crazyleicester

Close but you lost the even money bet. The winner was "Barnes"

I think thats three games played and three games undefeated with Matty James in the side. He has had a horrific injury so needs a run of games but I think he is more than useful as a player. I hope he gets back to his best because at just 25, he still has plenty to offer.

Gray is the real deal alright. I saw him play for England u21s and he was sensational for them. He seemed to be less greedy for those somehow. CR tried him further forward and also tried him behind Vardy before that which makes sense as the hope is he gets the ball in spaces and positions where he can punish teams but for me we need him on the left side of midfield. He looked great for England playing right mid but from the left he can make things happen. Hes class, he will be unreal in the future and embarrassingly, its him and only him that I feel can create for us offensively. The rest I dont trust at the moment.

His ex manager at club level thinks he will be a monster, Ghana rave about him too. However, the facts are that this is a dude who recently turned 22 and has moved from Africa aged 18 to Sweden, a year later moved to Denmark for two years before continuing his football journey with us. He is only just got over 100 career league games and has been played in 3 or 4 positions by the clubs he has played for. Give the lad time and I think we will have a player here too. I dont know which position he`ll end up but once we pick a position for him and he matured into that role I think we may have a player on our hands. As for yesterdays performance, well Anya ripped him a new one in the first half. Amartey was solid going forward popping up in the opps box to get a header in and linking up with our more offensive players by actually getting over the half way line and pass the ball on the deck, something that Simmo is incapable of doing. However Simmo is a very decent defender. His headers at the back post, decent tackling and holding the line. Unfortunately Amartey is scared to tackle which isnt great for a defensive player He did it in midfield where he got into some great covering positions and I was shouting and him to stick his leg out and attempt to win the ball but he never did and he did exactly the same yesterday with Anya where Big Dan used his positioning and pace superbly and Anya never got away from him but once he got there he never attempted to challenge. Its a real weird thing in his game where he thinks getting there and forcing a player to make a decision is what defending is! Bloody challenge Dan! Anyway, he is another rough diamond who can go either way but I reckon he has all the attributes to make a decent right back but needs some improvement and a run in the side.

Could you imagine these forums if we played Amartey at the back with Molla?!!! It will be he is tinkering too much and has lost the plot!

As Liverpool kicked off 15 mins after our game it meant I could switch over to BT sport to see a couple of 15 minute bursts of their match against Chelsea. Once again I looked on as Kante was miraculous and I couldnt help by smile at the little genius whilst a tear was in the eye on what we may have been if we had kept him. I dont think one player has had so much impact at two clubs over two seasons. He was not only massive for us as well know but what he is doing for Chelsea and how he has helped turn them from a mid table shower to where they are today is amazing. His stats today for tackles made me chuckle as well.... Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea - Most tackles Player Team Tackles N'Golo Kante Chelsea 14 Dejan Lovren Liverpool 3 Georginio Wijnaldum Liverpool 3 Six players Mixed 2 The full article on him appears here http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/10751352/kante-key-to-the-title

It seems we are actively trying to make signings and we are also getting rid of some dead wood. I cant see the issue here. If we dont get a defender then Benny will be useful. I cant remember many positive words about Weso or Hernandez so I cant see the harm in calling on a player who we pay wages too

Ive never seen him play before i looked at these few highlights but I like what I see. He has a name of a top class fooballer so nailed on to be a world beater.

He is showing all the signs of a young lad being inconsistent. Some settle in quickly like that Josh Sims over at Southampton, some are trusted from the get go like Chalobah at Chelsea (on loan at least) and still doesnt convince and then we have an Amartey. Daniel, who likes like John Obi Mikel does unfortunately play like him at times. The good news is out of the blue he puts in a magnificent defensive midfield performance. IMO he isnt ready and hopefully Ndidi or whoever we bring in take some of that pressure off of Amartey as I still think he has many of the raw attributes required to be a top prem midfielder. We need to be patient on a lad who hasnt even played 100 league games in his career but the coin is in the air regarding where he will end up, standard wise.

I dont know about that mate. Im not totally blaming him as Im sure its a tactic for him and even the midfielders to go long as soon as they have it as we obviously have the pace up front to take advantage if we rush things and catch the oppo on the backfoot but Kasper may have the odd decent pass in him but he hardly throws the ball out which is the best way to be in control and does that same cutting kick which fizzes all over the place. We cant afford to keep giving the ball away and he is as guilty as anyone. Anyway, he played a superb game today and its probably not the right time to have a pop at his distribution but Id say overall its poor!

I cant remember reading too much criticism of Kasper regarding his shot stopping but his distribution can be a bit shite and if he keeps giving it away then he deserves to be singled out on that in the hope he improves. However, he is an excellent shot stopper and gives us some much needed confidence. Reading Vardys autobiography it sounds like Kasper is the sensible and serious one of the group who brings a bit of discipline and when you have that and then can make worldies like he did tonight, then we have a little gem who is an integral part of the teams spine!! Great save and another clean sheet for the lad! Well done!!!!!!

