Slimani/Vardy Partnership

[bigDfox33]

18 minutes ago, Monsell1976 said:

We look so much better with Vardy and slim together, than Vardy and Okazaki, don't understand why Okazaki gets in over him, the improvement in attack  is massive once Okazaki goes off, and slim comes on

I agree with this 

[lcfcben76]

Don't get the bashing, I've been one of his biggest critics this season but thought he was alright when he came in today and has done well recently.

[Col city fan]

I must be one of the few that think Vardy and Slim actually wouldn't work. 

Vardy needs a nuisance player to feed off. One full of energy to make those runs which give Vardy the time and space to make his. Okazaki does this. His energy diverts attention away from Vardy and he can slip in.

Slim is very different. He's big and slow and a handful in his own right. I think Slim OR Vardy can be the front man, but not both.

[Nick]

8 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

I must be one of the few that think Vardy and Slim actually wouldn't work. 

Vardy needs a nuisance player to feed off. One full of energy to make those runs which give Vardy the time and space to make his. Okazaki does this. His energy diverts attention away from Vardy and he can slip in.

Slim is very different. He's big and slow and a handful in his own right. I think Slim OR Vardy can be the front man, but not both.

Really? I didn't think anybody thought it was a potential pairing of the future!

[Eagle10]

1 hour ago, Col city fan said:

There was one chance, about half way through the second half, I think, where Slim was put through and was basically gonna be one on one with the keeper. 

He didn't have the pace to get away from the last defender (forcing him to have to go wider than he wanted) and his finish was tame to say the least.

Piss poor... genuinely.

Slimani is slow? Like compared to Vardy he is, but for his height I think he is kinda fast. Do you forget about his goal vs Everton? It was a fast run for a guy of his size.

[SCP1906]

To have both Vardy and Slimani in the pitch the team needs better/strong midfield players.

And another winger/creative player like Mahrez.

 

I think they can work together but the team needs more ball possession, and a strong midfield to get the ball back again when they lose it.

And a winger/a player with creativity/ability to get past defenders, besides Mahrez, to feed Slim or Vardy - because sometimes Mahrez can't play or its not in a good day.

 

To have both playing, the team needs to play in a more planned attack, needs more ball possession, needs stronger players to recover ball possession and players​ with better passing and crossing capabilities.

 

 

It needs to evolve from what we call 'jogar à equipa pequena' (playing like a 'small'/weak team) to 'jogar à equipa grande' (playing like a 'big team', with ball possession).

 

To do this it needs players...

 

 

I think Claudio was thinking in this.

He made LCFC Champion but he knew that the other teams after such sucess would play in a more defensive style against LCFC.

So to keep on top of Premier League he needed to make the team play in a different style.

But he failed, mainly because he lacked stronger players to have more ball possession and better passing/crossing capabilities.

 

 

Slim last year scored 20+ goals and he played mainly with another striker (Teo or Montero).

But he was playing with three (!) Euro champions midfielders (William Carvalho, Adrien Silva and João Mário).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lgfualol]

People need to rewatch that chance Slim had. It was a harder angle than Vardy had when he shot straight at Lloris and Slim was under pressure.

 

Think Slim and Vardy would work fine in a 352. Tonight though Spurs just thrashed us because of our lack of defence and injuries.

[ImBlue]

Okazaki is just litter isn't he? His closing down is a myth as he hardly ever tackles anyone, Vardy plays more on the shoulder and probably tackles twice as much. Any decent footballing team makes Okazaki so irrelevant. Hence we are always better when he's off, and he's always the first hooked. 

[sk3since03]

I'll be the first to admit i wasn't a fan of Slim throughout most of this season, but his impact in the last few games has defiantly changed my opionion on him 

 

Its hard not to love Shinji but Slim is certainly the better option moving forward now! Vardy/Slim partnership next season could be deadly given the right service.

 

Also, i'm not overly fussed with Mahrez leaving now 

[Thracian]

It's hard to imagine Slim and Vardy together in anything but a 3-5-2.

 

Once again last night Slimani showed brief examples of his capacity to find chances.

 

He should probably have scored with his main chance against Spurs but was screaming in frustration at the lack of precision cross from Albrighton when another equally good opportunity presented itself.

 

The problem we have is that Slimani's basically an out-and-out predatory striker. Yes, he can play a bit in putting a move together, but he's little more than a token gesture when we've lost possession because he doesn't look strong on stamina and the more work he does the more it takes his edge as an attacker. 

