StriderHiryu

I'm amazed they got him. That's the sort of signing the 3 relegated PL teams would make. Hull probably make it to the playoffs, but if they don't up this year, they are building a great squad for next time round.

We can do way better than this guy. Going to Stoke says a lot. I think we'll sign a winger to compete with Mavididi in the summer. I reckon we will try for Nanasi and Clarke, though not sure if we will get either.

You're very eloquent in the way you describe what you don't like. That's what is refreshing for me to see! Back to the music analogy, I'm trying to get you into some new band I've just heard and you're like "nah mate, not for me". And that's fair enough!

I agree. And I think if we walk away from the deal that is totally fine too. Imagine making a loan signing that isn't even that necessary and getting docked 5-10 points because of it!

Great post! Probably the first on here that makes a great argument and explanation for the apathy towards the team and modern game. This is why I’ve always said I’ve had sympathy for people that don’t like the style. A similar analogy is heavyweight boxing. The Klitschko brothers dominated for years but were awful to watch. Fighters like Fury and Usev by contrast are way more exciting. One suggestion though, which you may or may not find changes your perspective. Try to put yourself into the players minds. Unlike Rodgers / Puel we are moving the ball to shift the block. Often times you can see the move develop and can predict when the explosion is about to happen. One more thing. I don’t get how people enjoyed hoofball from yesteryear! There was a famous game for Man United under David Moyes where they put 81 crosses into the box in one game but lost. But I think our fans would absolutely salivate at seeing that form of football 🤣

Warning for everyone else: I can see this turning into a massive nerd fest! The setup we use I think is genius. I was really impressed with Brighton last season for much the same reason I am impressed with Maresca. When the system works, it's incredible. Your opponent doesn't get the ball so can't harm you, but tire them out and generate high quality chances. If you stop and think about it, it's an ingenious approach to the game. The only real downside I would say is that no matter how good a team is, playing out from the back always carries an element of risk. But the system itself is the response to the use of high-presses across European football. If you know that every week you are going to play against teams that press high... then it makes sense to create a team and tactic that circumvent it. The obvious solution is the more traditional counter-attack like we used in 15/16, but then you come unstuck against teams that don't attack you. And that happened before our very eyes in 2016 when teams turned up and parked the bus against us. So this style means you can beat either approach, as evidenced this season. Perhaps the worrying evolution of this is that games will become more like American Football, which is almost like a Chess match but with real players. We've already had some matches like this; Preston turned up and went 451 instead of 541 that Maresca expected, and we couldn't get going at all, till half-time when he moved Ricardo back and we smashed them. Essentially, Maresca moved his Knight to a different position on board! FWIW, I do feel sympathy for fans that don't like the style of play. For 99% of fans, football is about the spectacle, with a casual understanding of the nuances of the sport. In Music, some people like Rock and some people like Classic. Who is to say one is "better" than the other in terms of enjoyment? However, it is sad that we have one of the most forward-thinking managers in the game in charge of the club, are smashing the division, have turned an academy player into easily the best player in the division and are blooding more and more academy players. All this whilst creating moves that are absolutely beautiful to watch! Some people will never be happy.

I'd argue that the Maresca / De Zerbi style is to counter-attack whilst having possession. Look at the first goal against Swansea again. We hold the ball until the spaces appear and then for the goal we have a 2 on 1 against their keeper. The end product looks like a counter-attacking goal, but was created through controlled possession! That's why the style is kind of genius in my opinion. All the advantages of possession (control, stability) with the upsides of counter-attacks (clear-cut chances, explosive moves).

Regarding "Plan A", Pep has changed it a few times. E.g. the inverted fullbacks were brought in midway through last season after a start that wasn't too good. He used a false 9 and then went more direct with Haaland, etc. In general, he's been 433 throughout his time as a coach, but he has adapted and altered things. The changes are pretty subtle in the overall context though, he's not gone 2 up top or wing backs for example. In terms of Enzo, I think he will stick to Plan A stubbornly, and it will cost us points in the Premier League. But it might still result in trophies or Europe. It will basically be just like Brighton. They are worse this season, but after getting over 150M from selling their two best players, they didn't replace them too well. I think we would not do the same thing. That is outside of the manager IMO. It's worth going over to the North Stand Chat forums to see some of the things their fans say about their manager: RDZ has tried to play attacking football when the vast majority of our attacking/creative talent is in the physio room or on international duty. It hasn't worked and has made our defending even worse than it was already. Learn from it and move on. We set up badly Saturday, got away with it, we set up the same last night and got handed out arse after 3 minutes. The overload down the left we just didn't deal with it. Steele's kicking was awful and he never comes off his line to meet crosses. RDZ has to take the blame for the way we set up. It's also clear that RDZ is struggling to adapt to a more pragmatic approach when things are going against him. And the piss poor defensive record really is inexcusable. It's not just "play style" they don't seem to know what they're supposed to be doing half the time, giving runners completely free rein. For me, it is extreme arrogance that brings us down. We should play the game deep in the oppo half for the first 5 minutes, just punt it up there and press hard, and as we settle 5 to 10 minutes into the game, then invite them on, pass and play out as we do. But our arrogance tells us we must play pretty ball from ball one, and we get punished. It’s not rocket science, just play the game up their end and chase them hard for 5 minutes, then there still 85 to do our normal thing. Your last point is very valid l think, we have long struggled against teams who are very physical and play with a big front man. We are far too easily bullied and have a soft centre. Replace "RDZ" with "EM" and I give you my prediction for most post-match threads after a loss for next season.

