Community Shield Post Match Thread 1 - 2

[Monsell1976]

1 minute ago, Dynamogoon said:

Kante is missing. That's the difference this year. Big loss for us, no one else does what he did 

Kante will never be able to be replaced, it probably is him missing, but something says we need different options in midfield, than we already have.

Mendy and drinkwater are not the same style of player, but similar, may need a creator in the middle.

[Dynamogoon]

Just now, Monsell1976 said:

Kante will never be able to be replaced, it probably is him missing, but something says we need different options in midfield, than we already have.

Mendy and drinkwater are not the same style of player, but similar, may need a creator in the middle.

Agreed. We need another midfielder, and maybe a change of formation?

[87fox]

I agree on Kante being missed but I do think we'll do okay this year without him.

Without him, Mahrez off form (although I haven't seen anyone acknowledge the first half moment that he wowed the crowd sidestepping a player or two with a jink of skill), and a couple of other regulars looking a bit shaky (Morgan, Albrighton, among others) we still were just about the better side and pushed United all the way.

That's a Man United who have 'the special one' managing them and are throwing around £30m each on Bailly and Mkhitaryan, pay Ibrahimovic crazy money and are also about to spend most of £100m on Pogba.

 

It was a shame about the result, but I was proud to be at Wembley yesterday and enjoyed it a lot.

[sdb]

I'm as bored of hearing this as the rest of you, but it really is just that Kante type player we're missing. Suddenly we look a lot more overrun and ordinary. Thought Albrighton and Simpson were poor but seen enough of them to know they're exceptions to the rule. Though Okazaki had a good first half and was unlucky to be withdrawn so soon. 

[Leicesterpool]

Lingard's goal would never have been allowed if Kante was around, he almost walked through our defence and midfield to get in. Kante would have put in a tackle and prevented that. A lot of team I thought looked a little bit tired I thought, mainly down to the travelling we've had recently. I wasn't that impressed in the first period we looked limited for choices, Albrighton and Simpson both had stinkers I'm afraid. They were just randomly lumbing the ball forward to no one and it happened more than three times. Things changed once Musa and Gray came in, Gray had a bit of a run at them and gave them something to worry about on the wings and Musa who I think should have started, really drove the team forward. Mahrez didn't seem there at all, I forgot he was on the field he was that poor. Vardy was... Vardy he tried his usual best and did score but looked a little leggy at times. Drinky by far looked the best on the field, didn't put a foot wrong all game. Our weakness I feel at the moment is the defensive midfield as mentioned without Kante well look dead vunerable. We weren't bad yesterday and the result did seem unfair, Man U didn't really boss the game at any time.

[EGBFitness]

Kante will be a loss, the type of player he is are hard to find which I find it quite comical for people to suggest to go out and buy another Kante. 

 

This is is why at the time and still now I feel we was short changed in the deal. 

 

Its hard to know how much of a loss he will be to us yet as I still think we are off the pace maybe due to a combo of travel and fitness. 

[Thracian]

7 hours ago, iancognito said:

Mahrez and Albrighton were shocking today. There's no way Albrighton can expect to stay ahead of Gray & Kaputska on that form. Let's not forget though that Gray is far from the finished article and is a brilliant young prospect, the sort you've championed on here for years. He learns every game and I'm more impressed every time he plays.

 

I'm not having any of this Mourinho masterclass rubbish. His team looked devoid of real attacking intent and scored from their only two real chances. The Lingard goal was bouncy, bobbly, lucky to run for him and in the end poor defending from us.. In the second half they looked bewildered about having two pacy players and he'd used 4 subs by the time he correctyed it and gave the defence more cover.

 

Ulloa really isn't the best cover front and back. Ibrahimovic is a clever player who made sure he was up against Wes whenever possible because Huth was winning everything.

 

In the first half we were poor, tactically and to a man granted but our set pieces caused them problems, Shinji hit the bar, Musa's header from the flick on and Utd weren't comfortable at all from long throws.

