kingfox

Only thing that’s weird is when you pretend to be an ITK.

Looking forward to Big Dave Datro running the length of the King Power pitch with his shirt off after banging in the winner against AFC Fylde in the FA Cup 3rd round to end a 20 game goal drought.

From the Burnley forum, I’ve suddenly gone off the idea...

Whatever striker we get will probably be of the underwhelming but with potential type. It’s very rare to see a newly promoted club throw over £20 million on a new striker.

Some creativity on top of Jon Rowe is something I wouldn’t be against, but I just feel the way we’ve looked in pre season, my head is saying we need as much creativity as we can get, maybe even two players of that ilk.

Really depends what profile we’re looking for mate. As you say, Rowe has certain qualities I personally like too, the type of player who will chip in on the defensive end, which is kind of the profile of some players we’ve been linked to. We are crying out for creativity though, that should be the key asset that we look for in an attacking midfielder/winger, Asprilla for example would give us that, while Jon Rowe isn’t quite of that profile.

Only reason I can think of that we’re not in for him is because he isn’t creative enough

From that list it has to be Guessand or Adebayo for me, they are far less raw than the others that have been mentioned. I recommended Guessand as a potential option the other day, thought he looked pretty handy at times last season for Nice. Physical, quick, direct and a good ball carrier. As for Adebayo, double figures in the Premier League last season of course, like Guessand he’d also offer a physical presence.

Fair shout, surprised he hasn’t signed for anybody yet, he had enough decent performances for Lille last season. Can also be deployed as a striker too, his style is quite unorthodox, can be used like a target man, but he possesses good technical ability, hence why he’s covered numerous positions.

Thoughts on Calvin Stengs nowadays @Ric Flair He is one of only a few who fit the creative RW/CAM profile like Asprilla and Soule...

Hong Hyun-seok or Hwang In-beom

Thoroughly agree, dynamic is the perfect word to use. Kristiansen just isn’t dynamic enough in certain aspects, I think Ricardo would do the role better, but off the left isn’t ideal. If you stick with this system though and put him on the right, then Cooper will be inverting Fatawu as a 10 and probably tweaking Mavididi’s role too. Too many square pegs in round holes type crap. Cooper needs to decide on Ricardo’s role ASAP, I don’t want to go into the new season where he keeps experimenting with Ricardo’s role as well as others, things could end up seriously messy.

And that’s why I’d rather see a different setup when in possession, 4-3-3 like the first half against Palermo would at least get Ricardo in at RB. But unfortunately if Cooper wants to stick with the three at the back scenario, Ricardo at LB/LWB is something he may try.

If Cooper wants to stick with what we saw yesterday and in other games, it’s the only solution I can think of. Ricardo as a RCB when in possession...no thanks. While Cooper doesn’t seem too keen on playing Ricardo at CM. I’d rather go back to what we played in the first half against Palermo, 4-3-3 in possession could work with the right personnel, you just have to get more industrious midfielders instead of Soumare and Ndidi.

Perfect assessment that. I also think Jordan Blackwell has hit the nail on the head in the Mercury too, agree pretty much with every point he’s made. https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/steve-cooper-ricardo-pereira-problem-9459171 Starting Ricardo at LB/LWB is a solution that needs trying. While we also need a different alternative to Ndidi in midfield, especially if Cooper isn’t keen on playing Ricardo there.

Whoever decided to have the Men’s Tennis final clash with the final round of the Golf needs shooting.

God knows who we turn to if we can’t land Asprilla. It seems we are targeting a RW/CAM who is capable of defence splitting passes. Looking through the smart passes statistic throughout various leagues, options in that specific position are incredibly sparse, unsurprisingly Yaser Asprilla and Matias Soule are two of the outstanding names who fit that position and rank highly for smart passes. The only three other names that come close to them are Marcus Edwards, Ricardo Horta and Ric’s old mate Calvin Stengs. Unless we pluck somebody out of thin air who didn’t play much last season, or somebody who fits a different profile, there’s plenty of creative LW/CAM knocking about *cough* Sebastian Nanasi for example.