That one makes way more sense than the CB from Portugal. He's a left-footed CB who has played for France U18's. Good on the ball and in the "FM wonderkids" category. Not played much senior football, but Fofana was recruited after playing just a handful of games and despite being a ****, football wise was the real deal.

Great question! I'm already calling that it will be a sh*t show next season as we lose games like the way Brighton did last night. In general, I tend to back managers for a long time till it really is clear that it's time to go and I don't see that changing with this one. I have coaching certificates myself. Do I think I will ever be a real manager? Sadly, only on Football manager, but it is something I think a lot about. I have my own company and I feel like there are a lot of similarities to running a company as there is in coaching a football team, no matter what the level. I think that's one reason why I find sports management fascinating. What happens if Plan A doesn't work? Do you keep at it or change? At my company, we are currently on Plan C . But it's working! If we kept to Plan A, it would have been over by now. Culture. You try to set up and define a culture. People you recruit that fit that culture take the company forwards, those that don't often cause chaos or have to be moved on. But what if you need to hire someone with a skill set that is essential, but they don't fit the culture? E.g. a legal specialist? What if the culture you setup in the first place was wrong? Then what? To answer your question, I don't think this system can beat superior teams consistently. I do expect us to have some awesome results, e.g. playing this way, I could see us going to Man City and beating them 3-0 away with 55% possession. However, I could also see us losing 5-0 at home to West Ham despite having 75% possession. And yes it will be West Ham because of the way Moyes plays. They will bully the life out of Winks and Ricardo, and it has a high chance of working. I personally would make changes, and have differing ways to play against certain opposition. The Southampton away game this season was the only one where a Championship team has had more possession than us 11vs11, but we spanked them. I would also change it on occasion against other teams, e.g. West Ham. Personally I would also be a bit more direct than Pep, Enzo, Arteta, etc. But it's notable how Klopp dialled back how attacking his teams are to be more control based. He did that for a reason! However, I understand why coaches like Enzo have a meticulous plan that they stick to like glue. Communication in any organisation is difficult. Confusing your message is often a far worse crime, as staff / players get confused as to what to do. Let's be honest, footballers are not the smartest. Over the last 10 years, positional play has taken over from free-flowing artistry of classic number 10s' like Zidane, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Kaka, etc. But it's because when you are drilled day in, day out and know exactly what to do in a given situation, it becomes easy and at times automatic. So really you should only switch it up once your team has reached a certain mastery of the first system. And as of writing, we haven't! There are quite a few issues with the way we play, though overall it's clearly working.

Sad but true, very well put! I think it will be a generational thing. When I go back and watch First Division games from the 70s or 80s, I can't help but laugh my head off. It's so slow, players literally playing with massive hangovers from binge-drinking the night before, hit and hope football, actual racism and hooliganism from the stands... it truly was something. To be fair at least some teams showed the way, such as Liverpool under Paisley, but there's a reason why post World Cup win the national team fell off miles, and other countries laughed at the style of play our teams used. Younger fans are much more accepting of new ideas; playing out from the back, changing formation mid-match / phase of play, keeping possession rather than needlessly giving it away.

Slightly different question, but a genuine one. When has the team ever truly been "great" to watch? MON's cup winning teams were effective but pretty bland. Didn't score too many goals, relied on big / man little man up front, set pieces and magic from Izzet. One of my favourite teams ever, but not exactly riveting viewing for the most part. Pearson's Championship sides were decent. Quite physical but with a bit of flair through Knockaert, Mahrez and maybe even Oakley and King in the League One days. But hardly Brazil 1970's. There were endless complaints on here at the time that Pearson wasn't getting the most out of the best squad in the division. (Sound familiar?) Ranieri's title winners. The first half of the season was incredible. Attacking football that had gaps at the back but could score. That 5-2 defeat at home to Arsenal being a good example, but also countless comeback draws and victories. But after we fixed the defence via the gift of Pizza, we became efficient rather than exciting. Games against Newcastle, Sunderland, Watford and many more were boring, but we did enough to grind out the win and achieve football history. You wouldn't have traded it for the world though! Rodgers 4141. In the early days, we have to give the arrogant **** his dues. Southampton away, Newcastle at home. A thrilling home victory against Emery's Arsenal where we attacked them and made them scared. IMO that period was genuinely the most exciting the team has ever been, but it fell apart because it was fragile. Maddison, Tielemans, Ricardo and Vardy at their peak was poetry in motion though! These are just examples from my lifetime. Many older fans speak highly of the "ice kings" who supposedly were great to watch. I never saw them live so can't comment, but they sounded fun! Maybe it's just me, but this clip from our most recent game was pretty great to watch? I think we made an excellent appointment in the summer and am excited to see where this chapter in the Leicester City story goes! The first couple of pages have been pretty good so far!