 

Ranieri always impresses me with his ability to switch to plan B early if plan A hasn't worked, he changed at half time today and until United made 4 or 5 subs they'd started to struggle defensively.

 

For me, we need to start switching Riyad and the opposing winger far more than we do. As with Albrighton, teams are making him go down the line because they know he wants to cut in. Every single time he cut inside today they had an extra man anticipating it. He either needs to be switched from side to side to vary it or he needs a new trick in his locker. Musa looked decent, Vardy looked sharp, Hernandez was far more solid than Simpson as plusses. Drinkwater gave a few passes away but there were still a couple of cross firled passes that anyone would have been proud about.

 

Oh and if we'd kept Fuchs on for the final ten, that cross doesn't get in and Wes doesn't get outjumped. If we need LB cover it's Chilwell. Jeffrey shouldn't get near our defence ever again he's a liability.

 

Did I talk about Mourinho's "masterclass" having anything to do with attacking intent - United's attacking intent looked laboured. I talked about their passing and retaining possession in the heat. 

 

Once we'd equalised they passed efficiently, economically and always seemed to have a spare player moving into a supporting position to receive the ball.

 

As for your last sentence was that the  "plan B" you referred to? Because it was calamatous. Ranieri had talked about the game not being "a friendly" yet right from the off it was treated like a social exercise to get as many people a game as possible.

 

Compromising the left side meant we conceded the softest cross and the first thing you need to do tactically against Ibrahimovic is to stop the crosses he feeds on. 

 

Ranieri seemed more intent on giving people games rather than winning the match.

 

But that's the way it may well turn out this season - a stronger squad, everyone needing to be kept happy but very little chance of retaining the close-knit team spirit that was so important in achieving all we did last season when everyone knew what to expect of the others. Yesterday apart from a couple of 10 minute spells, no-one seemed to know who would be where or how best to work the ball. 

 

Sometimes we were like strangers...and had maybe four chances/half chances all game with what should (potentially) have been a more attacking team than before.   

 

             

[Oxfordfox83]

A lot of chat about how Kante would have prevented the first goal, but really Morgan would have prevented that goal 99% of the time. It was a blunder, and he's not quite up to speed yet, but better he does it in that game than in the League. 

 

No doubt we'll miss Kante, but there wasn't a lot yesterday that you could attribute to him being missing. We were a bit rusty and still trying things out (no way would Fuchs have gone off if the result mattered to Claudio...) 

[Jazzy_Jeff]

I would be intrigued to see Amartey, Drinkwater and Mendy in a three with Musa and Mahrez either side of Vardy.

 

Without Kante we are going to be outnumbered a lot more in the middle.

[Bunyip]

3 minutes ago, Oxfordfox83 said:

A lot of chat about how Kante would have prevented the first goal, but really Morgan would have prevented that goal 99% of the time. It was a blunder, and he's not quite up to speed yet, but better he does it in that game than in the League. 

 

No doubt we'll miss Kante, but there wasn't a lot yesterday that you could attribute to him being missing. We were a bit rusty and still trying things out (no way would Fuchs have gone off if the result mattered to Claudio...) 

Well the result damn well mattered to me . I paid a lot of money to go to the match only to see Ranieri mess about with a few minutes to go . Why take Fuchs off ?  as soon as he did that and put Schlupp in his place you just knew what would happen . Sorry this wasn't just a friendly it was for a trophy and at Wembley and world tv coverage and like it or not people will quite rightly on that showing write us off. 

[TJB-fox]

In a competitive game there's no way Huth would've allowed Lingard through there, he would've sent him back to old Trafford with a flying scissor kick m8

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Steven said:

I thought ref didn't give decisions against Man Ure only on the basis that they are a "big club". Example their centre half stamps on Vardy, nothing. Two seconds later an innocuous touch by a City player is given as a foul. I mean, WTF.   

