What is wrong?

[GoldstarFox31]

I look at it in a different view. What is happening at City is happening, only the players and Claudio can prevent us going back down to the Championship. Something has got to happen but there are no excuses. Look at Spurs and Liverpool for instance. Perennial nearly men but they don't give up, stop trying-they keep going. It wouldn't be their only title in their history, they have the hunger and fight for their clubs and managers.

I see it as a very poor attitude from the players. It's all good when you're at home spanking Man City but concede a goal or come up against a side with a smite of trying and they seem to lose all passion and composure. Southampton weren't great but at least they made chances and tried. That performance was dire, I like Shinji, but a ball went close by him in the first half early on and he just bimbled after the player. Last season he would have gone after him like a terrier.

They have no passion at the minute for whatever reason but something has got to change, even if it is just for us fans.

 

[yorkie1999]

4 minutes ago, GoldstarFox31 said:

I look at it in a different view. What is happening at City is happening, only the players and Claudio can prevent us going back down to the Championship. Something has got to happen but there are no excuses. Look at Spurs and Liverpool for instance. Perennial nearly men but they don't give up, stop trying-they keep going. It wouldn't be their only title in their history, they have the hunger and fight for their clubs and managers.

I see it as a very poor attitude from the players. It's all good when you're at home spanking Man City but concede a goal or come up against a side with a smite of trying and they seem to lose all passion and composure. Southampton weren't great but at least they made chances and tried. That performance was dire, I like Shinji, but a ball went close by him in the first half early on and he just bimbled after the player. Last season he would have gone after him like a terrier.

They have no passion at the minute for whatever reason but something has got to change, even if it is just for us fans.

 

It's not just the players though, it's everyone. If someone says that we're doing shit this season I bet the standard reply is along the lines of yes but we won the league last year which kind of dismisses this season as important anymore, my point being that we've all lost our fight and desire because nothing else really matters. The reality in football is you're only as good as your last game.

[Leamington Fox]

I think the original post on this thread was spot on and I do not think any of us know what is going on.  Our squad is pretty good, albeit the defence needs revamping.  I cannot understand the apathy and lack of commitment.  There must be discontent in the dressing room.

 

I've read some interesting books about last season, but Volume II (season 2016-17) will be just as fascinating.  What the heck has gone wrong?

 

I'm just back from Southampton and at no stage did the lads look like they thought they'd get anything out of the game.  Even at 1-0 down, it just went flat and quiet.  No positive reaction at all

[harpendenfox]

I agree with you @Leamington Fox. There was nothing today. I've been in the 'things will sort themselves out' camp until today. Now I'm simply not sure. Forget formations and transfers. Without commitment, energy and drive we are nothing. I refuse to pick on any individual player because today there was a complete lack of energy and effectiveness all over the pitch.

 

We are in heaps of trouble, and we are not too good to go down. The only positive is that if we can relocate our desire, and our collective spirit, then we have the ability to collect enough points to stay up.

 

So which Leicester City is it to be?

[BigMicky]

1 hour ago, Cadno'r Cymoedd said:

The greatest climbers often return with new challenges on the same peak. That is the hallmark of legends. Under Ferguson, the same players had the desire to win season after season. Great tennis players don't win a grand slam tournament and down their racket. 

Again, why are you comparing us with United or great Tennis players? What happend to Goran Ivanisevic after he won Wimbledon?

[David Guiza]

You can cherrypick whichever 11 players you wish, but if they're not motivated it's irrelvant. Last season each and every player fought for one and otherl, they all knew exactly where to be when and never slipped from that task. This season they are simply not at the races, there are far too many simple mistakes and halfhearted challenges for it to be a matter of talent. 

I've lost count of the amount of times the back four have hoofed the ball for a throw in, the midfield have placed a simple 4 yard ball back to the oppostion, the forwards have ran into a blind spot, the wingers have failed to beat the first man. It's attriocious. You'd have to go a fair way down the leagues to find a team who make as many basic mistakes as we have this season.

