StriderHiryu

That's the first one so far, which in my opinion is extremely impressive given that statistically any team that plays out from the back will concede some goals like that. It happens to Man City, Barcelona, Liverpool, etc. My prediction was that we would concede 10 goals this season due to passing out from the back. So right now the "SUICIDAL PASS COUNTER TM" is at 1/10. This will be a common complaint, maybe more next season than this. This season, we will get away with it. As the Liverpool game showed, mistakes get punished brutally in the top flight, so I could see this being more contentious then. But in the meanwhile, there are many examples of us creating chances because we played out from the back. Here's a clip from the very first time we saw "The Enzo Way":

Q: Why have we "not got out of second gear?" A: Because it takes time. Lots of it. LOTS! Coaching a new style of play is extremely difficult. Doing it with tons of new signings even harder. Below is a comparison of Brendan Rodgers versus Jurgen Klopp after 85 games. That's almost 2 whole seasons. It looked like his style wouldn't work in the league, but slowly but surely it clicked. People are massively underestimating the work Enzo Maresca has done. We got relegated last season because we conceded 68 goals. This season, we have conceded just 6. Look at how many goals Southampton and Leeds have conceded by comparison. He's fixed one huge problem with the team. We are even scoring a decent amount of goals too. The complete team performance will come, but it will take time. Honestly, we might not see it at all this season based on what we saw with Klopp, so that's a warning for you. Personally, as someone who has spent hours coaching real players at all different levels, I find the level of play from our team in such a short space of time breathtaking. Southampton are a great example of where if players aren't standing in the right positions at the right times, it goes wrong spectacularly. And if the improvements in Vestergaard, Ndidi and McAteer don't impress you, then nothing will!

For a team that had such a great defensive record, they sure did make a few blunders in this one.

Blackburn Rovers 1 - 4 Leicester City Enzo spoke very highly of Blackburn, clearly he was impressed with their tactical setup. 4-1 sounds like an easy win, but the scoreline was pretty flattering, as the xG suggests. Blackburn played man-to-man marking and were the best team at it so far. Not just for the goal, but in general play too. The early goal conceded shook us mentally. This was probably the worst we've been in a game at passing out, we stopped doing it so much and reverted more to being a counter attacking team. Blackburn played quite a flexible system. At times, they had width, at others they were really narrow, which meant that our team didn't know exactly what to do. Though Blackburn did really well in terms of competing for us territorially and stifling our game, they didn't really make too many clear-cut chances. Though you could say the same for Leicester, though we were super clinical and because of game state didn't have to chase the game. Our game management was really good, especially near the end, we got hold of the game and controlled it well. This result will terrify other teams in the division. Leicester were Ok at best and still won 4-1...

A few: FBRef (the best, but painful for your eyes) SofaScore WhoScored (but this is the worst) Somewhere previously in this topic I posted about how to get the sexy radar charts for players on FBRef, that is really worth having.

I could, but I'm sure you could also find the passing maps

Honestly, we should be beating that. This is a Premier League team in all but name. We have at least 4 starters that would 100% start every week for midtable clubs in the Premier League in Ricardo, Ndidi, KDH and Winks. Possibly Iheanacho, Hermansen, Vestergaard and Mavididi would too. It's frankly unfair for the rest of the division, and it says it all that many of us think that Blackburn were the best team we've played so far, we didn't play that well, and we've still come away 4-1 winners. We shouldn't take anything for granted, and the mental side is the biggest battle because it's easy for complacency to set it. But in terms of player level, we've got a team that is disproportionally stronger than anyone other than maybe Leeds.

Don't shoot the messenger, but I guess looks can be deceiving... JJ isn't quite as far up as Doyle, but it's pretty close. I guess he's not as far out wide either. I think Norwich is the best comparison, as that was another team that came to play against us and didn't park the bus like Bristol did. If anything the bigger surprise is that Vestergaard pushed up higher. To me, that's because he's getting more confident at his role in the team.

The difference is that Hull had some kind of goal threat. A lot of Preston's games have an XG of less than 0.5 for North End. They are most definitely a safety first team.

He had played as both an 8 and as a winger. He's quite a versatile player, and that's where the Bernardo Silva comparisons come from, who has also played in various attacking positions excellently for multiple clubs.

OK this is pretty interesting, FBRef have started to update Wilf's stats based on his Championship performances. Here are his stats compared to KDG: What we are seeing is a complete transformation in Wilf's player profile, and perhaps more incredibly, how good he has been at adapting. His ball progression is the most impressive thing, that's a complete shift in what he's been asked to do, and he is among the very best already in the Championship. It wouldn't surprise me if after another 10-15 games if more of the attacking stats improve, because now he's becoming effective in the final third too.

