StriderHiryu

Porto fans don't rate Carmo at all, he has had a torrid time since joining Porto. Prior to that he was very good at Braga though, he even featured against us in a Europa League match a few seasons ago. He's definitely good on the ball for a centre back.

Might be time to start getting more familiar with these! https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/graham-potter-chelsea-brighton-tactics/ Of note is this part with Brighton: Potter regularly used a 3-4-2-1 in which two attacking midfielders support a lone striker (above) and form a four-player central midfield box which could overload opposing midfield threes. The wide centre-backs in this shape were encouraged to get forwards regularly – Ben White and Dan Burn did so particularly effectively – to support the wing-back on their side. There was a fluidity to their shape that opponents consistently struggled to deal with.

Yeah that's my concern with Potter too, and why I think he's slightly overrated. At the time he was known as being an xG merchant, with the thinking being that if Brighton had better forwards they would be scoring more goals. But then Di Zerbi came in and they started scoring for fun, and Chelsea had the same struggles as Brighton. Now to be fair, after Potter went, Chelsea struggled again until probably this year where finally Poch got Chelsea scoring, though he was also helped by inspired Cole Palmer. However, for where we are as a club right now, Potter is a good appointment. At Brighton and Swansea he coached players to play a more technical style whilst being comfortable and secure in their respective divisions. Those are good traits to have. The issue for me is he seems to have gone a bit "barry big bollocks" after the Chelsea job, which he was given way too early. He hasn't won anything in the English game and didn't even qualify for Europe or the play-offs. He turned down Ajax, which is insane as frankly I don't think he's done enough to be offered such a prestigious job. I'd rather we appointed someone that wants the Leicester job, not that has to be convinced. I can think of many worse appointments though!

For what it’s worth the club appointed Maresca on the 16th June last year. So not having anyone in yet shouldn’t be too worrying. Last year we also felt we were slow but ended up appointing our manager faster than Leeds and Southampton. https://www.lcfc.com/news/3540588/leicester-city-appoint-enzo-maresca-as-first-team-manager?lang=en

Farewell Sharky! Will always be loved by the fans and always welcome back!

Whilst I wouldn't offer him anything like that, he's 27 years old, has played in Europe and has 56 caps for Nigeria. There will definitely be interest in him, and he has value. That sort of deal I would argue makes more sense than the 3 year one for Vestergaard, but what do I know!?

If we were going to go this way then Fabian Hürzeler as mentioned by @kingfox would be a better pick given his expience and success. But Cuesta may be a very cheap option as he would probably be willing to accept a very low wage, because he needs to prove himself.

Thanks! It’s the Malmo guy that plays the unique stuff, this guy is definitely highly rated in Germany. But my point is Brighton finished 5th and got to the semi finals of the Cup. They then sold two players for around 150m and then finished 11th. Was it their manager that underperformed or was it that they didn’t set him up for success? Is Hurzeler a good choice for us? I’d argue that in this season specifically it’s too big a gamble. Despite my criticism, Brighton are stable and have a squad that should avoid relegation.

Brighton are the current darlings but I think more people need to call them out. What on earth are they doing?! With all the money they’ve earned, what have they done with it? They missed out on Europe, a good manager has left without a replacement directly lined up. One of the managers they are linked with plays a radical style that is unlike anything in Europe. You could say that they chose not to “do a Leicester” and invest money from player sales to increase the overall squad quality to compete higher up the table and as a result are financially secure. But equally you could say they are a bad appointment away from being in big trouble and have massively regressed. Maybe this new manager is a genius but it seems like a massive gamble to me. Why not actually back the previous one and try to be competitive? Very weird…

In before the Euros start for sure. This feels a lot like last summer where it felt like it was going slowly but Maresca was installed by mid June and ahead of Russell Martin and Daniel Farke.

You've found the real reason I'm against him! The lack of enthusiasm in the inevitable "Tactics under Cooper" thread will be palpable! I think this is hard to judge as he plays quite a lot of different styles and was put into extremely challenging circumstances by the Forest owner. His tactical track record prior to that was quite promising. What I would say is that I've not seen a game where I was impressed tactically by what Forest were doing or by their style of play. He did well with them, especially in the Championship and that infamous cup game, but compared to other people we've been linked to, I don't see what's special about him. Tactically Corberan stands out not just this season but over the last few seasons. I thought Corberan was in with a shot last season at the job here, that's the level I would rate him at. Very promising young manager. Cooper I don't think is the worst appointment in the world and on paper is very sensible. But do you want sensible or do you want exciting? Farke was sensible, Maresca was exciting (well maybe not the football at times!). Moyes and Cooper are sensible, Corberan / Cuesta / etc exciting.