Was watching Premier League years 15/16. Effectively Bailly committed four fouls of a similar ilk to Simpson got a red at Arsenal

[lcfcdamo]

18 minutes ago, Jazzy_Jeff said:

I would be intrigued to see Amartey, Drinkwater and Mendy in a three with Musa and Mahrez either side of Vardy.

 

Without Kante we are going to be outnumbered a lot more in the middle.

Agree  i really think we should give this a go cant believe we haven't in pre season to be honest

[lcfcdamo]

I think we played pretty well yesterday and surely no 1 can so we played badly think drinkwater was the best player on the pitch by a long way really would like to see him with Amartey in the middle tho maybe with mendy aswell also think man u wasnt very impressive at all really cant see rooney playing a lot this year he looked really poor

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Oxfordfox83 said:

Wow, you must have watched a very short highlights reel to get that from the game. I think every statement you made was wrong, which in such a long email is impressive.

Clearly you don't frequent the general section. Thrac writes much longer posts there and they are completely false too. 

 

2 hours ago, Monsell1976 said:

I would be more concerned if I was a Man U fan.

Yes they won, but by a Man U standard, I thought they were ordinary, nothing special at all.

We didn't play to our potential, and saw things to be positive about, musa, vardy looking dangerous, gray pushing for a start.

Also saw things that concerned me, King weak link, I feel we have something missing, but can't put my finger on it, and the defence getting opened up to easy again.

All this said, the season hasn't started yet, and trust those running the club to get it right, come the start of the season

Grewks says it was Manchester United C team.

[RowlattsFox]

16 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Was watching Premier League years 15/16. Effectively Bailly committed four fouls of a similar ilk to Simpson got a red at Arsenal

To be fair Simpson could have been booked more than twice in the first half alone. Some cynical fouls. 

[SemperEadem]

Fans were mutes, so quiet.

[GazzinderFox]

We looked really threatening whenever we were able to win back possession in our own half we just needed a tad more composure to pick the right pass to make it count. Vardy looked suitably pumped, I loved his tackle that got him booked and his fitness looked good too, still chasing in injury time on a hot afternoon. 

 

Lets hope Albrighton can rediscover his form from the first half of last season as he works really hard for the team, even his crossing seems to have fallen apart. Hard to see him playing much early season. Drinkwater looked very much at home on the big stage though didn't he?

 

If anything I thought Man U looked worse than last season. Zlatan's gonna be a flop in the prem if he ambles around like that all season.

 

Wembley's cavernous isn't it? I thought I was gonna have a vertigo episode by the time I got to my seat on the third tier, even worse than Newcastle!  

[Oxfordfox83]

1 hour ago, Bunyip said:

Well the result damn well mattered to me . I paid a lot of money to go to the match only to see Ranieri mess about with a few minutes to go . Why take Fuchs off ?  as soon as he did that and put Schlupp in his place you just knew what would happen . Sorry this wasn't just a friendly it was for a trophy and at Wembley and world tv coverage and like it or not people will quite rightly on that showing write us off. 

Quite rightly? Fine, let them write us off. Being underdogs went OK for us last year.

 

Why take Fuchs off? Well, presumably because at some point this season we'll need to play without our first choice full backs. We arsed around raising money at the ICC (also a trophy, but do you know who won? I don't, and couldn't care less), so are still testing the squad. In Claudio, for very good reason, we trust.

 

I presumably paid pretty much the same as you to get me and Mrs Oxfordfox down to Wembley-I was entertained and left feeling like we were shaping up pretty nicely for the season. Win would have been great, but not at the expense of the coming year's games. Everyone there knew exactly what they were buying, a ticket to the season opening ceremony, and effectively the last pre-season friendly. Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself-I did.

[foxaholic]

1 hour ago, Thracian said:

 

Did I talk about Mourinho's "masterclass" having anything to do with attacking intent - United's attacking intent looked laboured. I talked about their passing and retaining possession in the heat. 