 

With strong players that others have mentioned in a 3-5-2 he might be lethal but we haven't got that option right now.

 

Spurs out-muscled us embarrassingly last night in different ways and several different areas last night, and this became ever more apparent with the introduction of other lightweights like Gray and Musa.

 

Some people battled hard to overcome the problem - for all that they couldn't manage it with insufficient help - but others were found wanting and there's no way we could beat Spurs without competing in every department.                

[Redouane]

9 hours ago, Monsell1976 said:

We look so much better with Vardy and slim together, than Vardy and Okazaki, don't understand why Okazaki gets in over him, the improvement in attack  is massive once Okazaki goes off, and slim comes on

The only explanation i can come up with is that Craig was really against Ranieri signing Slimani and he's trying to prove a point..

[Max Power]

It can work in the 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 but probably not in the 4-4-2 unless against the weaker sides. Would like to see it tried out against Bournemouth. 

 

I love Shinji but it really is time to move on. We need more than 60 minutes of decent movement and closing down. 

[Eagle10]

2 hours ago, Redouane said:

The only explanation i can come up with is that Craig was really against Ranieri signing Slimani and he's trying to prove a point..

Yes, Shakespeare has something against Slimani, in the last few games he showed he is better than Okazaki and still isn't in the starting 11. Something is fishy there.

[Eagle10]

4 hours ago, Thracian said:

It's hard to imagine Slim and Vardy together in anything but a 3-5-2.

 

Once again last night Slimani showed brief examples of his capacity to find chances.

 

He should probably have scored with his main chance against Spurs but was screaming in frustration at the lack of precision cross from Albrighton when another equally good opportunity presented itself.

 

The problem we have is that Slimani's basically an out-and-out predatory striker. Yes, he can play a bit in putting a move together, but he's little more than a token gesture when we've lost possession because he doesn't look strong on stamina and the more work he does the more it takes his edge as an attacker. 

 

With strong players that others have mentioned in a 3-5-2 he might be lethal but we haven't got that option right now.

 

Spurs out-muscled us embarrassingly last night in different ways and several different areas last night, and this became ever more apparent with the introduction of other lightweights like Gray and Musa.

 

Some people battled hard to overcome the problem - for all that they couldn't manage it with insufficient help - but others were found wanting and there's no way we could beat Spurs without competing in every department.                

Slimani is pretty mobile to be fair, and again talking about last year, he had a lot of stamina. He wasn't on his top form this year, not even close, only on the start when he scored all those goals. Then the CAN and the injuries didn't surely help, so he looks a bit off physically, but if he stays, hopefully he will recover his best form. He is more than capable of scoring 20+ goals in the Prem if the team is playing good.

[brucey]

10 minutes ago, Eagle10 said:

Yes, Shakespeare has something against Slimani, in the last few games he showed he is better than Okazaki and still isn't in the starting 11. Something is fishy there.

I think Shakey tried it a few games ago (while Slim was still injured, but I think he sees Ulloa and Slim interchangeably). He started Vardy/Ulloa then brought on Shinji for Ulloa later. We played terrible, then got better when Shinji came on. It's been the case every time Shinji hasn't started (we average about 2x the points per game when Shinji starts vs when he hasnt). I think he still wants to start Slim but is afraid of what always seems to inexplicably happen when dropping Shinji.

[Thracian]

38 minutes ago, Eagle10 said:

Yes, Shakespeare has something against Slimani, in the last few games he showed he is better than Okazaki and still isn't in the starting 11. Something is fishy there.

Better at what? Scoring goals or denying the opposition chance to build attacks? The only thing Shakespeare will care about football wise is winning matches and finding the most effective way of doing that. 

 

If I were judging simply on visual football ability I'd never have Shinji near any team of mine. But, leave him out of our team and something goes missing that Slimani doesn't replace, or anyone else I've seen for that matter.

 

I had a centre-forward once who was just the same. Ugliest football skills you ever saw. Chain-smoker. never left the penalty area. But just like Shinji and Claridge he scored the worst goals ever - scuffs, mishits and rebounds off his arse - but lots of them. First man on the team sheet every week apart from a hod-carrier I had in midfield who have come off best whether he tackled an opponent or an oil tanker.

 

The point is that some people just can't help making a difference for the better and, for others, it doesn't work so well. The manager might toss and turn over the logic of it but he'll pick the guys that win for him no matter how they do it. 

