Ranieri

[Guest Col city fan]

1 minute ago, ttfn said:

Cambiasso was on the bench for that game.

My bad.. the point remains. We were terrible at times. I'm sure he played in the Villa game?

As a team, we were clueless for months really.

[adejo92]

1 hour ago, Cadno'r Cymoedd said:

Except we won it last season?!

We did but it was a one off

[Guest ttfn]

4 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

My bad.. the point remains. We were terrible at times. I'm sure he played in the Villa game?

As a team, we were clueless for months really.

You're right; we were clueless as to how to win games under Pearson but I always thought it was largely because we didn't even try to win lots of the games we went into.

 

Swansea was the worst performance but I thought Southampton (where we didn't have a shot on target until the end of the game (better than today)) was the most depressing game. We didn't even try then.

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

11 minutes ago, adejo92 said:

We did but it was a one off

Except you said we will never challenge for it! Which clearly we did and won it. We need to be more positive. 

[NotTheMarketLeader]

6 hours ago, fuchsntf said:

Ranieri, is also dumbfounded, players who last year chased downcevery ball and with meaning, are not

turning up.They are a ghost of their former selves...

our whole pressing game counter checking..have been blown apart, because that come devil come all spirit has gone.

Its not the opposition...The problem is at the players feet.

We never had an high % of possesion last season, but the ideas have gone. Back 5 have imploded.

We will need our home games to deliver, plus Claudio has now to look at his players and set up of permatations.

 

Morgan  is a major , major problem.It would now be easy to say his CB dsys are over at PL level.

The players are the problem, they need to find their balls again, bcos they are stuck up their own arses.

But this group we knew were never a confident talented side, with ample ball skills.

Amnezia has set in they have forgot the spirit and fight, that drove them to the top last season.

The pace and quick 1-2s have vanished, they are too long on  the ball. Musa and Vardy or Slimani

are not being given any decent service.

We are knackered in body and thought..Ranieri knew the best way to use the players strengths,

but the players are not giving him anything to work with.

Seems King Dick has gave up the ghost, and his Spirit stsyed in hibernation with the team's.

Nailed it. 

[lcfcdamo]

The difference from 442 last season to 442 this season is we had kante and Okazaki thats a massive difference without them 2 442 doesn't work and ranieri should of saw this after the hull game or at the very least Liverpool game i no today if we played 442 we would get battered especially without Okazaki has 1 of the front men and to start Schlupp over gray well in my opinion thats a disgrace 

[Chrysalis]

Here is my thoughts, we seem to have a mixture of two problems.

 

1 - players not focusing in PL games (yet they are in CL games).

This could be down to our now uneven wage structure, players thinking they achieved all there is to achieve or other reasons, but it is an opinion of mine that our team no longer gives 100%.

 

2 - Weird team selection.

Perhaps this is down to been under pressure to play new signings, but it could be something else.  In my view musa should never play with vardy, as they both the same type of player of which I think vardy is the superior player, musa was really bad in today's game, he simply looked really lost, e.g. after he found himself with the ball at the edge of our box with vardy running forward he stood there not knowing what to do and it was picked of him, whilst okazaki would have got it forward.  This was a problem last season as well, he kept wanting to drop okazaki, but we would stop winning games so he had to bring him back in, but this season with more strikers to choose from it seems he has decided to not even bench him, which is a sham as okazaki was absolutely key for us last season, involved in so many of our counter attacks.

 

Mahrez has been getting stick for "going missing", so I was curious as other people were how his replacement schlupp would get on, but I think in the first half schlupp got his first touch just before the half time whistle, whilst mahrez may not be the best at tracking back, he defenitly does it more than schlupp whilst at the same time having more natural talent.

 

It is all baffling, because chelsea is the type of game where you play okazaki and mahrez, as chelsea will out possession us so we should rely on the counter, and mahrez always is capable of creating something out of nothing, whilst both players one could argue are not so suited for the likes of burnley who were happy for us to have the ball.

