Claudio Fannieri

7 points from 9 over the busy christmas period is a very good haul, with both Leeds and Ipswich dropping points and losing ground on us. That was such a professional performance, Cardiff barely laid a glove on us and whilst we largely played the game in 2nd gear we could have scored 5-6, that is the sign of a very good team. This is a very special group, management team and a fantastic season, very much needed to repair the damage of what was a truly horrific capitulation last season. Feels like we have our club back.

Would be good to see us come back out at the start of the 2nd half and take the game by the scruff of the neck and hopefully put it too bed early with a couple of goals in first 15-20 minutes and then make changes to keep people fresh

Watching his cameo yesterday, I really think if we have any opportunity to free up budget then we should take the chance, especially if it enables us to strengthen elsewhere.

Massively unlucky the own goal, I thought he was excellent last night, made a lot of key interceptions and tackles. His passing is excellent, he has looked a class above at this level and is absolutely perfect profile for how Enzo wants to play, however I am not sure he would be a definite starter next season in the prem, if he was to stay.

Some of our fanbase absolutely boil my piss, the way they slag players off and pick on scapegoats is pathetic and embarrassing. Coady was absolutely fine yesterday in fact I thought alongside Vesty and Faes they were very good and dealt with their supposed attacking threat very well. I feel for Coady as he is suffering as a result of that injury and the unbelievable form shown by Vesty which has severely hampered and restricted his game time and yet some of the helmets think he should just come in for the odd 90 minutes every 6 or 7 games and be flawless. Absolutely clueless 😂

Importantly we didn’t lose, this was on paper our toughest test of the season so far. We were sloppy and a long way off our best however it was critical we didn’t lose this game and despite being below par we have come out unscathed. Should have had a penalty and they should have had a red card, either or both of those decisions go our way we win comfortably. As for the subs, yes it definitely impacted our flow but I imagine there will have been made with an eye on workloads and with input from sports science team, before we slate Enzo remember the flak Rodgers received for flogging players into long term injuries. Imagine if KDH had stayed on and ended up with a serious injury. of course it was disappointing to drop points to such a late equaliser but it isn’t the end of the world and in context of the season it’s an excellent point and keeps the unbeaten run going. Move onto Cardiff and hopefully continue to pick up results. 17 points from 21 since the last international break and given it includes the hectic December period is insanely good. Bedwetters chill out. However I do need to call out Iheanacho who was absolutely appalling, that was a disgraceful cameo from him lacked any level of intensity and we lost any attacking threat.

He has frustrated the life out of me this season he could and should be head and shoulders above this division and yet he has looked bang average and dare I say he has been lethargic and cumbersome. I would happily take £5m and if we could eke out a bit more than great, move on and allow Enzo and the recruitment team the opportunity to continue the rebuild.

I was impressed with Jordan James looked a decent player and one who would no doubt thrive in a better team. He is also versatile as he can play the holding role too, would be a good addition in the January window to add depth to the midfield and would fit the profile of player we seem to be going for. He would really kick on under Maresca’s guidance

He was absolutely superb last night, he is one who has really kicked on under Maresca, yes it is at a lower level but he is thriving on the additional responsibility and he has improved massively technically, tactically and in his decision making.

You cannot counter attack against teams who park the bus, so I think it’s always been something in our armoury however it is only coming to fruition when teams over commit and give us the opportunity to break at pace. What pleased me most about last night was how we showed the best of both styles, when Brum committed men forward we countered with devastating effect but then when they sat off us we moved the ball well to open up opportunities as well, despite conceding 2 I felt it was one of, if not our best performance up to the substitution of Mavididi, which was needed to protect him but given our lack of wide options did unbalance us. Maresca is a quick learner and is clearly working on things in every training session that sees the team improve and continuing to develop new patterns of play. We have now scored 12 goals oink in our last 4 games and 10 in the last 3, We are at the grind stage of the season and yet we seem be hitting another level, this is such an exciting season watching not only the squad and team grow but also seeing the development of a new manager and his coaching team.

