Foxxed Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 Before xmas, most often, Drinky and Kante would pick up the ball, we'd leg it up the pitch, and find Mahrez and Vardy to hit the back of the net. But now Vardy and Mahrez are marked men. So doesn't counter attacking in this style leave us vulnerable? We leg it up the pitch, fail to find Vardy and Mahrez and give the ball away? Isn't Ranieri half justified for playing deep? What would you do in Ranieri's place, given the opposition are trying to shut out our main/only counter attacking avenue? Play higher up as before and hope Vardy and Mahrez, in full health and form, can shake off their markers? Play deep and hope we bag something from a set piece? Try to get our left wing as dangerous when we play higher up? Buy another striker and hope he provides another outlet when we pick up the ball? Somehow get our central midfield to start scoring?
Foxxed Posted 21 January 2016 Author Posted 21 January 2016 The other option, I guess, is we're mainly playing deep in the first half to assess the other team.
kingcarr21 Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 Play both. Mix it up a bit and keep the opposition guessing
Captain... Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 Play both. Mix it up a bit and keep the opposition guessing That would be my thinking, or we go back to early season of just everybody bombing forward and bollocks if they score we will score more. The problem more than anything is fatigue on playing like that, Ranieri has tried to manage that with Cup selections and going for a more reserved approach, but it isn't quite working. Would love us to come out the blocks firing on Saturday and just give Stoke a thrashing, mainly because it would be great to watch, but also to shut up a lot of people on here.
foxes21 Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 What about playing a higher line, to keep the oppo in their own half, where our high pressing will be more beneficial? Having said that we are pretty slow at the back
smr Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 anyone else noticed we seem to be playing a lot more long balls lately? before christmas i couldn't believe how good our passing game was, crisp, direct, on the floor, attacking, now we've resorted back to hoofing it.
HighPeakFox Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 I sympathise. I suspect there's a lot of juggling going on related to injuries, fatigue, loss of form and the belief that gets lost as a result. Frustrating though it is for us all to watch, more than ever these players need a positive 12th man.
Merging Cultures Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 What about playing a higher line, to keep the oppo in their own half, where our high pressing will be more beneficial? Having said that we are pretty slow at the back anyone else noticed we seem to be playing a lot more long balls lately? before christmas i couldn't believe how good our passing game was, crisp, direct, on the floor, attacking, now we've resorted back to hoofing it. The reason we are playing more long balls is because we are sitting too far back. Before, we had two lines of four sitting further up the pitch disrupting the other teams passing. Now, we sit back and let them come at us. Then we hoof it, because we are too far from the strikers.
STUHILL Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 The reason we were so brilliantly ruthless and efficient before christmas, was that the players had a complete gung ho attitude, where they just wanted to get the ball and score at every opportunity. We are now top, and that plays on their minds. It is human nature to try and protect what you have when at the top, as opposed to continue doing what got you there. I see Claudio on the touchline shouting and gesturing the players to get forward, but you can see how deep they drop and although we look to counter, we are so deep and so far from goal, it more often or not, gets intercepted or leaves the strikers/midfielders too much to do to get out, and so we lose posession and it comes right back at us again. You can see that in our last 5 or so games. The question is, how do we get the players to start playing with that care free, ruthless, no respect for anyone, mentality again... It may even take a temporary drop out of the top 4 to give the players something to chase again but it's tough for Ranieri, although obviously he has to play the right formation and make correct subs, which he got wrong against Villa. The other key thing is for Vardy and Mahrez to get back to fitness and form. They only know how to play that way and so if they are firing, then so are we. Start them at Stoke with Okazaki alongside Vardy, as he pushes right up and can hold the ball up better than Ulloa, which is laughable.. And finally, another striker please!!! I still think we will get 4th but with Arsenal, Man C, Spurs above us, we have to hope Man U continue to have patchy form as can see it being straight fight with them.
Foxxed Posted 21 January 2016 Author Posted 21 January 2016 Play both. Mix it up a bit and keep the opposition guessing I guess we have, if you count the first and second halves as mixing it up. Weren't we playing higher up the second half? But, you know, without a decent outlet?
Bamba's Babes Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 The other option, I guess, is we're mainly playing deep in the first half to assess the other team. That's what scouting the opposition three weeks in advance is for.
ARM1968 Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 Our style has changed and with it our ability to cede possession without too much damage. While we were attacking with pace and flair such stats didn't really matter. This slower, deeper, more defensive approach cannot prevail with such poor possession. Teams will hurt us and there will be no way back. Hopefully CR sees this before we slip out of the top 4.
Aberdeenfox Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 I can't believe all the negativity on here ffs hang on and enjoy the ride Every team has a loss of form at some point in the season .we have been very very fortunate with injuries and ok a wee bit out of form but whatever happens it's been a wonderful campaign I'm pretty confident of us staying in the pack and who knows Keep the faith stand free We are fearless
Thracian Posted 21 January 2016 Posted 21 January 2016 Why is a dip in form to be expected? Seems to me we've suffered because we pussy-footed two penalties at the cost of four points and lost a cup match because a player who should never have been in the team got penalised unfairly for handball. So basically we haven't suffered due to a dip in form but for being the architects of our own demise. That we've also changed our tactics so that almost any setback is likely to cost us now is a separate problem entirely. With our previous tactics we became famous for being fearless and never contemplating defeat whatever the circumstances. Headlines proclaimed us "The comeback kings" Now there's barely a ripple of reaction to any setback. It's this which troubles me most because, if Ranieri really is going to turn out an essentially defence-orientated strategist, then our owners might have to think twice. Because few of us will want to go down that road again. As for being "fantastic" we've not been that for a while. In fact it's hard to remember us scoring a decent goal for weeks - and that not too long since we were described as among the most thrilling teams in the country to watch. I'm not suggesting a crisis that isn't there. Just that we fast get back to being the exciting, adventurous, counter-attacking team that has made us so proud for so long. The window is open, the opportunities are there, so let's show what a second half-season of lightning-fast football can be like and where it might take us. Ranieri talked about "Forty points first". He didn't mention "dead ends", "turning off the goals taps" or any "fear-filled football" he was planning. So let's show the courage to move through the gears, have a go and write ourselves into the record-books as champions of the underdog. Far better surely than pulling the King Power promotional plug, accepting a self-induced midwinter goals blackout and rendering ourselves harmless instead of fearless from the voltage of our manager's suddenly eccentric tactical chair.
Izzy Posted 23 January 2016 Posted 23 January 2016 That would be my thinking, or we go back to early season of just everybody bombing forward and bollocks if they score we will score more. The problem more than anything is fatigue on playing like that, Ranieri has tried to manage that with Cup selections and going for a more reserved approach, but it isn't quite working. Would love us to come out the blocks firing on Saturday and just give Stoke a thrashing, mainly because it would be great to watch, but also to shut up a lot of people on here. This
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