Cooper did a good job in getting Forest promoted and keeping them up, but it also needs to be heavily caveated with his sacking this season due to a fear of getting relegated despite seeing three teams as poor as Luton, Sheffield United and Burnley. I'll get behind any manager we appoint think Cooper is overrated.

Fantastic post! @Bluearmyfox28 for DOF!

I have a bit of an unusual answer. I sort of both trust them and don't trust them at the same time. Top's heart is definitely in the right place. He celebreated winning the title more than any of the players! I also think one of the reasons we've been foul of FFP is because he has been trying to push the club in terms of competiveness and gambled a bit too much. Wheelan has improved club commercials and seems pretty competent overall, though I have heard that behind the scenes she is not liked by that many. But I think she could easily walk into a CEO level job for pretty much any company in the UK, she is very highly thought of. Rudkin gets correctly slated on here, but I think in terms of overall operations he's actually not that bad. E.g. the academy, getting deals done. But he's NOT a Director of Football, which IMO is one of the biggest problems with the club. We need someone like Txiki Begiristain at Man City, Michael Edwards at Liverpool, etc. We wouldn't be able to attract someone that good, but that we don't have the role at all is the bigger crime. Specifically this person would develop a football strategy for the entire club from academy to senior level, with progression paths set out, etc. This would make for smoother transitions between managers, being more in touch with fans, etc. Last season after relegation, the club acted quickly. We had Maresca in before Russel Martin and Daniel Farke and signed Winks and Coady quickly. And we ended up as Champions even if there were some slip ups along the way. So though getting relegated was unforgivable, we did actually have a good plan and good execution to correct the mistake. The club has also won the league and FA Cup, and 2 Championship titles, so that gives me some belief and trust that the hierarchy isn't totally usless, they just think they are better than they are. My peeve with the hierarchy is the disdain for fans. Communication is awful and it often feels like they actively try to push out anyone that has ideas on how to improve things for the fans, or trying to build a connection. I actually have a feeling this comes from Wheelan who wants to package up LCFC as a product to be consumed rather than as a connection between fans and club. And that's too bad, because seeing the Dortmund fans in London and at the Champions League final made me really jealous. That's what a proper club looks like.

Like a lot of people in the elite circles of society, they just don't understand everyday life. See Liz Truss, Sunak, Johnson, et all. Surround yourself with yes men and you'll never hear "no".

The thing is Copper also fits that criteria and has no fee. If he hadn't previously managed Forest, I think the deal would already have been done! Corberan for me has the edge because he's shown with nothing to spend he can still get results. WBA only had loan players last season and arguably their most important player in Dike was out all year. They even lost Sarmiento halfway through to get sent on loan to Ipswich. Despite that he still got to the play-offs, and that's the second time he's done it. From a purely tactical / coaching point of view, he out thought Enzo twice last season, even though he got zero points. Cooper perfomed a miracle with Forest, but their owner was bankrolling them even in the Championship.

Ha! They do have previous for it, that's for sure! Those behind the scenes definitely don't like being called out on their sh*t, that's for sure.

Regardless of the size of the offer, or the treatment from the club, this is the thing that irks me. It does come across as a bit disloyal. Very remisncent of Brian Little actually... At the same time, as explained above, 99% of people take the offer on the table from Chelsea.

The best candidate for me, but given that it's not just Corberan we need but an entire new backroom staff, I can see the expenses being a real issue. The club are likely going to be in a position that even if we get relegated we have to stick with the next manager we appoint, so the choice is crucial.

The club can be upset, but Enzo bagged himself an absoultely INSANE deal. If he fails, he will still net 30m. I bet even with clauses he'll still end up with a double digit payout. You could love your current job and even be well compenstated, but at some point, the numbers are too hard to pass up. Chelsea also invested over 1 Billion in their squad and if allowed into Europe are serious contenders to win the competition they are in. That said it's clear we were only ever a stepping stone. This is a real issue for the next manager becuase if we do go for someone who appears upwardly mobile like Corberan or Cuesta, who's to say they won't leave too? In this case the 10M is a lot, but jeapordises the entire season before it's even started.

Dortmund have been really impressive, this isn't the one-sided affair many thought it would be! A very entertaining final so far! Often these are pretty tight and cagey, but these lightning fast counter attacks have me on edge!

With Maresca gone it’s easy to imagine a scenario where this guy is used again given most managers do not use inverted fullbacks. I don’t see Bologna buying him at the full price and I don’t think we have the cash to bring in another FB. The player might not want to return, but at the end of the day you’ve got to be professional and do your job. The season he’s just had suggests he’s good enough to play for a Premier League team as a starter.

Winks? Coady? Mavididi?

Interesting player, he had a brilliant 22/23, but by all accounts had a bit of a stinker last time round. So fits into the classic "we can fix them" mentality we often have with players. Technically he plays as a CDM, though he has a real engine about him and could probably play box-to-box. He does have a bit of the Soumare feel to him too though...