MackemHope Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Well done Leicester, you outplayed us in every department today, and as some have mentioned, 6, 7 or 8 nil would have been a more fair scoreline. Mahrez was superb, as was Vardy. Forget the fact that you are playing probably the worst premier league team that plays between August and March, you would have beaten most if not all opponents today at KP. Hope you can keep this going and hopefully take some points from our relegation rivals, as clearly you won't be one of our rivals this year. As for us, it looks as bad as ever, and we'll be in hibernation until April 1st, when we will part company with Advocaat and miraculously beat Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal to stop up with a game to go. Well done.
tom27111 Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 For everyone slating Kasper, we could've been 2 down in the opening 5 minutes. Outstanding saves. Yes, he ballsed up for their second, but I'd prefer him to do that at 4-1 as opposed to 0-0. Those saves early on were as important as the goals.
C-man Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Well done Leicester, you outplayed us in every department today, and as some have mentioned, 6, 7 or 8 nil would have been a more fair scoreline. Mahrez was superb, as was Vardy. Forget the fact that you are playing probably the worst premier league team that plays between August and March, you would have beaten most if not all opponents today at KP. Hope you can keep this going and hopefully take some points from our relegation rivals, as clearly you won't be one of our rivals this year. As for us, it looks as bad as ever, and we'll be in hibernation until April 1st, when we will part company with Advocaat and miraculously beat Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal to stop up with a game to go. Well done. Thank you for the comments. I genuinely think Sunderland could benefit from a total rehaul - probably something only possible if relegated. I respect Sunderland fans immensely - the ratio of city size to average attendance is magnificent. Good luck for the rest of the season!
KP Fox Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 So did the NP lovers clap for him in the 7th minute as was mentioned on this forum? Yes, It was brought forward to the third minute in dedication to 3 of his players involved in the Thai orgy.
weller54 Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 There he goes.... ....there he goes again.. Birch calls his name... Cuntttttttttttt!!!!!
Strokes Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Well where to start? Tactically Ranieri got it spot on today, springing a surprise with a 4-4-2, with Mahrez initially playing from the left and Albrighton from the right. Sunderland may well play 4-3-3 anyway all season but the 3 they had in midfield was ideally set up to deal with the 3 we'd have had in a 3-5-2, with Mahrez being occupied by Cattermole. The decision to start with a 4-4-2 and the speed and regularity with which we were able to get the ball to the wide players meant that Sunderland's 3 in the centre were rendered totally irrelevant, particularly Cattermole. Meanwhile, Patrick van Aanholt's suicidal decision to want to play left wing rather than left back meant that there was loads of space in behind for a fast winger to exploit, so Ranieri switched them over after about 10 minutes and Albrighton played from the left and Mahrez from the right. Drinkwater, Albrighton, King and Vardy were all excellent but for me the two stars of the show were Okazaki and Mahrez. The latter has been discussed to death and when he plays like he did today he's as good as any wide player in the division bar Hazard. Okazaki meanwhile was something of a revelation. Having never seen him play before I knew to expect a hard worker, but the way he linked up with his new teammates was outstanding. His positioning was routinely excellent and never gave the Sunderland midfielders the time or space to pick the ball off their limited centre backs, often forcing Sunderland to either dither with the ball in defence or clip it aimlessly upfield. Sunderland were absolutely abysmal and a 5-goal defeat wouldn't have been harsh on them. van Aanholt appears to have learned nothing since he was on loan here 4 years ago, still playing with the same utter disregard for his nominal position as a defender. Other than Pantilimon I'm not sure any of their players would have deserved more than a 4/10 and even the keeper himself was lucky not to be sent off. So, all in all a great start and a real triumph for Ranieri in particular, who got virtually everything right. An excellent review, I don't disagree with any of it.
CosbehFox Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Well done Leicester, you outplayed us in every department today, and as some have mentioned, 6, 7 or 8 nil would have been a more fair scoreline. Mahrez was superb, as was Vardy. Forget the fact that you are playing probably the worst premier league team that plays between August and March, you would have beaten most if not all opponents today at KP. Hope you can keep this going and hopefully take some points from our relegation rivals, as clearly you won't be one of our rivals this year. As for us, it looks as bad as ever, and we'll be in hibernation until April 1st, when we will part company with Advocaat and miraculously beat Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal to stop up with a game to go. Well done. Thanks for the humble review of the game. I'd be worried as a Mackem, from the first minute where you looked to put men behind the ball as opposed to trying to control the game yourselves. I agree with those applauding the efforts of King and DD. However, defensively I think they fall short and often get caught out of position. Defoe's goal where King was doing a wingers job and DD in no mans land. At Brum, last week both of their goals came from a breakdown and they could push the ball through the middle of the pitch. Finally those saying we didn't miss Cambiasso well we did. He would have been on at the players to calm down at 3-0 and slow the game. Instead we allowed Sunderland a bit of dominance. Though to be fair Ranieri corrected that with the double sub and then Kante.
st albans fox Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 i was surprised that CR didnt change tactics at 4-1 to close the game down more effectively. he did so once 4-2 by giving all three new signings on the bench, their debut. sunderland were heavy going forward by that stage and i expected an italian manager would have shut up shop rather than continue what was effectively a game of basketball with the game open and stretched. a bit of luck for them at 4-2 and it would have become very nervy.
narboroughblue Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Excellent result and some of the attacking play was fantastic. I was concerned about the change in system but it certainly allowed our 4 main attacking players to express themselves. My biggest concern with the starting 11 was our size or lack of it. Thought we looked dodgy defending set pieces with only Huth and Morgan with any real height. Some sides will punish that and look to exploit that, thinking the likes of West Brom. Still an excellent start and 3 points closer to survival and then hopefully mid table.
