TMELcfc Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 I feel that we've lost the rhythm and fluency but we've had a lot of games, some where we've not won by missing pens etc and a few of the old habits of last season are appearing... BUT ... Anyone slating Mahrez, Vardy, Ranieri etc, need to come back to reality fast. We wouldn't be where we are without them. Saw a few rumblings/moaners yesterday and I am shocked. We got a point away from home and go top in mid Jan... We've come along way because of these people, let's not shoot ourselves in the foot and turn back into the moaners of previous...
filbertway Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 Ask that question of Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool and to a degree Man City. Look at the quality and depth of their squads and you can maybe justify the kneejerk reactions and unrealistic expectations and criticisms! Our 100 mile an hour pressing game was bound to wain a little with tiredness, niggling injuries and or strength in depth. Ranieri has been managing that and arguably bigger and stronger teams have had far more blips and bad results.... that is my point! I say get real, respect what our manager and team have achieved so far and support not think you're better or know more than Claudio and the lads when you do not! I hope that it is just a case of recharging the batteries and trying to grind out some results over the tough December/January period. Completely disregarding valid concerns with recent performances with "KNEE JERK. TOP OF LEAGUE." doesn't really add much though and it's quite frustrating to read from so many people. I realise though that you are possibly the most optimistic, forgiving person on this forum though, so I won't try argue that away from you I just hope we return to being a team that doesn't try and grind out 1-0 wins when we have seen we are capable of so much more.
Dawko Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 There has been too much of an emphasis put on this 'Clean sheet philosophy' recently, resulting in a blunting of our previous 'We score when we want to' philosophy.
Len Finsbury Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 There has been too much of an emphasis put on this 'Clean sheet philosophy' recently, resulting in a blunting of our previous 'We score when we want to' philosophy. When was the last time a team with a 'score more that you' philosophy win the league? Playing like that will catch up on you eventually and you'll fall away. There's a lot of pessimism about us scoring lately but we've also kept 4 clean sheets in the last 6 games. You cannot lose if you don't concede whereas you can still lose if you score.
Guest Col city fan Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 Mi old mate Blue Tinted is getting some stick in this thread!
Bluetintedspecs Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 Mi old mate Blue Tinted is getting some stick in this thread! I don't see it that way Col, differing views thats all... its a forum
Bluetintedspecs Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 I hope that it is just a case of recharging the batteries and trying to grind out some results over the tough December/January period. Completely disregarding valid concerns with recent performances with "KNEE JERK. TOP OF LEAGUE." doesn't really add much though and it's quite frustrating to read from so many people. I realise though that you are possibly the most optimistic, forgiving person on this forum though, so I won't try argue that away from you I just hope we return to being a team that doesn't try and grind out 1-0 wins when we have seen we are capable of so much more. I do believe its about tweaking and player management and I'm certainly not calling the Samaritans yet
Thracian Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 [Controversial opinion incoming] ....when did we become a "long ball" team? I'm not sure if I'm remembering with blue-tinted specs on, but at the start of the season, while still direct, I remember us playing much more fast pace/quick passing football, and pressing high up the pitch. I feel that at some point (I want to say the Liverpool game, but I can't remember exactly when), we've switched to sitting much deeper and trying to hoof the ball up long to our tiny strikers, Vardy and Okazaki. Which while it works occasionally, a lot of the time it just comes straight back at us and puts us under pressure again. I understood it when we played some of the "bigger" teams, but it seemed to me to be happening against Bournemouth, and again for a lot of the time against Villa. We seem to be slowly on our way to becoming a Tony Pulis side. With King sidelined, there's no-one making the simple passes quickly, especially when the heat is on which it is for much of the time now that almost all our opponents are pressing us, post Liverpool. Our midfielders are taking an extra touch or running this way and that like mice trying to escape a cheesetrap instead of making good decisions quickly and letting the ball do the work when we've got it. Behind them Huth has developed his own variation of the cushioned header, by using what seems like a concrete cushion. In front, Shinji just falls over and hopes that somehow the ball rebounds accurately off whatever it hits as he lands. Mahrez can't seem to focus, presumably for all the pound signs flashing where his eyes used to be and, really, there's just the one option these days! All radars are trained on Vardy and the moment there's a sighting, we ping him the ball whether he's just yards away or flying into foreign air space way off in the distance. It's like our own version of "Hunt for Red October". "One Ping Only" and not an 'appeth of preamble or close support to be entertained most of the time. We've become two dimensional at most. Dimension One is the irresistible force that is Vardy down the middle and Dimension Two is the currently immovable mentally-Sleeping Beauty on our right. But what we really need is to stop conceding space so much space so willingly and to have runners making themselves available in all directions when we get the ball. We need to make ourselves scary again instead of compromising what we're good at which used to be counter-attacking quickly.