One of the reasons I made that thread is I knew this would happen Some managers come across as arrogant by saying that most fans who watch games don't understand what is happening, but they have a point. At the same time, football is meaningless without fans, so it's a complex situation. Enzo is one of the most pioneering coaches in European football right now. The tactics we are using are right on the cutting edge of the most modern principles used by top teams, and it's one of the reasons why the team has become so damned effective. It leads to really consistent results and totally controlling the opposition. Many other teams in the division struggle against deep blocks, but we don't! In many ways, it flies in the face of football from yesteryear and makes you have to think about everything in the game from scratch. Personally, I find that aspect of it totally enthralling and think we are very lucky to have such a coach. Many teams will get left behind like dinosaurs, whereas we will be setup from academy level through to first team in playing highly technical football and being good at it. However, you can bet that this forum will be massively toxic next season, as we lose more games than we win. Look at the Burnley and Brighton (tonked 4-0 by Luton last night) forums for proof.

He's got quality too. Desire and heart would also apply to McAteer, but after that brilliant spell at the start of the season, goals have dried up for him and once Fatawu is back, he'll go back to the bench. Akgun is technical. He can get out of trouble and plays some good passes. I feel like he's learning the position, the system and getting used to English football and culture in general, but I see him improving. Is he good enough to be a starter for Leicester in the Premier League? Probably not to be honest, which is likely why we are trying to sign another 8, but I think he's a good squad player to have at minimum. I also feel he does have high potential, though it would be tricky if he gets there. Adrien Silva was genuinely considered one of the best midfielders in the Portuguese league but could not hack English football. Iborra was powerfully built, but not fast or mobile enough to cement his place here. Smaller players have made it here; Modric, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Fabregas to some extent. But these players were top draw at the technical side. I would really like to see him get a run of games. I have always felt he does more on the pitch than Casadei. Cesare did score goals, but now Yunus is just one behind and has played a lot less games.

100% this!

Fair play Tommy, his all round play has been good. Maybe a bit lucky to win the penalty, but the work to win the ball and get down the pitch was fantastic. His work rate and effort is great, and he really helps the high press.

1-5000 odds for Daka getting hauled at half-time surely

How did Daka miss that!? That was a truly awful "finish"

Brooks is top quality for this division. Great signing to be fair!

Here's the CB's stats. I wasn' too familiar with him, but if I had to guess, I would say he seems lot like a Vestergaard deputy. Right footed, gets the ball a lot in the opposition area, and makes a lot of passes. Plus good in terms of blocks and clearances. Personally I don't see Coady as being good enough for the Premier League to play the Vestergaard rold. Jannik I think will stay, but could see us trying to upgrade him. I thought he might be a Doyle rotation option, as that's what Beraldo seemed to be. But JJ seems to have taken the first team role since Doyle came back (rightfully so), so maybe Maresca is happy with those two battling for that spot.

IMO he needs a run of games in the team uninterrupted. His reaction to the goal was great to see, that is a player who 100% wants to be part of the new Leicester City story. He's got very good feet, and that shot was brilliant. He is slight and might get knocked off the ball, but there is a good player in there. Compared to Casadei who has now left, he has much more awareness, much better passing and better when crowded around players. It will be interesting to see if he's still here next season. I suspect he won't be, but for me he's always shown more than Casadei, even though the Chelsea loanee was getting in ahead of him.

I'd be surprised if we go through with a line-up like that. I think it's understandable though, promotion is the priority.

If he ended up at Man City / Arsenal / Liverpool even Man U then fans would be a lot less pissed off. Seeing Maddison go to Spurs, Tielemans to Villa and Barnes to Newcastle was painful. Brighton and Brentford are very well run clubs but I think we finished above the last two every season apart from one! Sadly it really reinforces how badly we’ve fallen.

What makes me angry is the lack of transparency with fans. It was the same last season too. Everyone makes mistakes, and this ownership has given us incredible times. I think most fans would actually cut them quite a lot of slack if they admitted to problems, but they are radio silent. Maresca to be fair to him has reiterated that we need to sell to buy. But I'm not convinced he's being given the full message either. Something is wrong with the chain of command at our club and how this has happened I am not quite sure. Over the last 2 seasons fans have seen Schmeichel, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes and Soyuncu leave. Now KDH. Plus a relegation on top of that! How are fans NOT going to be upset? The situation could still be salvaged, but it's hard to trust anything that comes out from the club.

"We obviously aren't selling Schmeichel and playing Ward in goal, and then selling our best defender 2 days before transfer deadline day and replacing him with someone for 55M less and making no additional signings. We also won't keep a manager that loses 6 games in a row, and 7 out of 8 till late on in the season when it's too late, then have no plan with whom to replace him with and then hire Dean Smith after Jesse Marsch turns us down." All these things happened last season. I do sincerely hope we aren't going to do something stupid, and rationally you probably are right. But having literally lived through a car crash of a season last time round, I and many others are very nervous. I don't know about you, but my phone has been blowing up over the last few hours. Fans are angry and confused.