Foxhateram Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Yer we were exposed down the middle quite often, which is often the case when we play 4-4-2 but the strikers tracking back in made up for that on many occasions, okazakis tireless tracking and pressurising stopped the defenders from playing those through ball/ over the top balls we struggle against. Later in the game when the strikers tired, we allowed those balls to be played from the back and looked a little shakey. That's why I think we will need to utilise all our strikers in the squad. When we play with high intensity and pressure high up the pitch we look classy. When we try and defend or sit back and slow down a game we struggle. Problem is you can't expect 100 mph all the time, some work for for CR to do on this. None the less a great result, Sunderland were worryingly poor, they will go down of something doesn't change. Losing has become a habit there. Only two other places to be filled.
CosbehFox Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Later in the game when the strikers tired, we allowed those balls to be played from the back and looked a little shakey. That's why I think we will need to utilise all our strikers in the squad. When we play with high intensity and pressure high up the pitch we look classy. When we try and defend or sit back and slow down a game we struggle. Problem is you can't expect 100 mph all the time, some work for for CR to do on this. None the less a great result, Sunderland were worryingly poor, they will go down of something doesn't change. Losing has become a habit there. Only two other places to be filled. Spot on with the long ball comment. Any ball in the channel between CB and FB gave us an issue. CB moved out, numbers light in the box. Lens goal showcased that to an extent.
Hack Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Mahrez is going to be special this season. The Messi of Leisterona
Molly Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Thanks for the humble review of the game. I'd be worried as a Mackem, from the first minute where you looked to put men behind the ball as opposed to trying to control the game yourselves. I agree with those applauding the efforts of King and DD. However, defensively I think they fall short and often get caught out of position. Defoe's goal where King was doing a wingers job and DD in no mans land. At Brum, last week both of their goals came from a breakdown and they could push the ball through the middle of the pitch. Finally those saying we didn't miss Cambiasso well we did. He would have been on at the players to calm down at 3-0 and slow the game. Instead we allowed Sunderland a bit of dominance. Though to be fair Ranieri corrected that with the double sub and then Kante. He would have been a weak link in our pressing game. He just doesn't have the legs for our game. I think he realised that.
Hack Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Shexy football. Sunderland were turd in the first half so it's hard to judge but most teams couldn't cope with us when we play like that. A bit more ruthlessness going forward and concentration at the back and we're onto a winner. You only have to beat the team that is put out to play. If there are 3 or 4 others who offer that type of performance is enough for survival. But the way we played minus the couple of defensive errors looked to be a top ten team not a relegation battler as many have said. This team with the form from last year and straight into this year says we should not be worried about the drop. We are also going to strengthen even more in the coming weeks. I am sure we have a bight PL future ahead.
Corky Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 King is developing into a classy midfielder. He looks more comfortable in the Premier League and also is benefitting from having better team-mates. In the Championship years when he was accused to being anonymous a lot (and he was at times) he had Wellens, Dyer, Gallagher, Oakley, van Aanholt around him. In the last two years he's had Drinkwater, Mahrez, Albrighton, Schlupp, Cambiasso to link up with. He's improving as we're improving and it's a real positive.
Haydos Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Why did we win this game today? 2 reasons: 1. We wanted it much more than they did. We won all the 50/50's, they looked like they were still on the beach. 2. Pace....We have it abundance. We have Vardy, Schlupp, Mahrez, Delaet. They are a SLOW, SLOW team. Loved that game today. We played with freedom and energy. It was 4 but could have been 6 or 7. Easy. Can we put the Cattermole issue to bed, Col?
bovril Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 A few random thoughts of mine from the game yesterday..... I don't get to many games due to work / travel abroad and this was the first time I've seen us play since the Newcastle cup game. We look absolutely scintillating at the moment. I still think the late 90s team was a better unit but I have never seen a Leicester team attack with more vigor and purpose than this one. We kept the ball very well and rarely wasted it when going forward. We were a bit rusty in terms of finishing but it's only the first game of the season. The first thing I love about this team is how much the longer-term players have improved. I had reservations that Schlupp could play professional football in any division but he looks a quality Premiership wing-back. He offered us a real outlet when Vardy and Mahrez had gone off and his general defensive play has improved no end. Vardy always had pace but he's developed into an intelligent striker. He held the ball up, used it well and terrorised their full-backs. King and Drinkwater (DD in particular) were the unsung heroes for me. The number 4 slipped into the Cambiasso role beautifully and King recycled the ball very well. Other positives - Shinji looks tricky, like a Japanese Claridge. Kante looked very capable and confident and obviously we have a gem in Mahrez. And we finally have a player that can whip balls in the box like Steve Guppy. A big 3 points and a great performance.
Raj Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Great to see how we started was how we finished the season.The tinker man didn't tinker.Shinji's looked great,Mahrez was a revelation.The atmosphere was just how I had hoped.Just giving away the goals was a downer and could be a worry but we made ALOT of chances and could have scored ALOT more.Great great start
Guest Col city fan Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 Can we put the Cattermole issue to bed, Col? I put it to bed last season mate. Others keep bringing it up.We now have that 'type' of player that I thought the club so needed (Kante). I think he'll play against West Ham, for instance.
LJS Posted 9 August 2015 Posted 9 August 2015 I was hoping this would be a shit grind as I was away in Barcelona for it. Mind you I was delighted to see the score when I got a bit of wifi access last night. Lovely stuff.
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