 

Once we'd equalised they passed efficiently, economically and always seemed to have a spare player moving into a supporting position to receive the ball.

 

As for your last sentence was that the  "plan B" you referred to? Because it was calamatous. Ranieri had talked about the game not being "a friendly" yet right from the off it was treated like a social exercise to get as many people a game as possible.

 

Compromising the left side meant we conceded the softest cross and the first thing you need to do tactically against Ibrahimovic is to stop the crosses he feeds on. 

 

Ranieri seemed more intent on giving people games rather than winning the match.

 

But that's the way it may well turn out this season - a stronger squad, everyone needing to be kept happy but very little chance of retaining the close-knit team spirit that was so important in achieving all we did last season when everyone knew what to expect of the others. Yesterday apart from a couple of 10 minute spells, no-one seemed to know who would be where or how best to work the ball. 

 

Sometimes we were like strangers...and had maybe four chances/half chances all game with what should (potentially) have been a more attacking team than before.   

 

             

I agree with the comment that Ranieri  seemed more  interested in giving everyone a game than the result. Coming back many were saying the  large amounts  of substitutes downvalued . I thought we would win after we equalised but  finishing with only one  defender from last season  does us no favours.

[Woollett's Wellies]

Ranieri was trying to give as many players match time as possible. Why? Because this pre-season has been all about commercial opportunity and not about setting the team and individual players for the new season. There have been too few games and too much travel. The loss of Kante is still a problem which might have been better addressed if we were seeing players like Mendy more up to speed in thought and general match fitness. He is getting better, (in my opinion). But he's still some way off and, let's face it, he isn't the same player as Kante so his involvement requires a change to the rest of the team structure. To make this succesful it needs game time and this is where we are still coming up short.  

[Bunyip]

1 hour ago, Oxfordfox83 said:

Quite rightly? Fine, let them write us off. Being underdogs went OK for us last year.

 

Why take Fuchs off? Well, presumably because at some point this season we'll need to play without our first choice full backs. We arsed around raising money at the ICC (also a trophy, but do you know who won? I don't, and couldn't care less), so are still testing the squad. In Claudio, for very good reason, we trust.

 

I presumably paid pretty much the same as you to get me and Mrs Oxfordfox down to Wembley-I was entertained and left feeling like we were shaping up pretty nicely for the season. Win would have been great, but not at the expense of the coming year's games. Everyone there knew exactly what they were buying, a ticket to the season opening ceremony, and effectively the last pre-season friendly. Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself-I did.

Well you are wrong to presume I did not enjoy myself , I certainly did . But I disagree with you on saying this was just like a practice match . Fuchs was taken off with literally a few minutes to go . And what did it show ? That Schlupp has never been a left back and will never be a left back ?  Well I and I imagine 99% of Leicester could have told the manager that . If any good comes out of that silly substitution it will be that Ranieri now knows what the rest of us do.

[Ted Maul]

Anyone got a decent photo of the tifo yesterday? Also, any idea whether it was organised by the club or Wembley? Seemed pretty similar to the United one.

[SemperEadem]

34 minutes ago, Ted Maul said:

Anyone got a decent photo of the tifo yesterday? Also, any idea whether it was organised by the club or Wembley? Seemed pretty similar to the United one.

Nothing to do with fan groups. Was a Wembley organised. Holding a plaggy bag was a strange one I thought.

[Guest Col city fan]

I commented after the Barcelona game that, suddenly, and once more, Big Wes is being targeted. And maybe rightly so. He himself looks off the pace a little. But we know how good he and Huth can be.

I recall a couple of seasons ago, when threads were created targeting individual players and Wes was one of them. Donkey, a blunder waiting to happen...and similar comments.

I really fear this could happen again. The defence was so shielded last season (for the majority anyway) by the centre mids, that they made very few errors. They felt confident and were put under less pressure.

Watch this space.....