Cooper seems adamant not to invert Ricardo, and he seems too keen on playing a back three in possession, it’s killing us. Ricardo either has to start on the left, we either change system when in possession, or bafflingly he doesn’t start at all. I think Cooper’s just too fearful on using Ricardo as an inverted fullback, I think he’s scared that we’d get destroyed on the transition, he’s probably looked at our games from last season and identified it as a potential issue. From the first game last season against Coventry and other multiple games throughout the season, there were times where we looked far too open on transition. If Championship teams produced better finishing and were more clinical, I think we would’ve lost more games last season. Looking back at Strider’s analysis on the Palermo game, even though spells of the first half were uninspiring, with the right personnel, I think a 4-3-3 in possession build up would work far better. It would give us better balance at fullback and solve the Ricardo conundrum. Ricardo or Justin could be used as the more advanced fullback, with Kristiansen used as the more defensive one, which would probably suit him better. Add a couple of additions in midfield, especially an attacking midfielder who is creative and chips in with defensive work(Maybe Asprilla), then get in a more industrious midfielder as competition for Ndidi, then I think that system has more potential to work, than the 3-2-4-1 system or whatever it is that we saw today and in other matches.

Also of all players in the 23/24 Premier League... Free Kicks per90 - 1.76(6th in this statistic) Corners per90 - 4.26(4th in this statistic)

Of left-backs who played over 1,000 mins in the Premier League. Doughty Successful Attacking Actions per90 - 3.95(3rd in this statistic) Crosses per90 - 4.45(3rd in this statistic) Dribbles per90 - 3.36(5th in this statistic)

Digging out his Serie A stats from last season is a must, because what I’ve just seen makes for hideous reading. Successful Attacking Actions per90 - 1.08(One of the worst LB’s in Serie A for this statistic) Crosses Per90 - 1.44 Dribbles per90 - 0.61(One of the worst LB’s in Serie A for this statistic) As Finners has basically referenced, he is playing a role he isn’t fit for playing.

As I’ve stated in the past week, for sure we can’t afford to wait on getting a striker and attacking midfielder in, if we don’t rectify those two positions by Spurs, then I feel even more fans will become disgruntled. I’m starting to get Sheff Utd, Burnley and Luton type vibes from us. Cooper has referenced a few times that the step from Championship to Premier League is probably the biggest in football. Looking at our current squad, it looks like the type of squad that is too good for the Championship, not quite good for the Premier League. We have to pull our finger out by the 30th, otherwise we’ll be getting relegated with a whimper, but as you say Ric, under this current regime it’s difficult to be optimistic.

Willing to see how our team ends up by the end of the transfer window, it’s evident we still have much to do. From a playing perspective though, it’s all a bit uninspiring so far. It feels like square pegs in a round hole type stuff. First off we have a conundrum with Ricardo. If we’re playing him to be an attacking full back, then the way it’s looking he’ll have to be played on the left. Inverting him as a CB would be a waste of his talents. While going back to last seasons system of inverting him as a CM would be so much easier, Cooper seems adamant of wanting a proper defensive midfielder in there, maybe he has fears of the team getting too easily played through on transition, at times last season we did get carved open through the midfield a little too easily. Conundrum number two is how to play Fatawu and Mavididi. Fatawu must be off the right full stop. I don’t want to see him being forced to play on the left again. Then we have Mavididi who we keep inverting infield, he’s played in central roles before in his career, but that was usually as a striker, not a number 10. It perhaps could work, but as Strider says, on today’s evidence it isn’t going to work with Kristiansen as his support. Also his refusal to give Will Alves no more than 10 minutes in recent games has been an absolute joke. He might not be ready yet for Premier League football, but it’s Pre Season, there’s no harm in giving him 30-45 minutes to show what he can do. Maybe things will look more rosey once we add some creativity, but as I said on the Augsburg thread, some elements of the team just outright suck.

No doubt some people will say “Pre Season results don’t matter”, but genuinely some elements of this team just fvcking suck. They look nowhere near ready for two weeks time. We literally need 6-7 signings and that’s not an exaggeration.

Thought Cooper might give youth a chance, but what he’s done with Alves so far in Pre Season is pissing me off.