ClaphamFox

You are wrong.

Last year we were appalling. Last night we were superb for 80mins and showed why we are the best team in the division. If you actually watched the game last night and concluded that we won’t get promoted, I just hope you have some plastic sheeting on your mattress 😂

Why? He’s right.

Of course, but Vardy has the air of a man who believes he will score even after he’s missed a sitter. Daka has the air of a man who doesn’t actually believe he will score. Mentally, they’re worlds apart.

Daka has his qualities - ie, his pace, work rate and pressing ability. Unfortunately finishing doesn’t appear to be one of them. He snatches at chances - he just doesn’t seem to have any conviction in front of goal from open play (although he does from the penalty spot). I’m not sure we afford to carry a striker who has a mental block about converting chances. If Vardy isn’t fit, surely Cannon has to play next week.

Terrible finishing has cost us two weeks in a row. It’s becoming a pattern.

Cannon’s gonna bag one.

Was Daka trying to pass it rather than shoot? It’s the only explanation.

It's amazing what an eight-game winning run against largely poor opposition can do for your confidence. If they completely rip us apart tonight as their fans are predicting, then fair enough - they will be entitled to give it large. I just get the feeling they're massively underestimating us and are in for a much tougher game than they're expecting.

And yet it’s a tactic we frequently use to great effect.

I agree. She really ought to be our problem as she was born and raised here and doesn't have citizenship of any other country. Under British law we're not supposed to render anybody stateless, but that's what we've done with her. We'd be livid if we were prevented from deporting a foreign terrorist from British soil because the country in which they were born and raised refused to take them back.

He won't change the shape, but he may tweak the tactics. He may, for example, decide that attempting to play through Leeds' press as if they were Rotherham or Stoke might be too risky and adopt a slightly different approach.

Morning all. How are we all today? I’m making a bit of breakfast before I take my eldest to school. I’ve put the kettle on for a cup of tea and I might check a few emails in a while. Just another morning really. I’ve just heard on the radio that up in Leeds the home sections at Elland Road are almost full already. Most of their fans have been up all night. Nobody could sleep, apparently. There’s a marching band on the pitch, a special commemorative programme, face painting, all sorts. Though to be fair it IS a huge, huge huge day for them. Bless ‘em 🥰

His comment about it being just another game for us was bog standard Maresca. He’s said more or less the same thing before every game we’ve played this season. He’s constantly emphasising that each game is worth the same amount of points and is therefore only as important as the next one, etc etc. It’s just a standard football manager cliche. So has there been such a massive overreaction this time?!

Oh they’ve found it alright…😂

Ipswich's equaliser at their place was one of the luckiest goals you'll ever see - it took two deflections. And we'd been denied a stonewall penalty that would have made it 2-0 to us and game over.

Middlesbrough sat deep and set out to deny us space and hit us on the counterattack. Leeds will seek to lay siege to our goal. There will be more space for our wingers tomorrow.

I'm not arguing with Leeds being favourites. But neither am I unhappy with us being underdogs for this one. We'll come under heavy pressure but there will be space for us to attack. I just get the feeling we'll go up there and give them a proper game. I don't understand why some people seem to be cacking themselves about it - I'm looking forward to it personally...

Fatawu made a reckless challenge that was a borderline red card. Unfortunately the ref gave it. Without that decision, we would have won that game. In fact, even with 10 men we still managed to get to 80mins without conceding before fatigue set in and they scored. The red card changed everything - we didn't bottle it. Your other examples are irrelevant because they were under Rodgers.

You're probably right that it stems from the Rodgers era. But we have a different manager now and a largely different team. At no point this season has the team showed the kind of mental fragility and tactical confusion that it showed under Rodgers. I understand that the scars run deep, but people seriously need to let go of the Rodgers era...

I honestly don't know where this stuff about us not having any fight is coming from. I really don't. There have been plenty of games this season where we've had to scrap our way to a win despite not playing well. We did it just recently at Watford. The reason we've won more games than anybody else is because we win in different ways - sometimes by completely outplaying the opposition, sometimes by battling harder than them. We do both. We're not going to win every game and even in the games we've lost we've been in it until the end. We were fighting desperately on Saturday and could easily have got a point or three with better finishing. Where has this perception that we can't fight come from?

That's a tough situation and I sympathise. It's very frustrating when you're getting knocked back and just need somebody to give you a chance. I hesitate to offer advice because I'm sure you've already considered all options, but how necessary is it that your job is in Leicestershire? Would commuting a bit further be feasible? Is your industry office-based or is there much scope for working from home? I live in a village in Oxfordshire but commute to London twice a week. In my village I know people who work in the Midlands, Buckinghamshire and further afield. I think these days it's fairly typical for people to work further from home, especially if there is a hybrid working situation on offer which means you can stay at home for part of the week. It doesn't surprise me to hear that the Leicestershire job market doesn't offer much breadth...

Why?! I'm sure'll be responsible by using a lead where appropriate and disposing of any waste in a responsible manner...

They seem convinced that Maresca's preferred style of playing out from the back combined with their high press and attacking talent = plenty goals for them. They could be right, but I wonder if we might play a little bit differently on Friday - ie, less attempts to 'play through the lines' and more long passes to our wingers to set up rapid counterattacks. They won't sit deep, which will leave space for us to attack. I hope we exploit it.

I live in the countryside and a lot of people go dogging in the fields near where we live. It seems to be a great way of forcing yourself to get outside in the fresh air and get a bit of exercise. For some of local older folk it's probably the only exercise they get most days. We've resisted it so far because we've got two young kids to occupy us and don't really want the extra cost, but I can see us taking up dogging as a family in a few years' time.