KDH was absolutely sublime today, that was a Rolls Royce performance and no coincidence we lost control of the game once he moved over to the left wing. His passing, decision making and quality has improved 10 fold, just shows the value of great coaching & management

I think the lack of winger options on the bench somewhat stifled us, the sub was right call as need to protect Mavididi but the change killed our momentum and we lost the midfield battle once KDH went out wide as well. Let’s hope we can get Yunus and McAteer back soon so we can make those changes with 20 minutes to go that enable us to push on and kill games off again. overall we looked bloody dynamite going forward, but need to kill off games we could have easily scored 6 or 7 tonight, nobody can complain that we ain’t creating chances.

Just my personal opinion but i think Doyle will sign permanently and I wouldn’t be shocked if it was confirmed during the January transfer window.

There has been a massive shift in urgency and attacking threat since Daka came into the side, granted Daka isn’t the strongest in possession or receiving the ball with his back to goal, and I think Maresca has favoured Vardy and Kel as a consequence, however like so many others Daka has improved technically and whilst he still has areas to improve, the last 2 games he has looked a lot better playing deeper and receiving the ball. What he has given the team is pace and intensity, which as Vardy reaches his twilight is dwindling and Kel has never really had, Daka is explosive which means he can drop in, link up play and then have the pace to make runs into dangerous areas, he has really shown that over the last 2 games, whilst people say he couldn’t miss the chance last night, I am really not sure the other 2 would have been in that position to tap it in and that’s the difference. In this system if Daka can continue to improve technically and tactically he could really thrive. He clearly can flourish in this style of play and maybe the better option for us is to keep Daka, sell Kel and have Daka, Cannon and Vardy as our options for the reminder of the season and look for a plan B target man type of option for next season to compliment Daka and Cannon.

I actually quite like the look of Cannon, I think he will be similar to Daka in this system, bear in mind he is 20 year old and just had the best part of 3 months out injured and also is at a new club learning a very different style of play. He actually got off to a slow start at Preston last season but once he got acclimatised he was flying. Give him time, patience and support as we have a real player on our hands.

I really enjoy watching us, I love the tactical nuances and how we try to draw teams out of their shape and then look to exploit the spaces, granted this doesn’t always come off as our players aren’t yet elite level but already you can see each and every one has improved massively both technically and tactically under Maresca. Also massive credit to see a manager who can make in game tweaks to change the direction of the game and influence the result, a far cry from the last 2 years under Rodgers where we regressed so badly and had a manager who seemed to have downed tools and was so ineffective.

Over the previous 2 seasons we would have gone 1-0 down early on, absolutely shit it and lost the game, this season we have a manager and a group of players who always give 110%, never stop pushing and genuinely seem to care and want to be here, regardless of whether you would like to see the ball moved a forward more quickly or are frustrated by our style, we have dropped points only 4 times in 21 games, conceded 2 goals in a league game for the first time yesterday and sit 11 points ahead of 3rd, now call me whatever you want, but if you can’t get behind that after last seasons shit show then you might be better taking up another hobby. last night was another example of the tactical set ups we are encountering week in week out, teams know if they come at us we will literally blow them away and it’s game over, every team are pretty much sitting back and only committing 2/3 players to press our back 5/6 their only hope is to try and stay in the game and then nick a goal. Our ability to break down these defensive blocks is fantastic and the mentality is so ruthless. it was literally a defence vs attack training drill and the scoreline massively flattered them. A stronger ref and we would have had a 1st half penalty and they would be down to 10 men. Only slight negative was the 2nd goal which took a slight shine off the win but other than that another dominant performance and great result.

It’s my 50th birthday tomorrow and I think Enzo and the boys will mark it in style, 5-0 win incoming 😂

I think it’s far more likely we sign Doyle on a perm deal in January and this lad comes in during the sunmer if we go up

Great episode as always and as Border Fox said so glad Jake opened up, hope all is ok and sending love and best wishes. I hope it encourages more men to open up on their feelings and mental health.

