please and no doubt Vardy will raise his game and be back in soon enough. 

 

Competition for places should be great. I don't think it's coincidence that King has raised his game after seeing Amartey take his place. The same could be said for Simpson too. 

 

One thing that Ranieri is great at is picking who is performing over an ego. He signed both Benny and Inler last season but dropped them after seeing others played better. 

[AKCJ]

The side is far more balanced with Shinji in it.

 

Slimani/Vardy are better with just one up top, Mahrez gets given the space to wreak havoc and Danny and Amartey/King/Mendy have an extra man with them in midfield.

 

Shinji isn't the most gifted footballer in the world but he's one of the most underrated. If we're going to continue strengthening the squad in January then we'll need someone in his mould because I don't think he's got the stamina to do what he does twice a week.

[Happy Fox]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/23/leicester-city-shinji-okazaki-crystal-palace-claudio-ranieri

 

 

There is no better sight in the Premier League than Shinji Okazaki’s face after he scores. There really is not. It is a portrait of pure, unaffected joy and even the most curmudgeonly spectator must struggle to not smile with him. His face is so expressive that a hugely popular new app in his native Japan has a keyboard consisting entirely of Okazaki emojis: Happy Okazaki, Sad Okazaki, Approving Okazaki, Angry Okazaki and so on. Against Crystal Palace he demonstrated yet again that for Leicester City he is Busy Okazaki. Dangerous Okazaki. Vital Okazaki.

 

This was only the Japanese striker’s second league start of the campaign even though he was an essential component of last season’s triumph. His role in that sensation earned him folk hero status in Leicester and catapulted him to a level of celebrity that makes it hard for him to venture outdoors when he returns to his home country.

“I have to stay at home, I usually get mobbed but it is good,” he says. “Leicester are now a very big team in Japan and I’m proud of that. Things were a little crazy when I first went back. A lot of people would come up to me and say: ‘What happened?’ I can’t explain it to them though, it was just an amazing season.”

 

His performance against Palace on Saturday served as at least a partial explanation and, more to the point, as an indicator of more good things to come from Leicester. Jamie Vardy, without a goal in nine matches for club and country, was omitted so that Okazaki could start up front alongside Islam Slimani, the player who has usually been picked ahead of him by Claudio Ranieri since joining in the summer. Together the pair set the tone for what Ranieri hailed afterwards as Leicester’s best display of the season. Okazaki and Slimani continually outmanoeuvred and outmuscled Crystal Palace’s centre-backs, James Tomkins and Damien Delaney. It was no surprise that a couple of tackles and passes from the duo led to the opening goal, which was converted from 18 yards out by Ahmed Musa. It was a fine finish by the Nigerian, who for most of the match supplied the extreme speed that Leicester might otherwise have lacked in the absence of Vardy.

 

Okazaki scored the second goal himself before Christian Fuchs landed a beauty from 25 yards and Yohan Cabaye clinched deserved consolation for the visitors.

There was, as ever, much more to Okazaki than attacking. Ranieri famously said that N’Golo Kanté played the role of two players for Leicester last season - but so did Okazaki and he gave an effective reminder of that here. Not only did he buzz around up top, pestering the Palace defence relentlessly, but he also dropped into midfield, offering support and solutions to team-mates across the pitch. “When I play I think I can help the team because I can help the centre midfielders, the strikers and the wingers,” he says. “Whatever I do I can help the team.”

The visiting manager was impressed. “Okazaki links the play so well and he fills that extra midfield role that a striker needs to do,” said Alan Pardew. “His work rate and application was spot–on.” Okazaki’s work helped Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater to flourish.

The excellence of Okazaki alongside Slimani does not necessarily push Vardy down the pecking order but it certainly shows that Leicester have more options than they did last season and Ranieri would be well advised to make plentiful use of them. “Always he is my man, our goalscorer,” said Ranieri of Vardy. “He knows when there are so many good players, a little rotation does not matter.” Ranieri said that with a beaming smile, which is the effect that Okazaki tends to have.

[HighPeakFox]

Fair play to Pardew, he's gone up in my estimation lately...

[STUHILL]

Would like to see a way of playing Slim with Vardy eventually, as they are both natural goal scorers and neither should be on the bench, but I agree that playing Okazaki is the best option at the moment as he links the midfield to the attack so well. It's clear that Slim and Vardy, although have different strengths, both are at their best playing as the main striker with a licence to roam anywhere across the final 3rd. Therefore, one or both will have to adapt to create an effective partnership. Vardy also hasn't been his usual self, so perhaps a rest and rethink will help him come back stronger. 

Slim and Okazaki whilst Claudio comes up with a way to get both our goal scorers on the pitch at once.

 

 

[HighPeakFox]

I'm wondering if Vardy might be relieved - he needs a break, and his attitude looked right on Saturday........good man-management is required, and I reckon he will be getting it from within the club.

[Stadt]

2 hours ago, Gerbold said:

 

 

So a player gets included in the team because he cost x amount of money?! Perhaps that's what Peter Taylor was thinking when he stuck Ade Akinbyi on the team week after fruitless week. Not that Slim hasn't got potential, yet Vardy was the best forward in the Premier last season - better than Kane or Kun. He may never replicate that form but it would be because of circumstance rather than inherent ability. Claudio seems to have found the niche for him at the moment - as a sub able to attack fatigued defences - it might just bring his confidence and 'edge' back.

Bringing Okazaki back into the team has caused quite a few observers and commentators to remember the indirect ways he is effective. He was an integral part of the title-winning side so he must have been doing something positive - trouble was very few could suss out what it was, although the Guardian writer Michael Cox did - https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/apr/17/shinji-okazaki-tireless-leicester-intelligence  I'm not sure what the comment about him hardly ever lasting a full match is but he certainly is effective when he's on.

As for 'splashing-the-cash' there are a number of posters who would like to see Morgan, Huth and Simpson replaced. There are a fair few who'd like to see King, Schlupp and Albrighton go. I suspect Leonardo is pleased the boo-boys are off his back and slagging-off someone else - and he was on the bench on Saturday, wasn't he? Amartey gets his fair share of detractors too. Maybe we'll be lucky and pick up Rooney when Mourinho shows him the back door - because he can be a attacking midfielder AND a creative striker. But nicely enough, we don't need over-the-hill 'big' team rejects any longer.

I think we've got players a-plenty and there's no crisis - now or looming - and Ranieri appears to be getting control of the situation which inevitably happened after the title was won.

I watched MOTD preview on Saturday in which Danny Mills had the gall to say that Leicester were back where they belonged. I think we all know what his oppo of the day, Garth 'Gobby' Crooks thinks about us too. I should think they were smiling on the other side of their faces come five 'o' clock. There's still a majorly good side at City - it's just about getting the players to remember how good they are and convincing them that there is life after N'Golo Kanté.

 

Where did I say we should play Slimani because he costs more?