 

The most worrying thing is that there is not a single thing that we're doing well to build upon. We can't make it through half an hour without a basic mistake that leads to a goal. We can't force any kind of sustained pressure upon the opposition to force them back and get a foothold in the game. We simply cannot creat anything in the way that even the likes of Hull can with Snodgrass or Sunderland with Defoe. I have tried my best to not jump the gun this season, but it's really begining to get desperate. I hope for all our sakes that Slimani and Mahrez hit the ground running upon their return otherwise it may get even worse before it gets any better. 

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

Just now, BigMicky said:

Again, why are you comparing us with United or great Tennis players? What happend to Goran Ivanisevic after he won Wimbledon?

He was like us last year. One win. Not a great then in the grand scheme of things. United won it or at least competed well throughout the PL years. No sitting back. In other words, winning it once doesn't mean you sit on your laurels and decline, which we seem to have done. 

[ousefox]

We changed to 433 with wingerd and won away at everton and never used the formation again. Wtf is going on there?

[sm1]

I dislike Souness with a passion but he was spot on after the game, when he said that formation doesn't matter because the aggression has gone out of our game. We're passive, sitting back and allowing teams to play in front of us. Not one player goes in hurrying players, sticking their boot in until we've conceded a couple of goals. 

[BigMicky]

3 minutes ago, Cadno'r Cymoedd said:

He was like us last year. One win. Not a great then in the grand scheme of things. United won it or at least competed well throughout the PL years. No sitting back. In other words, winning it once doesn't mean you sit on your laurels and decline, which we seem to have done. 

Exactly, he was a rank outsider just like us with Federer being United if you will. We are worlds apart as were they. Why are you comparing us to united??

[Buzzell]

It's like they don't give a flying fvck other than Kasper. Did the impossible last year, got big contracts and wages that perhaps no other team would pay them other than Kasper, Mahrez, Vardy ect, became worldwide celebrities and adored by millions of people for doing the impossible, getting them fancy cars and attention from around the world, losing Kante, perhaps one of the greatest players to play in the blue shirt, to then not replace him whatsoever, signing players that don't seem up to the task, Claudio not knowing what to do to fix this mess, playing long ball football to Vardy against defenders who all day long will have a field day against him.

 

Everything is wrong. 

[DMU Fox]

8 minutes ago, Watson said:

We changed to 433 with wingerd and won away at everton and never used the formation again. Wtf is going on there?

 

This is my confusion. It worked quite nicely as you had 2 CDM's providing cover to the back 4, and allowed our best passer of the ball in Drinkwater to play further forward, meaning he had more of an impact on the opposition box. This combined with 2 wingers meant we looked better defensively, and had more of a threat going forward, hence why we rescued the result there. Instead of building on that positive showing we've ripped it up and binned it off. It is baffling as we've gone backwards.

 

As we've seen this season, 442 doesn't work as we don't have Kante so we get overrun, so Claudio stating he wants to go back to it is deeply worrying. Sad to see what mess this season has turned into. I hope we win on Friday, otherwise it'll be an evil atmosphere towards the team.

[dannythefox]

Terrible tactics/formation no hunger from the players. Drinkwater playing wide in the 3 shit he needs to be in the middle. Morgan and Huth also looked a year older today we've got some big problems that need sorting asap. 

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

 

1 minute ago, BigMicky said:

Exactly, he was a rank outsider just like us with Federer being United if you will. We are worlds apart as were they. Why are you comparing us to united??

You miss my point. The post I was responding to referred to a lack of desire to climb Everest again having done it once. I argue that yes that indeed might be true for some. Perhaps Ivanisovic was content with winning once for example. But that doesn't have to be the case. United for example. I am not saying we should be compared with them directly. I am saying that we should be capable of responding afresh to the challenge of being champions, which means being committed and having desire to defend it with pride. That is not there at present. 

[BigMicky]

6 minutes ago, Cadno'r Cymoedd said:

 

You miss my point. The post I was responding to referred to a lack of desire to climb Everest again having done it once. I argue that yes that indeed might be true for some. Perhaps Ivanisovic was content with winning once for example. But that doesn't have to be the case. United for example. I am not saying we should be compared with them directly. I am saying that we should be capable of responding afresh to the challenge of being champions, which means being committed and having desire to defend it with pride. That is not there at present. 

Nope, I get your point and you have assumed that because you are champions you have to defend it with pride. That's correct of teams that win it year in year out, not us. So comparing us to previous multiple champions is pointless.