Any keeper being asked to play such a prominent part in our build up play and effectively play as an 11th outfield player is going to make the odd wayward or sloppy pass even Ederson at Man City will have the odd brain fart. Anyone expecting Mads not to give the ball away a couple of times a game is living in cloud cuckoo land, we are very lucky to have such a talented keeper at the club and I am amazed at some of the stuff I have been reading regards Hermansen and his distribution when we have had the pleasure of watching Schmichael, Ward and Iversen merrily drift the ball out for throw in after throw in after throw in, I really do marvel at some of our fanbase at times, their expectation of perfection really is quite something to behold

I do feel teams have watched Southampton and Blackburn try to match up to us and as a result got a bit of pummelling and from that they have identified they need to stop us getting out of sight, I really doubt we will pump anyone by 5 or 6 as teams are lining up with a formation that enables them to trigger a press with 2, 3 or at very best 4 targeting our defenders, Winks and Ricardo and then have 6 or 7 then playing deep. West Brom threw caution to the wind twice, once to try and win and then to try and salvage the game and the 1st time we broke away and scored and the second time we broke away and could have tried a shot from distance but rightly took the decision to retain possession and run the clock down. Teams will have a go at Leeds as they know they can hurt them, with us there is a genuine fear if they have a go we can blow them away quickly. So they press high with attackers but then look to sit deep and protect their goal, as long as it stays 0-0 or 1-0 they have a fighters chance against us. Even West Brom who are top 6 and at home were incredibly defensive and showed little ambition to break their shape until they absolutely had to. I don’t think we have been found out I just think teams have realised their only chance to get a result is to deploy a high press against our back line but then adopt a defensive block of 6, 7 even 8 players to protect their back line. That is why sometimes our 8’s and even 9 drop deeper and gain possession virtually unopposed in and around the centre circle. I actually think we are dealing with it well as we are still finding ways to grind out results. Enzo has been at the club less than 6 months, he is implementing a style that will continue to evolve, it’s so much easier to coach and set teams up to play a rigid defensive system than it is to develop/coach attacking patterns of play to negate these tactics. He has also done a great job in completely overhauling the weak mentality, the relegation hangover and the disconnect with the fanbase, the reactions to poor results and conceding has been largely excellent this season, so many times in previous years we would have folded like a deck of cards but this squad has a togetherness and resilience that has long been missing. The reaction when we scored the winner yesterday was brilliant, the subs all celebrating, manager on the pitch and getting a yellow card, the players in with the fans, I feel like we are getting our Leicester back. yes we can all find fault with tactics, team selection, subs etc etc but overall he has done a fecking great job in fixing what was a broken club from top t bottom, so let’s get behind him, it might not be perfect at times but we are top, playing good football and we have a team to be proud of. 15 wins out of 19 in the league and 17 out of 22 including cup, that is some good going especially when the majority of teams line up as though it’s a defence vs attack training drill. I fecking love Enzo and what he has done, he has been a breath of fresh air the beautiful bald Italian stallion 😍

Was a cracking ball but up to that point he had been absolutely woeful

Hermansen Ricardo Coady Vestergard Justin Winks Ndidi KDH McAteer Cannon Mavididi subs Stolcyrk Choudhury Souttar Akgun Casadei Fatawu Alves Vardy Iheanacho

I think we need to step back, take a big deep breath and calm down a bit. We are less than 6 months into what has been already described as a long term project, I would be surprised if we are even 30% of where Enzo wants us to be. Wednesday was disappointing of course but let’s be sensible about this, we will not dominate and win every game in a brutal 46 game championship season, there will be bumps in the road, there will be flat performances where intensity levels and quality aren’t quite there, there will be occasions where the opposition get their tactics spot on and also raise their game. It felt to me on Wednesday we looked 10% off it and Sheff Wed had a night where they clicked and we still came away with a point, of course we would like to win, but given how far off it we were, a draw was probably no more than we deserved at best. I am sure Enzo and the coaching staff will continually be looking to evolve and giving new ideas and instruction to the players, we are so far away from being the finished article, therefore we will continue to see inconsistency in our performance levels, however I am certain over the next 3 months we will pick up more than enough points to maintain our automatic promotion push.