I agree with you but here's the crazy thing, KDH is the top ranked player statistically in the division: Really what this chart says is that if KDH had better decision-making / was more clinical, he would be an ELITE midfielder. As in playing for Liverpool / Man City / Arsenal. The stats show all other areas of his game are among the very best. So that's the frustrating thing, he is still overall good, the stats prove it. But he could be truly exceptional with just some small improvements. I think it says a lot that Ndidi this season looks to have better decision making than KDH

Yeah I think this will likely be the most boring game of the season, and not through any fault of our own. I'd expect to win, but if there was one game that was going to end 0-0 this season, this is the one. They just shipped 4, which is really unlike them, so I think they will probably be even MORE defensive than usual. If they come away with a point and an XG of 0, they won't care the slightest.

No one posting in Wilf's thread? He was superb today, and has been consistently good for a few matches now. The above was posted at the start of the season, and I don't think it was an unfair standpoint to take at the time. He looked past it and desperately in need of a new change of scenery. As it stands, I think a lot of fans would be in favour of a new contract!

Agreed, and I wonder if this might be why he's been moved to this position from the wing. The Galatasaray fans said that he was technically very competent, and hard-working, but lacked composure in the final third, especially when one on one. He was originally signed as a winger, but he seems better centrally as one of the 8's in our system. He's really aware, plays between the lines really well and has an excellent weight of pass. He's a classic case of a better provider rather than finisher, and you need both in a team! Him and Fatawu look promising to me. If they both keep it up I suspect they will be signed permanently. Yunus will get all of January to himself with Ndidi away for AFCON, that will really be his time to shine.

By any chance does anyone have a link to the full match replay? My steams were pretty awful and there are passages of play I'd like to see again. Please DM me if you do! As for the game, it seems more and more likely we are getting promoted without ever getting out of second gear!

It’s a great problem to have. I suspect it’s because overall Fatawu is the better player, even though McAteer is our most in form player. Honestly I suspect Maresca is both surprised and delighted with McAteer and treating it as a great bonus. We’ve got a long season so we’ll probably rotate between the two. Kasey played most (all?) the match against Liverpool too.

I have thought about it, and in some ways some of this stuff is for "practice" for if I ever go that way. It's extremely time-consuming though, and I absolutely hate influencer culture with clickbait titles, "orgasm face" style You Tube thumbnails and appealing to the lowest common denominator. So expect to see all of these and worse in the next 6-12 months

I make them myself. This is one of the big reasons why I prefer to do the videos and just talk about it, because it takes a long time! Every now and again I do it though, because there's no better way to talk through a point. I use a program called Screen2Gif to record videos from YouTube into GIFs. If I was any good at Photoshop they could probably be massively improved quality wise, but it already takes a few hours! These days some clips get posted on Twitter, but the problem is those clips often get removed. Also, GIFs auto-play and dont take you out of the site, so they are just a lot easier to consume.

Blackburn vs Leicester Pre-Match Quick Preview Next up is Blackburn, who dumped us out of the FA Cup last season in unceremonious fashion: ^ Blackburn were very impressive in this game. They didn't just come for a smash and grab, but dared to press us high up the pitch, robbing our defenders of the ball several times and making chance after chance. Honestly, that we only conceded two on the day was fortunate for us. John-Dahl Tomasson had his team setup extremely well, despite missing some of their best players at the time for the match. ^ Moving onto this season, there has been a bit of player turnover, but the style of play is much the same. Blackburn play 4231, but push everyone up high to make a high line and try to take the game to their opponents: Here are Blackburn's average pitch positions against Ipswich and Sunderland, two of the more attacking teams in the division. You can see how far up the pitch they push their fullbacks, CBs and even their goalkeeper. As a result, Blackburn make a lot of chances, and pose a goal threat, but they also leave a lot of gaps in if you can play through their press. They have already conceded 3 goals in 3 games already. The Ipswich game is an interesting one to see the highlights for as they play a similar style of play to ours. Blackburn scored 3 times, but they were also a bit lucky only to concede 4. Still, you have to admire them for daring to be so attacking away from home against one of the current pacesetters in the division. I would expect to see games similar to Norwich and Southampton. Blackburn will press us and cause problems at time, but our ability to play through their press should mean we have too much quality of them. In recent weeks our ability to score on the transition has improved notably, if that side of our game in on point, we should have too much and secure the points. Playing away usually suits us because teams are more open, though I think in this case, Blackburn would play the same way either home or away!