Thracian Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 Aston Villa1-1Leicester Tottenham0-1Leicester Tottenham2-2Leicester Leicester0-0Bournemouth Leicester0-0Man City Liverpool1-0Leicester Everton2-3Leicester Leicester2-1Chelsea All of these games have been very close together, and we have Tottenham on Wednesday again. The way we were playing required a lot of energy, and there was no way that we were going to keep that up over this busy period. I can't believe some of the posts that I have read either. We are LEICESTER CITY not Barcelona! We can't win every game...! I wouldn't worry anyway, i'm sure we will get back to how we were playing soon, and to say we are now a 'long ball' team, we haven't done too bad. Why not? Or at least take opportunities when we get them? It doesn't require much energy to despatch two penalties! Just the right attitude. And if we pass the ball instead of running with the thing or giving it away for nothing we'll save a bundle of energy on top.
Thracian Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 Could be playing deeper since our energetic style of football is really ****ing punishing when you're playing a stupid amount of games over Christmas and New Year, as ThaiFox alluded to, or just to try to get us playing decently like that too. Retreating like we're doing doesn't save energy. It severely limits our chances of breakway goals and encourages the opposition to commit more resources to attack therefore increasing the chances of mistakes such as Huth's miskick, the silly penalty in the Cup at Spurs and the sustained last quarter assault that Villa were invited to have.
WesMorganGod Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 I have to admit I am becoming worried at how deep we are in the recent games, I really noticed it started a lot at Everton away game. putting 9 people behind the ball and smashing it forward for Vardy to chase. we need to not be so deep and player higher up and attack teams with mutual players.. as we did for most of the season before the Everton game
Ricey Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 Mahrez is so often the target when we play it on the ground, but nowadays he has 2 players following him around. We need to stop being so predictable. Perhaps have the wingers swap sides more often.
fuchsntf Posted 17 January 2016 Posted 17 January 2016 Many fans are way off, making out we were playing, some type of total football... We have always defended deep, we always had less possesion and by miles. We always let teams press us. Our breaks, our pace on the counter, and crispness precision of pass, has been our hallmark. Our quick thinking of changing flanks, finding 90% of the time the space for teammates to run into, has been highly successfull. Last few games we havent been do clinical. Mahrez after missing the pen, seemed to loose his confidence somewhat, and for ca 40 mins, the team seemed to lose their mojo. We still finished the game having some good chances.This team will comeback.
Vardinio'sCat Posted 18 January 2016 Posted 18 January 2016 At the moment Vardy's making about a quarter of the runs he usually does. So many times in the first half today Albrighton or Fuchs got the ball on the left, looked up for the standard ball into the channel for Vardy and he wasn't showing for it. Yup, and he didn't back up Shinji's pressing half the time. I thought CR was gonna take Vardy off! Still got his new found quality, but nothing like the mobility. Riyad has less of a target, and the slightly limited 'give it to Vardy' default is harder. I think it's the main reason we look a different side, as much as a tactical play from CR. We certainly weren't pressing as well, as a team, against Villa. He should start to improve, with him training now, but this has been a bit painful. With hindsight, Shinji might have worked better 'on the shoulder', although he is not going to run away from people like Vardy can (when fit) I'm sure there are other factors involved, but he runs for virtually everything normally, so it's not that difficult to see, if anyone was brave enough to watch it again.
UPinCarolina Posted 18 January 2016 Posted 18 January 2016 Yup, and he didn't back up Shinji's pressing half the time. I thought CR was gonna take Vardy off! Still got his new found quality, but nothing like the mobility. Riyad has less of a target, and the slightly limited 'give it to Vardy' default is harder. I think it's the main reason we look a different side, as much as a tactical play from CR. We certainly weren't pressing as well, as a team, against Villa. He should start to improve, with him training now, but this has been a bit painful. With hindsight, Shinji might have worked better 'on the shoulder', although he is not going to run away from people like Vardy can (when fit) I'm sure there are other factors involved, but he runs for virtually everything normally, so it's not that difficult to see, if anyone was brave enough to watch it again. Once was enough mate. I hope Vardy sits for the FA and we see a healthier player later on. He is clearly not 100% and it's hurting the side.
Dawko Posted 18 January 2016 Posted 18 January 2016 After the Arsenal game we have nine winnable matches in a row.
FireFox Posted 18 January 2016 Posted 18 January 2016 After the Arsenal game we have nine winnable matches in a row. The Arsenal game is winnable. Every game is winnable.
weller54 Posted 18 January 2016 Posted 18 January 2016 Once was enough mate. I hope Vardy sits for the FA and we see a healthier player later on. He is clearly not 100% and it's hurting the side. If Vardy is hurting the side.. Then Mahrez is killing it!!
Babylon Posted 18 January 2016 Posted 18 January 2016 What's your point with this? I'm sure 100% of people on here are ecstatic that we are where we are currently. Are you not at all concerned by our recent performances and style of play? I'm disappointed as I think we're better than that, only mildly concerned though... we've had a lot of tough games, games where we probably do have to take a more defensive attitude and where we're more likely to be feeding off scraps. There were patches against Villa where we were trying to do our usual game and they weren't quite coming off, so that's something. I would hope it's just a case of lots of games in a short space of time, against good opposition, with a key player not really fit and the other off form. Rather than we've suddenly decided that punting it is the only way. Habbits are easy to form, and if we've fed off scraps and had to go longer than we'd like against the better teams... it might take a while to break it and get back to how we were. Even though we've been a bit off key... two pennos go in and we're clear at the top having just had a magnificent run over the difficult winter period.
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