Amartey, King or Mendy

[Gazza M]

Maybe all three if we have to give Drinkwater a rest or he gets injured.

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

1 hour ago, Wilson_6 said:

Think this would be a class plan B

Grind them down, and then bring on pace after 70 minutes? I think Vardy has proved how good he is off the bench for England, but I am not sure he would like it.

[zealot]

1 hour ago, Wilson_6 said:

Think this would be a class plan B

Spot on Wilson_6. Wonder if we'll see Ranieri try it out when Mendy gets back...

[Jimmy]

Amartey right now, the closest to Kante we had was Matty James pre injury so if he can come back as the same player he may well win the place IMO

[NotTheMarketLeader]

49 minutes ago, MarriedaLeicesterGirl said:

Grind them down, and then bring on pace after 70 minutes? I think Vardy has proved how good he is off the bench for England, but I am not sure he would like it.

Ffs. 

 

Vardy terrorised the Belgians, so you want to leave him out? 

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

1 hour ago, NotTheMarketLeader said:

Ffs. 

 

Vardy terrorised the Belgians, so you want to leave him out? 

I was casting doubt on the formation suggested by Wilson_6. I am not sure you can get away with putting the #1 player on the bench. But I do get the theory behind it as a rarely used plan B...I don't think it would fly.

[biggs]

Went with Mendy but not convinced honestly which of Mendy or Amartey is best in a 4-4-2. I like King as a sub. Not convinced the 4-4-2 is best suited this year v top 5 or 6 clubs so maybe both when playing the likes of Man C/U, Chelsea.

 

Only time will tell. Lots of praise for Amartey yesterday but trashed v Liverpool. Maybe it's CR that needs to look at adjusting formations when we are up against the so called elite.

[Vardinio'sCat]

 

Well, Amartey gets the opportunity until Mendy is fit, then CR  has a choice.

 

Amarteys first 3 games have been a roller-coaster, but I bet Nempy was a bit worried for his place after the Swansea game.

 

Drinky on Amartey (Mirror)

 

And when England international Drinkwater was asked if he felt extra responsibility playing alongside a youngster, he replied: “I didn’t know how old he is!

“Is he really 21? Honestly, the way he plays, he doesn’t look that young.

"I wouldn’t say it’s more responsibility for me because he carries a lot of it himself.

“Yes, N’Golo is a big loss, but he is gone. We’re working for Leicester and we have to get on with it now. He’s a good player.

“This is an easy team to slot in to. Islam Slimani has slotted in perfectly up front, too. We try to make it as easy as we can to become part of the team.”

 

[WigstonWanderer]

I was looking at Kante's stats relative to last year. His tackles and interceptions are about a third of last year's. Totally wasted at Chelsea.

 

I mentioned this in another thread (OT), but is there any possibility of converting Albrighton to the Kante role? He works hard, tackles well and is used to linking up with the attack.

 

His tackles and interceptions this year are similar to Kante's (this year at Chelsea).

[STUHILL]

Far too early to judge Amartey and Mendy, but it is definitely a choice between those two. Amartey offers strength, pace and aerial ability, whereas Mendy seems to have more composure and would help us control the midfield better. I voted Mendy but more so on what I hope he can offer when we see more of him. Amartey looks good so far but I still see some fundamental weaknesses that will take time to improve, as he develops as a player. Mendy I am hoping is more of the finished article. Very excited to see him play a full 90mins soon and see what kind of player we have on our hands

 

 

 

[Guest Col city fan]

Unless Mendy is quality, I don't think any of them are going to be quite good enough to really kick on

[Beliall]

15 hours ago, Wilson_6 said:

Think this would be a class plan B

if that's the formation i would play DD with mendy or amarty behind king in midfield

[les-tah]

6 hours ago, WigstonWanderer said:

I was looking at Kante's stats relative to last year. His tackles and interceptions are about a third of last year's. Totally wasted at Chelsea.

 

I mentioned this in another thread (OT), but is there any possibility of converting Albrighton to the Kante role? He works hard, tackles well and is used to linking up with the attack.

 

His tackles and interceptions this year are similar to Kante's (this year at Chelsea).

If only football was that simple haha haha

[Lambert09]

I think Armatey is going to be one of those players that is brilliant when you are in front. But when you are chasing a game he's going to be frustrating.  He is good at breaking things down and doing the simple things. But when you are after a goal and need to be driving at a team in the later stages of a match I think one of the others might be a better option. 