[yorkie1999]

We're gonna do a Blackburn. 

[Ian Nacho]

Kanté.

[HoustonFox]

Watching the Chelsea game as I write this and watching Kante buzz around with pace and desire and thinking not only do we miss this but why did he leave for a team that wasn't in the Champs League which was supposedly his dream? 

 

The pieces have fallen together for me, reading this thread. He left because he saw Chelsea wanted to win the league this season and we didn't. He was a big part of winning the league but he wasn't the only part. We could have adapted without him but we didn't. I really think it is attitude. He didn't feel the others (I'm including Ranieri in this) wanted it as much as him so left. It's probably that simple. We offered him the same, he could have stayed for immediate Champions League gratification but he didn't. He wanted to win again. Mahrez and Vardy didn't, does that show their loyalty is paramount or that they have made it? Mahrez I think is seeing it, which is why he is so disaffected now. 

 

It might be time for Claudio to go. He has never won before and as said, his comments after we did it weren't about building a legacy, they were about being humble and seeing how it would go, and enjoying our European tour. That set the rot, set the complacency, set the attitude, and the players followed suit. 

 

Fergie would not have tolerated Vardy's book, movie, or Simpsons hotel booking antics, or other things causing distractions. Look what he kicked Beckham out for. A player who was pretty much one of his leading stars. 

 

A real change from the top (no pun intended) is needed in terms of the club thinking about what thy want and then what they want to build. The owners said they wanted Europe in 3 years and got it sooner. They also said they wanted to build a legacy. Doesn't seem like their players and staff are on that path. They need to think big time if everyone is continuing to put in what they put in. 

[sm1]

I remember months ago when it was announced that the players had been given BMWs as a gift, Roy Keane said that despite his multiple titles he'd never been given such gifts by the owners. 

Everything after our title, the gifts, preseason, poor recruitment, massive contracts have led us to this point, a clueless team with players and coaches that just can't be bothered.

[foxes_rule1978]

9 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

We're gonna do a Blackburn. 

What finish 7th? I wish

[ZeGuy]

3 hours ago, filbertway said:

No ambition or a clear goal for the club. It should have been that we tried to use last season as a platform to establish ourselves at a top 6-8 club. The best of the rest.

 

Ranieri going on about 40 points winds me up. The lack of direction an ambition is horrible. We're a club with no aims.

 

We're crying out for some leadership again. 

Spot on. It doesn't only happen in football. At work when you're working in a team where the manager doesn't make clear statements, deadlines about what he wants or is up to, it is hard to get the best of your team. People doesn't exactly know what's expected from them, become lazy and lose their ambition and motivation. Which results in poor performances leading to even more demotivation. Vicious circle from which it's extremely difficult to get out. 

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

28 minutes ago, BigMicky said:

Nope, I get your point and you have assumed that because you are champions you have to defend it with pride. That's correct of teams that win it year in year out, not us. So comparing us to previous multiple champions is pointless.

So you don't think we should defend it with pride?  I would have thought that was a bare minimum even if realistically we aren't going to win it. I can accept we were very unlikely to retain it but I did expect us to use our position, financially and more importantly from a status viewpoint, to establish ourselves as a top half PL side. 

[HankMarvin]

3 hours ago, filbertway said:

No ambition or a clear goal for the club. It should have been that we tried to use last season as a platform to establish ourselves at a top 6-8 club. The best of the rest.

 

Ranieri going on about 40 points winds me up. The lack of direction an ambition is horrible. We're a club with no aims.

 

We're crying out for some leadership again. 

Agreed

Every game should be viewed as must win, not well we must achieve my pre season goal of 40 points.

He should be sacked just for having that sort of low expectation, teams that come up from the championship have higher expectations.

On a side note i don't think the crowd help singing champions of England you're never sing that, maybe its creating that untouchable ego for these players.

[VLC86]

26 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

We're gonna do a Blackburn. 

This, shall we release the chicken at Derby or Burnley?

[BigMicky]

1 minute ago, Cadno'r Cymoedd said:

So you don't think we should defend it with pride? 

Stop putting "words into my mouth". You have assumed that all title winners are the same, they clearly are not. A discussion about my thoughts on defending it with pride are irrelevant.