Blackburn vs Leicester Pre-Match Quick Preview Next up is Blackburn, who dumped us out of the FA Cup last season in unceremonious fashion: ^ Blackburn were very impressive in this game. They didn't just come for a smash and grab, but dared to press us high up the pitch, robbing our defenders of the ball several times and making chance after chance. Honestly, that we only conceded two on the day was fortunate for us. John-Dahl Tomasson had his team setup extremely well, despite missing some of their best players at the time for the match. ^ Moving onto this season, there has been a bit of player turnover, but the style of play is much the same. Blackburn play 4231, but push everyone up high to make a high line and try to take the game to their opponents: Here are Blackburn's average pitch positions against Ipswich and Sunderland, two of the more attacking teams in the division. You can see how far up the pitch they push their fullbacks, CBs and even their goalkeeper. As a result, Blackburn make a lot of chances, and pose a goal threat, but they also leave a lot of gaps in if you can play through their press. They have already conceded 3 goals in 3 games already. The Ipswich game is an interesting one to see the highlights for as they play a similar style of play to ours. Blackburn scored 3 times, but they were also a bit lucky only to concede 4. Still, you have to admire them for daring to be so attacking away from home against one of the current pacesetters in the division. I would expect to see games similar to Norwich and Southampton. Blackburn will press us and cause problems at time, but our ability to play through their press should mean we have too much quality of them. In recent weeks our ability to score on the transition has improved notably, if that side of our game in on point, we should have too much and secure the points. Playing away usually suits us because teams are more open, though I think in this case, Blackburn would play the same way either home or away!

Have you ever done something which at the time felt like a great idea, but in retrospect was an awful decision? Deciding to discus Tactics on Foxes Talk is right up there

A good question to ask ourselves is if we think we can be successful with this style, assuming we get promoted? Burnley give us cause for concern, though I think they play a bit differently to us. As has been commented a few times, Maresca's style is a bit like Man City and Brighton combined, whilst not strictly being either type. Brighton are one of the few teams that have managed to outplay Man City and Liverpool under Di Zerbi. For a team with considerably fewer resources, that is incredibly impressive and why I am such a fan of Maresca. We may or may not be able to make a team capable of doing it, but at least he's trying. At the same time, I think we are going to have to be pragmatic at times. That doesn't mean changing the style to be a low defensive block, but it does mean getting streetwise sometimes. For example, yesterday we took the lead, so being a bit more deep block and defensive to protect it would be OK, as we could change back if we concede. For now I don't think it's an issue, we should concentrate on improving the fundamentals of the team. But after we hit a certain standard, winning is more important than one highlight clip in a 3-1 defeat! So I wonder if he will ever go that way, or will be stubborn to the very end. Maresca was at Juventus where it was "win at all costs" so some of that mentality must have rubbed off on him.

Liverpool 3 - 1 Leicester City Despite a poor referee, this scoreline reflected the match as a whole. At times, our goal led a charmed life. We committed to playing our playing out from the back style. It led to creating attacks but also put us into huge trouble many times. We played two new CBs and Stolarcyzk: Stolarczyk had a poor game. He gave the ball away from goal kicks several times and made some poor saves that did not alleviate the pressure. He's yong and learning so not going to dig into him too much, but it meant that it was harder for us to play out from the back. Souttar was great defensively, but I feel also was not too great on the ball. But given it's his first appearance of the season again a bit unfair to have a dig here. Casadei was poor. He got caught on the ball several times, the move broke down with him when the ball was played to him and he seemed off the pace. He got hooked for Ndidi in the second half, which was well overdue. Yunus Akgun by contrast was pretty good. He made the first goal by turning and playing out of pressure. He was linking defence and attack and despite being quite a slight player, stood up to the physical demands of the game. He got hooked after the first mistake he made though! Changes in the second half made a big difference for me, KDH, Ndidi and Fatawu all had a positive impact offensively. Fatawu should have been given a penalty, Ndidi had a good chance at 2-1! We continued to get into trouble, but I also felt like we had a real go in the game and didn't just meekly surrender. With a bit more luck we could have made it 2-2, even though it would not have been deserved. In terms of progress, the first time we played Liverpool under Maresca we were 3-0 down at half-time after a good 20 minutes. This time round we were 1-0 up at half-time. Perhaps it's because their super clinical players didn't start, but I feel like this shows the style can work, even if it's living on a knife-edge.

Because that is Jurgen Klopp's speciality. Over the last 10 or so years, he has coached the best counter pressing teams in the world at both Dortmund and Liverpool. This season they finally refreshed their midfield too so have the legs again. If you look at the way they press, they are better than any other team, better than Man City even. They sign athletic players and "close the net" around players so quickly that the pressure is hard to keep up with. We won't get better at it if we don't practice it. I fully understand the point you're making, and if I were the manager I might do something a bit different. But if Enzo has a long-term plan, then having the team play this way will give us long-term benefits. When he feels the team is ready to compete at the highest level, perhaps then we will mix our style and go longer when needed. A lot of our attacks were started by playing through the press and we even scored that way, so that's the reason for practicing it. It's a way to genuinely setup to challenge the very best teams in the world. I also think it's worth noting that this was the first game of the season for Coady and Souttar, and Storlaczyk is not our usual number one. Although you could say that's exactly what we *shouldn't* have played this way! I disagree. Yes we were poor against Coventry, but that was our first league game of the season. In fact we flattered to deceive probably all the way through our first set of fixtures up to the international break. Since then we've clearly gone up a gear. Look at the xG and the xGA. We have the best defence in the league now and are consistently outperforming other league teams.