 

I would definitely start him this weekend, but if we are needing a goal id consider dragging him. 

[Guest Col city fan]

3 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

I think Armatey is going to be one of those players that is brilliant when you are in front. But when you are chasing a game he's going to be frustrating.  He is good at breaking things down and doing the simple things. But when you are after a goal and need to be driving at a team in the later stages of a match I think one of the others might be a better option. 

 

I would definitely start him this weekend, but if we are needing a goal id consider dragging him. 

Spot on.

[Thracian]

What a difficult question and how fascinating to read the various arguments forwarded.

 

First it's a bit soon to be sure of anything regarding Amartey and Mendy but from what has been shown I'm quite excited about Amartey if he can iron out his failings. 

 

I've long seen benefits in having a tall (or tallish) strong central midfielder such as Arsenal had with Patrick Vieira and Manchester United have with Marouane Fellaini.  They're intimidating, win lots of headers in the engine room and provide an extra presence for the back line at set pieces.

 

There's no doubt Amartey can play a bit too with the Swansea and Brugge games showing his ability to win the ball and then feed it fairly quickly and competently. He's also got stamina at a steady pace and an acceptable awareness in possession. All these things are worthwhile qualities for one so young.

 

But, like Andy King, he has a problem tracking runners because he's not naturally aware of what's going on behind and around him and he's not one of these impish, quick-off-the-mark athletes with the Kante like ability to cling onto anyone threatening danger. 

 

Against Liverpool he was woefully exposed but our midfield was exposed in our previous visit to Anfield both in terms of numbers and movement. The situation just got worse this time.

 

I also mentioned Amartey's languid approach when the runners had found their gaps and got beyond him. There was no sense of urgency whatever, just a willingness to leave it to the back four - thus exposing our manoueverability problems still further, especially as we seem to be diving in on tackles more this season instead of waiting our moment which was such a forte or Kante.

 

But Amartey can and hopefully wuill improve his awareness and willingness in these situations.

 

King four-year contract surprised me as well as Babs although I do wonder if he might be earmarked for eventual management. He remains by far the fastest and probably most accurate passer we've got at a time when the level of opposition we're increasingly facing will take increased advantage of our giving away possession.

 

But King's has faults too and I'm not sure he can do much about them now. He's probably more aware of runners than Amartey but he's just not athletic enough to deal with them. He's always been a bit one-paced, much more a distance runner than a sprinter and this affects another aspect of his game as well as trying to cope with runners.

 

That's his ability to score vital goals and make telling passes. He doesn't get much chance now to do the former and that's a pity because he's far and away our most natural finisher in midfield though I do think Drinkwater's trying to improve that aspect.

 

I just wonder if Kingy's conscious now of the punishment waiting if he needs to recover quickly and consequently doesn't get into so many scoring positions and doesn't risk the more adventurous passes of which he's quite capable despite his game being based on passing speed and accuracy even under pressure.

 

Hence my conclusion he's best in there as a reliable alternative when it comes to closing games out.

 

As for Mendy again, like Babs, he seems to be a shadower rather than a tackler and perhaps that showed when he got injured. I got the impression he'd been told to make his presence felt a bit more but it wasn't really natural to him and especially with him still lacking a bit of sharpness. It raised the question of whether he'll adapt to the ruggedness of Premiership football and the weight of games but there's no way of judging that yet so I'm still entirely unsure or his value or otherwise.

 

So, in terms of answering the question I'd stick with Amartey and agree with others that we need to make adjustments when facing fast-moving passing teams.

 

We also need to evolve our defence because, as others have mentioned, there's often too big a gap between our back line and our midfield - and too little forward support due to defenders trying not to leave themselves exposed. Chilwell's surely the heir apparent on the left when he gains the strength and ruthlessness to go with his unquestioned ability but we surely need a strong, fast attack-capable right-back and the option of a dominant but mobile centre-back.

 

We've so many qualities it would be a shame to see our ambition thwarted for the want of fine-tuning.                                     

 

[Babylon]

2 hours ago, Lambert09 said:

I think Armatey is going to be one of those players that is brilliant when you are in front. But when you are chasing a game he's going to be frustrating.  He is good at breaking things down and doing the simple things. But when you are after a goal and need to be driving at a team in the later stages of a match I think one of the others might be a better option. 

 

I would definitely start him this weekend, but if we are needing a goal id consider dragging him. 

 

2 hours ago, Col city fan said:

Spot on.