 

Defensively morgan has completely lost it this season and seems to have really struggled with the rule changes on set pieces, I have warmed to hernandez who has improved, so I think hernandez should take his place with simpson coming back as right back, but we never going to drop our captian.

 

We miles away of where we were at the end of pearson's season and the start of last season, those 20 or so games we were running at teams with fast attacking football and it was winning us games, even after we fell behind in many of the games we fought back, that fight is completely gone this season.  We need to go back to that sort of football as I believe we were only able to change our style for the second half of the season because of kante who is no longer our player.

 

If we cannot get back to good form we will find more players leaving as well as they will see us holding back their careers.

[Monsell1976]

35 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

Don't understand why people are saying bring back Pearson. He did a great job when he was here but we've moved on now and bringing Pearson back would be a massive backward step. I'm as unhappy as everyone with out current results and performances but suggesting Ranieri should go is just ridiculous. We're not Chelsea, we don't sack our manager when we lose a few games!

What happened to him at derby?, that seemed to go pear shaped quite quickly.

[Blue ROI]

1 minute ago, Koke said:

People have this rose tinted view of Pearson. Make no mistake about it, he was truly phenomenal for us. But we have had sone stinking runs under him. The most recent is in the PL where we spent 5 month at the bottom of the table and lost consecutive games against Stoke, Palace and the likes. 

 

Have people also forgotten the shocking run we went on in the infamous play off season. The only reason we played Watford was because we went on a truly pathetic run and barely hung on to 6th place with a last minute winner at Forest. Remember the 0-1 home defeat to Millwall where Wes Morgan was sent off after just 3 (THREE) minutes? 

 

Some people love to rewrite history.

 

I'm a bit biased towards Pearson I have to say but I think any of the longer term fans or Pearsonites can be forgiven for that.

 

Anyone who lived through the dark days of the 00s is likely to look favourably at the post-2009 years bar the pearson gap. There was little to cheer about once O'Neill left and the club was always difficult to manage. Pearson was a bit of a lunatic but sometimes the madness works and it did for Leicester.

 

His shocking runs is undeniable and the losses of Forest and Bristol City in late 2009 was as bad as I've ever witnessed in my attendance but he always finished strong to a season.  As disappointing as both playoff defeats were his teams went down fighting in both years. Apart from the Swansea away 3-0 thrashing Leicester were a lot better than there position at 20th suggested. Pearsons teams might get a pasting once every so often but he'd instill a bit of fight in us at least. If he was there after Liverpool last month he would have given the players a serious beat down. There would be no pandering to big time Charlie's.

 

This is a big test of Ranieri. To his credit he has never been relegated but he had never won a league before last year either. The defence in the first half was atrocious and were it not for being champions Morgan and Huth would be used as a reason we could go down.  I'd be fearful that the doubts I had about Ranieri could come to reality and the signings over the summer havent yielded the results we would have hoped bar Europe. 

 

We have been underwhelming this season but it could not be anything else in the premiership. The top 7 looks as menacing as at any other point in the leagues history.The enormity of last year is still hitting home for me. The club has a lot of soul searching to do but we need a response from all at the club to show we belong in the Premiership.

[Barky]

Remember Pearson's attempt at the diamond? My god that was some abysmal football, and he persisted with it for weeks as I remember. 

 

While it's true that we never got smashed by anyone in the prem under pearson, we also set up much much more defensively, often with 8 or 9 defensive minded players, and we'd end up losing narrowly having never threatened to win. At least Ranieri is still fielding attacking teams and trying to win. I'd rather lose 5-0 while trying to win than park the bus and lose 1-0.

 

Also think even Pearson's great escape had a bit of luck to it. We played a load of teams already on the beach who turned up expecting an easy win because we were relegation fodder and we took them by surprise playing balls to the wall counter attacks. That was the only thing that worked for pearson all season and it saved us, but better teams with something to play for would have soon figured us out. Ranieri made a few changes straight away and by the end of last season our style had changed a lot but we kept winning. Tactically he's lightyears ahead of NP.

