this post could get me shot but ....... do we need to change the way we play

[dorsetboy]

ok before all the six guns are loaded and pointed at my head let me just say im more than happy infact im over the moon with how we have done this season   but .............................................

 

cast your minds back to last season under nigel before huth came , we played a deep lying game and only pressed just outside our area this lead to constant pressure and inevitable errors from our defence and we struggled to get out and attack therefore leading to us being bottom of the prem 

 

huth came in ( only using this as a time point and not saying he was the reason )  we changed formation but also started to press higher up the pitch and increased our tempo and workrate and forced errors which lead to goals and opposition teams sitting back themselves and low and behold we did it we survived. 

 

start of this season we adopted the same policy under claudio and had a barnstorming start mahrez and vardy were getting plenty of chances and we created and pressed the opposition into submission yes we conceded goals but we always scored more and it was fun and exciting and lead us to the top of the league . 

 

now since xmas we have tended to go back to the way we played the season before by adopting an approach of sitting deep and then trying to ping the ball out to players who are not there and we are short up front and we are also creating a lot of pressure on the defence and we all know huth and morgan are prone to errors . 

 

pre xmas if you looked at the stats there was always 3 or 4 leicester players in the top 10 of  fastest players,most distance covered, most miles ran and tackles made but since xmas hardly any players have featured in these stats which sort of proves the point we have taken our foot off the pedal. 

 

what reasons do you think would cause this as im just interested to know people genuine opinions and if your happy with it or would like to go back to the exciting hard pressing counter game 

 

1. the players simply dont have the fitness levels now we are half way through the season 

2. claudio wants to make our defence rock solid and try for 1-0 wins to keep us in the race 

3. simpson and fuchs keep getting caught so our wingers have been told to come back even more 

4. claudio italian style of play has slowly started to show 

5 . vardy being injured and not training for 2 months forced us to change our way of attack 

 

 

these are just some thoughts maybe interesting to hear yours 

 

i trust claudio and the team and will always support them but i suppose i ike the thrill of the if they score 2 we will get 3 kind of football 

 

ive posted this because a mate at work said " ive watched a lot of your boys since xmas and its now obvious that claudio is the italian tony pulis ":(:(

[Lestoh]

any last words?

[dorsetboy]

any last words?

any opinion on it yourself ? 

 

look its a fact weve taken our foot off the pedal since xmas and there is a reason for it , personally i think if we had played the way we played back in oct and november we would of destroyed bournemouth and villa. 

 

i suppose i look at it as if your doing something so right and good that it takes you to the top spot of the best league in the world then why change .

[ozleicester]

Claudio has deliberately tightened the defence.

Its winter, the pitches dont quite allow for the sharp one touch build stuff we had been playing

Vardy isnt fit.

Other teams have figured us out and play to suit.

We have been unlucky (missed penalties etc)

 

The above are IMO some of the reasons we look a little different, i think some of those things will change and some wont, leaving us somewhere betwen the Pulis style and the sharp one touch stuff we began the season with.

 

This will of course be the perfect style of play to confuse the fvck out of Barca and Dortmund etc in next years champions league

[Aus Fox]

If Mahrez scores the two penalties we are 4 points clear at the top with 16 to play.

Do we need to change the way we play? Think about it!

We are playing ok, the last few results have slowed down and we have focused on keeping it tight, the right option against Liverpool, Man city, Spurs.

On another day we spank Bournemouth 3 or 4. The villa second half performance is the only disappointing one for me this season, we seemed to have the confidence sucked out of us after the penalty miss.

[4everfox]

I think it could be a case of option 5 turning into option 2 which has turned into option 4. Screw the defence I say, lets press high up and attack and concede and score bucket loads. We've got nothing to lose.

[UPinCarolina]

I think you cannot and should not discount the Vardy injury and the wear and tear that our earlier rate of play has had on guys like Kante. 

We'll be back to playing high and fast soon, especially once our recent signings find their place in the squad. Our team speed in the mid-field and up front (minus Ulloa) will be through the roof. 

[Guest]

yes, i think this is a temporary change, done in response to a number of factors. Give it a month or so and we'll probably be back to being more adventurous - assuming our stamina and fitness are where they need to be.  We're signing fast players, we appear to be building a team that will continue to support a high tempo style.

[Koke]

In the long term yeah. I'm not being funny but the only game this season where we've had more possession than the opposition was against Bournemouth, and that was cos they played with 10 men for the last half an hour. Southampton away we had an equal 50% share of the possession and that was because we were 2-0 down at half time and we came out and utterly dominated them and pecked it back to 2-2.

