Sly

He’s still picked Soumare and Carranza. Both are in the spine of the team. Both are dreadful.

He doesn’t move. He waits for the ball. He’s slow. We may as well pick someone out of the crowd.

We may as well play without a forward. What I will say, is Ayew frustrates the life out of me, however at least he is in the game.

Yes I agree. People hate on him, however as a defender is this division he is very good. I think Okoli is the best partner for him, as his pace compliments his weaknesses.

Is that unnatural? VAR has given them.

Vestergaard had that covered. Soumare shouldn’t even touch it. I’m actually amazed Soumare is even in the box.

Great assist from Soumare that

A slower version of Daka with a worse touch.

FFS

I wouldn’t call it running

Why does Carranza look like he’s towing a caravan?

That’s so frustrating, that should be 1-0

That tackle on Vestergaard was no different to the one Ramsay got sent off for at Oxford.

In fairness though, the Blackburn team isn’t much better. 1-1 draw incoming. Goal by Vestergaard.

We need him for his awareness, tracking offensive runs and box to box energy.

At some point it will be make or break though. We have to blood some of them and give them 20 minutes here and there. I don’t think they are physically ready, as we’ve seen with the likes of Page and Roma degree Monga, to start game and compete. It’s different playing against players who are tired though, they’ve lost that extra 1 - 2% every and physicality, so they can be tested. Nelson though, my opinion has changed and needed playing weeks ago.

Just listening to the Big Strong Leicester Boys podcast and @Ric Flair talking about the academy. We need to address something which I don’t think has been discussed. I think the one thing that keeps me interested in this football right now, if the pipeline of the academy. The current squad has so, so many high earners that aren’t worth what we are paying them, that I do believe with the likes of Winks, Soumare, Daka, Ricardo, Ayew etc all set to leave due to contracts expiring in the summer of 2026, I just can’t see us spending big money to replace them. So, that leads me to the point in question, this should then leave a pathway for the likes of Evans, Alves, Monga, Cartwright, Alonko, Nelson, Golding etc to step into the team. I could see that tide even changing when reality sets in that we stand no chance of getting promoted this season.

As a forward, he’d potentially offer more than Ayew!

Statistically as fullbacks go on this division, he’s actually in the top 25% for defensive contributions. He’s a far cry from what we’ve had previously, his limitations that impact the overall team Is actually offensively, as by not venturing forward, he doesn’t generate space for Mavididi or Monga.

Another thing to add on Fatawu is how great his defensive work is. He really does put in a shift. Ricardo looks very good as well. Faes looks horrible. Thomas steady. Vestergaard and looks ok.

If you look at the underlying for our entire midfield, they sit in the lowest percentiles in the defensive stats.

I’d play devils advocate and state players like Winks, Mavididi, Faes etc have gone backward.

I don’t disagree, we should never have been relegated.

Oh, our pressing and “trap setting” is also …. Woeful.

I noticed we don’t have one, so I was doing some reading to scratch the surface on wha is actually happening with the tactics. So so figure this …. Games played - 12 Goals - 15 xG for - 14.1 We are outperforming xG. That in itself is great, however we simply aren’t generating enough chances. We are averaging an xG of 1.12 a game! In terms of actual players, our top five are Fatawu - xG of 1.7, 3 goals this season. Vestergaard - xG of 1.3, 2 goals this season. Ricardo - xG of 1.3, 2 goals this season. Ayew - xG of 1.3, 1 goal this season. Daka - xG of 1.2, 0 goals this season. Worrying …….. we are not generating enough chances. Assists is another joke .. El Khannous is still 2nd after Fatawu. He couldn’t get out of here quick enough. Both are on two. Some other interesting stuff on how are players are perceived statistically. Vestergaard is our highest match rated player this season. Jordan Ayew is in the top 20% of centre forwards for touches, however also chances created! Ricardo is one of the best fullbacks in this league. Top for goals from fullbacks, great defensive contributions as well …. Weakness, aerial duels. Overall match / player performance we rank 6th of all teams. Cov are top. Goals for per match - 6th. Our xG per match for is 14th though! Again, we aren’t generating chances. Goals against per match - 7th Our xG per match against is 5th. So we are currently conceding less and scoring more than we statistically could. Long term, unsustainable. Average possession - 3rd. Interestingly th two teams higher than us are Southampton and Ipswich. Tells its own story. We are 2nd in terms of accurate passes. Basically we mess around a lot and go nowhere is what that says to me. Long passes - 23rd. We aren’t direct in the slightest. 2 years ago we were 7th. Enzo / Marti, different tactics. Interceptions per match against- 23rd. Statistically we are very average and it points at us finishing 6th / 7th currently. We’ll scrape playoffs doing what we currently are. Factor the impending points deduction and then you consider we will miss them. Ae should compare with two seasons ago, however people will. I’m sure Top and Rudkin will also. We are still playing possession based football, however we are doing less with it. We need to be more aggressive with it. Playing further up the pitch takes pressure off the defence, that is one Faes brain fart away from conceding. I’m sure our new tactical genius will know all of this though …..