[jim5000]

Shlupp was a disaster today, at some points he was stood still with the ball without the faintest idea what to do. He didn't even run forward, just stood there. I'm not sure about Hernadez either, he looks a bit to casual. When he played in the centre early in the season (or was it the Charity Shield?) he was fouling like nobody's business, and at right-back he just doesn't have the urgency.

 

Morgan's head has gone and he should be benched, but he's the captain so it's difficult to do, although Drinkwater should be captain imo. I didn't ever see a problem with Simpson at RB, maybe dropping Morgan for Hernandez and keeping Simpson at RB would be ok.

 

I guess the main thing that has vanished is the urgency. With Shlupp, Hernandez, and Amarty strolling around the field with their sunglasses on, the team has lost all the dynamism and pace it had last year, and the forwards are completely isolated.

[Corky]

Although that football under Pearson for a while was hideous it at least had some structure. I couldn't tell you what we were trying to do today- if we were trying to park the bus (horrible phrase) then it was the worst attempt ever going by the first two goals.

 

Today was just bizarre in that we didn't look like a team going to attack yet had no organisation defensively either.

[jim5000]

For all the Pearsonites, he used to play Vardy at left wing....

[CosbehFox]

2 hours ago, Donut said:

Im wondering which was the bigger feat of magic really. Was it the one where Ranieri magically waved his wand despite actually being rubbish and really anyone could have been in charge taking a piggyback ride off Pearsons success to win the league?

 

Or was it your brain that magically erased the memory of Peterborough away, Barnsley away, Millwall away, Aston pissing Villa away TWICE, Southampton away, Swansea away, Newcastle away, West Ham away, Spurs away scoring 3 and STILL losing? Not to mention some of the home results...

Well you've completely gone off on a tangent only you can see because Nigel Pearson appears to be  your favourite subject. My reply was dispelling the myth that we can't expect a performance away at a big club. We can and we have in our two previous, recent PL seasons played well at the Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Anfield, White Hart Lane, Ethihad and Old Trafford. 

[BlueSi13]

2 hours ago, Lionator said:

On your deathbed, what are you going to remember? Ranieri leading us to the only top division title in our history in the most unlikely of circumstances or that the 3-0 defeat to a side worth millions more a couple of months later?

I have no idea what point you're trying to make?  Are we supposed to completely ignore the absolutely shambolic performances happening right now because of what happened last season?

 

Are you allowed to do that in your current line of work?  Have a great performance review one year and give up trying the next?

[adejo92]

4 hours ago, Cadno'r Cymoedd said:

Except you said we will never challenge for it! Which clearly we did and won it. We need to be more positive. 

But i also said how it was a one off season. Big boys didnt turn up. They have this season and they have all steam rolled us so far!

[Dan]

Did I seriously just see someone put "Pearson wouldn't stand for losing 3 straight away games"  I'm pretty sure we lost 7 in a row under him.

[Harry - LCFC]

This is in no way a post advocating we bring back Pearson, just want to clear up some of the silliness being said here.

 

A lot of people are claiming others are seeing Pearson with blue tinted spectacles. It's actually quite the opposite. In the 12/13 season and 14/15 season we finished 6th and 14th - both of which everyone would definitely have taken at the start. So really it's you lot who are misrembering him by choosing to look at selected periods of his record rather than each season in full.

 

[It'sblueupnorth]

3 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

Did I seriously just see someone put "Pearson wouldn't stand for losing 3 straight away games"  I'm pretty sure we lost 7 in a row under him.

We lost 6 in a row under him - during a spell which we didn't win for 99 days -amassing a total of 2 points from a possible of 39 

[volpeazzurro]

When I first saw Ranieri's team selection, with the exception first of Schlupp and Albrighton being the wrong way round I thought it was quite plausible.  Both of these players in theory offer good protection for their fullbacks. Neither of them offer a decent shot but in Albrighton's case in particular, if both were put on their natural side, a decent cross in could be virtually guaranteed,  which is why Slimani may have been a good option. Either way I didn't have a problem with it.