Having 35% possession every week is not sustainable in the long run. For now it works but you can see how knackered some of our players are. I think Ranieri knows this as well.

Possession is not everything, but it is something.

[filbertway]

This is basically just going to be a repeat of the Aston Villa post match thread then? I think everyone has stated their opinion on this a million times. Maybe a million and one.

[Bluetintedspecs]

Dorset, my thoughts are:

"Where's Dorset Don Claudio"

Don Claudio

"It's ok, he's swimming with the fishes"

Enough of these mind numbing threads please, I beg you all.

[TheUltimateWinner]

i think we should play football with the feet because thats how i play on fifa and im in division 1

[Captain...]

If Mahrez scores the two penalties we are 4 points clear at the top with 16 to play.

Do we need to change the way we play? Think about it!

We are playing ok, the last few results have slowed down and we have focused on keeping it tight, the right option against Liverpool, Man city, Spurs.

On another day we spank Bournemouth 3 or 4. The villa second half performance is the only disappointing one for me this season, we seemed to have the confidence sucked out of us after the penalty miss.

Even with those penalties we haven't been playing at the same level as before, I believe that is because other teams are doing their homework and isolating and surrounding our key men in Vardy and Mahrez they know we look to get the ball forwards to them quickly and getting them in one on one situations so they make sure that they have more cover at the back and surround them quickly and win the ball back, it has lead to our chances drying up, but also theirs hence our improved defensive stats.

It's not heresy to say we should look at changing our style, Shinji Drinkwater and Albrighton stepping up and providing more of an attacking threat will mean they can't just focus on Vardy and Mahrez, the return of Schlupp or a new signing could have the same impact.

[Foxhateram]

Even with those penalties we haven't been playing at the same level as before, I believe that is because other teams are doing their homework and isolating and surrounding our key men in Vardy and Mahrez they know we look to get the ball forwards to them quickly and getting them in one on one situations so they make sure that they have more cover at the back and surround them quickly and win the ball back, it has lead to our chances drying up, but also theirs hence our improved defensive stats.

It's not heresy to say we should look at changing our style, Shinji Drinkwater and Albrighton stepping up and providing more of an attacking threat will mean they can't just focus on Vardy and Mahrez, the return of Schlupp or a new signing could have the same impact.

But if they send extra men to mahrez and vardy that would open up space for Kante, drinky and okazaki. We have just slowed the pace of our game down considerably and I feel that this is to save players over a busy period. Not sure I agree with it, but I can see why we have done it.

But we are now nearing the business end of the season and it is time to go out with nothing to lose ala the beg' of the season and give it everything we've got to try and win the league. We're here om merit, now let's show the doubters what we're really capable of.

[Len Finsbury]

I think there's two possible reasons that people have mentioned that may be responsible for our slight change in play.

1. Vardy was more injured than we all though so we've had to use him sparingly

2. The pitches do make a difference in the winter. If you're hitting space for players to run on to, the state of the pitch is important. Too wet and it won't roll causing the players to attempt to compensate by overhitting it. We saw evidence of that at Villa where Vardy just couldn't reach the ball before it travelled through to the keeper.

 

I think both are temporary and I'm sure we'll revert to a more attacking game once these are straightened out. I'm not entirely sure we'll be quite as attacking as we were at the beginning of the season with the 'score more than you' philosophy as it's unattainable for a title push. Look how Keegan's Newcastle always fell away. CR still wants some tightness at the back... he's Italian after all!

[David Guiza]

Only Man City have scored more goals than us, we went to places like the Liberty, Goodison and St James park and scored 3 at each and we still get criticised for playing a handful of games more conservatively. If opposition fans are that bothered by us then go and watch Everton's midtable toppers.

[Captain...]

But if they send extra men to mahrez and vardy that would open up space for Kante, drinky and okazaki. We have just slowed the pace of our game down considerably and I feel that this is to save players over a busy period. Not sure I agree with it, but I can see why we have done it.

But we are now nearing the business end of the season and it is time to go out with nothing to lose ala the beg' of the season and give it everything we've got to try and win the league. We're here om merit, now let's show the doubters what we're really capable of.

 

Bournemouth and Villa both played with 8 defenders really, swarming over Mahrez and Vardy and I think we have seen better performances from Shinji and Drinky as a result, DD had the most shots against Villa and Shinji had his best game for us, but by swarming over Mahrez and Vardy it means there are more players back and these will also pick up the other attacking players.

 

One approach is to go all out attack again with Schlupp at LB and RDL at RB and swarm forwards but that leaves us open to the counter, another is to play a more patient game and draw their defence out and spread the game, and look to spring the counter at the right time and not all the time.