We have created our own problems really. We have bought Slimani who is an out and out forward and already have an England striker which means we need to play 2 strikers. I dont think we have an option now. Okazaki spent so much time in midfield for us last season dropping back and plugging gaps and the wide players would bomb on. Oka and Kante also got the ball and ran with it which eased the pressure. Now we are playing 2 out and out FCs and havent got anyone to properly carry the ball out we just seem to be in a muddle of DD lumping it aimlessly or Amartey playing it nice and neat with sideways passes. The whole thing looks disjointed, especially away from home and poor Amartey who IMO does well without being spectacular gets it in the neck. Being realistic, how many teams play two out and out strikers these days? We are being battered by 451 or 352 sides because we simply havent the numbers in midfield and when we get it we arent as good with the ball as we were last season. So, do we play 352 ourselves or try a 451 that goes to 433 and only play one striker? Whatever we do away from home, we better learn quickly but IMO Amartey has played well since he got in the team and is showing huge potential.

Everything I asked of him before kick off he gave us tonight! For the first time I saw some really good offensive passing instead of just safe 10-15 yard passing. The way he gives a short pass with authority and precision makes you think he has more to give and he showed some really nice use of the ball tonight. His energy and pace was sensational being in both boxes. His header in our own peno box late on, sliding tackles in the middle of the park, backing up down the wing! Amazing all round energy. I also liked the way he was there for the second ball and showed real aggression at times. Also, something that NK never did, he gives us height in midfield and one a few aerial duels. We all know we at times can play a spot of hoofball and someone to battle for the ball aerially in central positions is so important. On a side issue thats what Slimani gives us in Oka`s absence. It was the perfect game for him and a real confidence booster. Again, he is not the finished article but if he grows into the position, his role and his team mates get confidence that they can now see a serious player then once again we can save 30m come January. I hope he can string a few positive performances together now so he gets that belief.

You can imagine Amartey is impressive in training and looks like a handful because he has most of attributes needed for his position. Ive mentioned it before in this forum but he is young, just 21, and footballing wise he is immature. He has had a mad footballing existence going from Ghana and then playing less than 40 games in Sweden before being transferred to another country, this time Denmark where he played a similar amount of games before making it to England with us. In that he has been used in all sorts of positions and remember reading an article on him when we signed him that he even played on the wing as well in all sorts of defensive positions. I still think this dude is a baby. Im not sure how you move around all these countries as a kid that age and Im he looks more of an introvert than an extrovert and that to me is the only thing missing from his game. Whether its confidence of being a first teamer or from finally finding "home" after leaving Ghana as a teenager Im not sure. But all I do know is once he gets that confidence to grab hold of games by the scruff of the neck and stop playing within himself with a bit of fear, then I think we will have a real high quality player. Are we getting into him during coaching sessions or is CR having words? I we telling him to do this or just letting him close angles and not tackle I dont know but as mentioned, I think we have a player on our hands and just hope he fulfills his potential.

Everyone goes on about Pogba`s physicality as a central midfielder but IMO Amartey can match and surpass him on that part of his game. Amartey is rapid, decent in the air but to me everytime I see him play seems to lack belief in his own ability and in scared to go for it. He just seems to jockey into position to make the opposition pass around him but he doesnt seem to want to risk tackling for the ball in case they go past him. Every time he passes the ball it looks like he is composed but I cant remember him attempting a ball more than 15 yards as again you get the feeling he doesnt want to risk messing up. Hopefully he gains confidence in the role and in the team but I want him to take a few more chances and lunge into a few more challenges. I dont mind him picking up a few bookings in making his mark and showing some real commitment in that position and he needs to be brave. Its the same as shooting. At times he has been around the box and always looks for a 10-15 yard pass. Take some chances Dan!!!! IMO, he has the raw attributes for the role but needs game time. He had played under 80 league games before we bought him to England and had played in a few positions. He has managed 10 games for Ghana now but when we put it into perspective is more than he has played for us. Lets see how he goes come January. If he doesnt seem to be quite what we need (as is at the moment) then a club with our stature should look for a ready made replacement. I personally would like him loaned out to see how he develops though. He is currently learning the hard way and I feel for players like this who is kept in the reserves as a utility player and never masters his position. Anyway, Im jumping the gun but hope we dont have the need to loan him out because he performs so well for us!

4-0 up and they weren't that bothered which made things easier for us. I wouldnt judge much of the 2nd half in positives or negatives although Grays wonder goal was sensational and he did once again show some nice touches but he didnt show much at Hull on the season opener when the chips were down. Before we hail him as the messiah (he will be class in the future for sure) I would just take a bit of heed there before we put too much pressure on him. Also, I dont think we can play two strikers, Mahrez right AND Gray on the left. Its too light weight. Albrighton brings some defensive and positional discipline where Gray is likely to go all over the shop. Gray is also quite a selfish player where Albrighton is likely to check back and cross the ball. I would like to see us playing a 451 with Mahrez right and Gray left which turns into a 433 but that means us playing just Vardy up front and three midfielders behind the front three. How we do that when we have 75 strikers I dont know but any team thats tactically astute would kill us in a 442 with the aforementioned pair playing wide. Id like us to mix up tactics and stop being so predictable. Whether we try a flat back 3 of 433/451 we do have to mix up tactics not just personnel.