 

Ranieri couldn't however be expected to legislate on how poor Schlupp and the woeful Musa would be (and Chelsea were very good). Morgan has no excuse for his letting loose of Costa from the corner and as Sky highlighted, he did the exact same thing with Costa a second time. This was nothing to do with the new guidelines! 

 

Whilst I can see why Gray may have been left out from the start I would personally have brought him on earlier instead of Marhez.

 

Thought Ranieri was honest in his comments after the game. He answered why for example he didn't select Okazaki. I'm also personally quite happy with him having one eye on the Champions League, you can't have it both ways. Perennial failures Arsenal get there every year but what's the point if like them you put a weakened side out? Forget what might happen if we got past the first stage as that in itself would be a major achievement and I still think in the knockout stages we could spring a few suprises.  

 

Easy to crticise Ranieri today but I personally thought he had a right to expect more from the players he put on the pitch to start with. Clearly he is now aware that he cannot rely on Schlupp and  Musa. If Mendy was fit he may give a better option of a 433 than King would.

 

I think we'll do well against Copenhagen and then Palace will be a big game. A win against teams like these at home will see us getting a decent points tally. Europe and a top 6 post as some people expected almost was always going to be a huge ask. Getting through to the next round and 10th in Europe would be a great achievement for me, we have to remember where we have come from and the age of some of our future players. I  think as a club we are in a very healthy position. No panic. I for one certainly trust Ranieri 100%.

[Monsell1976]

Why are we even discussing Pearson, he's distant past, Claudio is struggling to balance all the games, and getting it wrong at times, but is still a gentleman, when dealing with the fans and media.

The amount of games and pressure he's under, Pearson would have lost the plot by now, let's see how the season plays out.

 

[HitchinFox]

Calm. Down. 

[waylander]

Yep agree time to calm down. We don't have the same settled side as last season . More games and we're playing the top teams starting to fire on all cylinders again. While our engine room has lost a cylinder were only firing on three. All the best teams have struggles look at last year . Things can only get better remember when your smiling the whole world smiles with you. Boy some miserable bleeders on here cheer up and back the boys . I think this has the look of the best team Leicester has ever had . when we hit form and start playing with our great manager we will be safe and have a chance of winning the Cl . Seen flashes  in the second half of our three big loses to give us more than hope. Always look on the bright side. Don't worry be happy. If you don't have a dream how can you have a dream come true. We lost to a team with the best midfielder in the world , the most inform striker, and player of the season 2015 , perspective 

[Guest Col city fan]

10 hours ago, Corky said:

Although that football under Pearson for a while was hideous it at least had some structure. I couldn't tell you what we were trying to do today- if we were trying to park the bus (horrible phrase) then it was the worst attempt ever going by the first two goals.

 

Today was just bizarre in that we didn't look like a team going to attack yet had no organisation defensively either.

Good post

Nailed it Corky

THAT IS the difference. Pearson at least had a game plan. We had zero game plan yesterday. It was like Ranieri conceded the game in favour of Tuesday . A point I made during the match thread.

[Monsell1976]

4 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Good post

Nailed it Corky

THAT IS the difference. Pearson at least had a game plan. We had zero game plan yesterday. It was like Ranieri conceded the game in favour of Tuesday . A point I made during the match thread.

Listen to the interview from Claudio on facebook, he pretty much says champions league is more important, as there is plenty of games in the premier league, but a limited amount in Europe.

Not going to slate Claudio, but is frustrating to watch us roll over without a fight, and a bit insulting to those paying good money to travel and support them.

A risky game to play, as when we do exit Europe, we could be in bad shape in the league.

The owners must be ok with it, as we keep doing it, and he seems quite matter of fact about it.

Pressure will be on if we lose Tuesday, after sacrificing the game yesterday.