[Izzy]

I don't think we need to change a thing.

 

1. We're still creating chances to score in every match

2. If DD could shoot on target and Mahrez convert penalties, we probably wouldn't even be discussing this

3. Vardy is bound to have a lean spell and this is it. He was a gnats bollock away from a brilliant goal on Saturday - it will happen again for him soon

4. I trust Claudio, our squad depth and our sports science team. We're still one of, if not the fittest team in the league

5. Our defense is doing great and we've still picked up vital points from some tough fixtures.

 

Keep doing what we're doing and every chance we can still finish Top 4 - which would be a miracle.

 

It's all gravy...

[goose2010]

Is joint top and second highest goal scorers not good enough? I have said it before and will say it again we are massively punch above our weight at the minute we are competing with teams that we shouldn't be competing with by playing a style that suits us. Our target this season was 40 points not 70 or 80 but 40 we have achieved that quicker than any fan, pundit or bloke down the pub could of ever predicted, Leicester City is a business these days not just a football club we are not going to throw millions at the transfer market especially in January where prices are inflated. We probably have 6-8 mill left in the kitty that will pay for Amartery and maybe a loan fee. If we do finish top 4 or 5 then I am sure the meeting between the board will be completely different to what they were expecting as the revenue they would of pulled in would be a lot more than what was in their budget and will probably free up a bit more than this season for next for us to cope with Europe.

[LCFCshotstopper]

I personally think that the change was due to the amount of fixtures we had during the xmas/new year period. There's no way we could of played fast attacking football, like we have been with games coming one after another.

 

I think we will see our fast attacking football when the fixture list becomes weekly again

[Socks]

we need to go back to the way we played at the start of the season and pretty quick otherwise we start slipping

 

we need to beat stoke (sorry for swearing) this weekend.  if you take a sneak peek most of their fans are confident of beating us on saturday

[Fox Ulike]

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

 

We haven’t changed our style – teams are just a lot more wary of us than they were earlier in the season.

 

Up until recently teams have seriously under-estimated us, which has really worked to our advantage.

 

Look at Chelsea playing a 35 year old Central defender against Vardy’s pace. Look at the space Swansea, West Brom and Villa (home) gave to Mahrez. Look at Stoke subbing off Bojan and Arnautovic, thinking that they could give their stars a rest with the game won at 2-0.

 

But this was never going to last forever.

 

Mahrez now has two men on him most of the game, and defenders are so scared of Vardy they just won’t give him any space behind them, and teams are playing at 100% for the whole of the game, knowing that we never know when we’re beaten.

 

This was always going to happen.  

 

Changing our style isn’t going to change an opponent’s attitude towards us now. We are ‘a team to beat’.  Everybody will now be on their ‘A game’ when we roll into town.

 

The fans just need to be realistic, and give the team their full support rather than expecting us to continue to win almost every game. Anybody who saw Man City demolish C Palace on Saturday will realise that the only way we will finish above them is if they self-destruct. We have Mahrez, but in Da Silva, De Bryne and Augero they have THREE versions of Mahrez. If Man City want it, they will walk the League.

 

Our real rivals are West ham, Palace etc. West ham lost at Newcastle, and Palace lost at Villa. So drawing against a great Bournemouth side and away at a resurgent Villa aren’t bad results.

 

If we can regain some form then I think 3^rd place is very ambitious, but achievable. HOWEVER… 5^th or 6^th is realistic, and we all should remember this.

[sly1]

Mahrez

[Arriba Los Zorros]

Post is reasonable. We have become too direct and predictable and should mix it up more. I worry this style of play is CRs long term vision for us

[Kitchandro]

In short, yes. We need to go back to how we were playing before Christmas. Not just because it's better to watch and it's captured the fans' imagination, but because it suits us better.

 

The long ball is fine in moderation and if used correctly, i.e Vardy's first goal against Arsenal. But we're going for that too often at the moment and we're not creating enough chances.

I have wondered the reason why we've changed, but I don't buy it's all down to the opposition. We've played all different kinds of teams this season and before Christmas our style very rarely waivered.

Liverpool were plenty open enough, as were Villa who we're miles better than. There wasn't really an excuse against Villa at all, we just chose to play very direct.

 

I have no idea why we'd choose to go away from the football that brought us so much success but I didn't understand why Pearson did it either. Perhaps it's fear. Maybe we don't feel we are the equals of the other teams up there.

We suffered for most of the season when Pearson changed our style and I hope we don't make the same mistake because we lack self-belief.