We'll see... the stats posted earlier show him as actually creating more chances per 90 than anyone else so far, and more key passes. Last season when he came on and played on the right I thought his link up play was very good and got himself and others into good positions a few times.

[yag101]

Amartey has more bite in the midfield, but King over Mendy any day for me.

[Babylon]

1 hour ago, yag101 said:

Amartey has more bite in the midfield, but King over Mendy any day for me.

Considering we've watched Mendy for a grand total of 55 minutes... I have no idea how we can judge. It's currently a stretch being asked to pick any of them based on anything but guess work.

 

[yag101]

5 hours ago, Babylon said:

Considering we've watched Mendy for a grand total of 55 minutes... I have no idea how we can judge. It's currently a stretch being asked to pick any of them based on anything but guess work.

 

I've closely examined how he's played in all the games thus far, friendlies included, and I'm not satisfied he offers the right solution to our midfield problem.

 

He is extremely conservative with his positioning and is reluctant to move forwards. He is incredibly risk-averse with his passing. These traits don't fit well with our style of play.

 

He would be well suited to being the deepest midfielder in a three, a proper 'Makalele', with the ability to spray the ball around from deep. Not a midfield two like ours.

 

Also, King is the most intelligent midfielder we've got.

[Koke]

I feel a bit sorry for King. He appears to be 4th choice, and he will be 5th choice if we sign Adrien in January. Matty James is practically out of the club if we sign Adrien. 

 

Right now I prefer Amartey. But when we're up against big teams like United away soon then we might be better off having a 3 man midfield. I don't want to see us get overrun again like against Liverpool - and Amartey is not as good or as efficient as Kante.

[TheSomersetFox]

13 hours ago, Lambert09 said:

I think Armatey is going to be one of those players that is brilliant when you are in front. But when you are chasing a game he's going to be frustrating.  He is good at breaking things down and doing the simple things. But when you are after a goal and need to be driving at a team in the later stages of a match I think one of the others might be a better option. 

 

I would definitely start him this weekend, but if we are needing a goal id consider dragging him. 

 

[Thracian]

King might be getting the chance of an extended rest after the Euros. I may be off the mark but I think the club's been pretty gentle with him since his achilles tendon trouble and perhaps, if they don't need to overtax him, they won't.

 

With the extending of his contract it certainly doesn't seem as if they don't rate him, but he does seem to be gradually falling down the pecking order.

 

He remains the only natural finisher we've got playing in central midfield but even that aspect's on the wane either due to lack of opportunity or of the athleticism needed to get forwards and backwards in equal hurry. 

 

Trouble is, the less someone plays the more chance they'll be less than sharp when they do play but that's the way it is for the fringe players of a modern top class football club. 

 

Doubtless the wages compensate and the lack of playing time may even extend a career so there are upsides!        

[Babylon]

7 hours ago, yag101 said:

I've closely examined how he's played in all the games thus far, friendlies included, and I'm not satisfied he offers the right solution to our midfield problem.

 

He is extremely conservative with his positioning and is reluctant to move forwards. He is incredibly risk-averse with his passing. These traits don't fit well with our style of play.

 

He would be well suited to being the deepest midfielder in a three, a proper 'Makalele', with the ability to spray the ball around from deep. Not a midfield two like ours.

 

Also, King is the most intelligent midfielder we've got.

You see here is the issue, you're judging him on a couple of friendlies against some of the best teams in the world.

 

You're also judging him before he's had a chance to adjust to a new formation and new team mates. Or before Ranieri has had his chance to tweak tactics.

 

That, is frankly bloody ridiculous.

[yag101]

1 hour ago, Babylon said:

You see here is the issue, you're judging him on a couple of friendlies against some of the best teams in the world.

 

You're also judging him before he's had a chance to adjust to a new formation and new team mates. Or before Ranieri has had his chance to tweak tactics.

 

That, is frankly bloody ridiculous.

What do scouts do? It's merely observing the type of player he is. Just saying that based on current evidence, he has a lot to learn. Not saying he can't do it but it'll take him quite some time. And an aggressive ball winner he will never be. He won't slot in seamlessly and personally, I wouldn't have signed him. £13 million is a lot of money to spend on someone like that. Seems like a Ranieri signing to me.

 

Idrissa Gueye would've been a much better fit. I'm certain Steve Walsh agrees too, considering bringing him in was his first move at Everton, and it's already proving to be a successful one.