 

Frank Large was like that at Leicester years ago. Had the close control of a concrete stanchion, the athleticism of a giraffe and the all the finesse of a stampeding elephant. But the bloke became something of a cult figure. No matter who was in front of him, he just ran through em or over em leaving a trail of destruction and the ball in the net. 

 

Shinji doesn't even do the last bit very often but he does do something. I'm not completely sure what it is, even now. Maybe it's just that his enthusiasm's infectious. Either way he seems to make a difference.                  

  

[Kitchandro]

Let's be honest, we just need better strikers than Slimani & Okazaki if we've any ambition.

[AlloverthefloorYesNdidi]

15 hours ago, Col city fan said:

There was one chance, about half way through the second half, I think, where Slim was put through and was basically gonna be one on one with the keeper. 

He didn't have the pace to get away from the last defender (forcing him to have to go wider than he wanted) and his finish was tame to say the least.

Piss poor... genuinely.

"Basically one on one"....?

[LCCFox96]

I'll be disappointed to not see Vardy and Slimani start vs Bournemouth. Very much a mid-table dead rubber match for both teams so it makes sense to test out what one would presume is our best partnership - our favoured #9 and our £30mil investment. Think we've wasted some opportunities to that in the games since, or even including, Watford at home where safety was secured/all but secured. 

 

I rate Slimani and I hope we keep him and he comes good. Just get the feeling he's needed a season to bed in and with a full pre-season under his belt he'll be better prepped for the PL.

[Monsell1976]

5 hours ago, Redouane said:

The only explanation i can come up with is that Craig was really against Ranieri signing Slimani and he's trying to prove a point..

Might be, just seem any reasonable explanation as to why Okazaki gets in above him, Okazaki offers nothing, and slim will score goals, which takes a lot of pressure off Vardy 

[Thracian]

4 hours ago, Max Power said:

It can work in the 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 but probably not in the 4-4-2 unless against the weaker sides. Would like to see it tried out against Bournemouth. 

 

I love Shinji but it really is time to move on. We need more than 60 minutes of decent movement and closing down. 

 

I'd agree with that, including the Bournmouth suggestion though I wouldn't envy shaky if we lose!      

[Foxxed]

We've never been about individual skill or even partnerships alone. It misses the point to discuss if Vardy and Slim make a better partnership. As does discussing if Slim is a better than Shinji. They are part of something bigger and more important.

 

Last season we had three main tactics. Plan A) Press their defense into a mistake. Plan B) Shepard their team into the wings collecting the eventual cross to counter. Plan C) Have them waltz through the centre for Ngolo to collect and counter.

 

We had tactics to punish them if they went down the wings, tactics to punish them if they went down the centre and tactics to punish them if their defense's concentration lapsed.

 

We saw Vardy's strikes, Mahrez's dribbles and Ngolo's interceptions. But they did not win us the league. They made the headlines. But it was the others - rightly seen as less skilled - who got those in the position to shine and strike.

 

And it was Shinji's relentless harrying forcing mistakes and his crazy antics pushing teams out wide that were central to our tactics. And he's not even our second best striker: and that's fine - it's his pivotal place in our tactics which make him outstanding.

 

Sven proved that splashing the cash doesn't equal success. Ranieri proved that big names don't equal success. But in 2015 Walsh, Shakespeare and Ranieri proved - even with disregarded and limited players - that with the right tactics, the right players for those tactics and the right team mentality we can make the impossible possible.

 

Discussing individual players or partnerships is important, but discussing them without reference to our tactics - and the less celebrated players who help them shine - ignores the central element that wins us matches.

[Eagle10]

9 hours ago, Thracian said:

Better at what? Scoring goals or denying the opposition chance to build attacks? The only thing Shakespeare will care about football wise is winning matches and finding the most effective way of doing that. 

 

If I were judging simply on visual football ability I'd never have Shinji near any team of mine. But, leave him out of our team and something goes missing that Slimani doesn't replace, or anyone else I've seen for that matter.

 

I had a centre-forward once who was just the same. Ugliest football skills you ever saw. Chain-smoker. never left the penalty area. But just like Shinji and Claridge he scored the worst goals ever - scuffs, mishits and rebounds off his arse - but lots of them. First man on the team sheet every week apart from a hod-carrier I had in midfield who have come off best whether he tackled an opponent or an oil tanker.

 

The point is that some people just can't help making a difference for the better and, for others, it doesn't work so well. The manager might toss and turn over the logic of it but he'll pick the guys that win for him no matter how they do it. 

 

Frank Large was like that at Leicester years ago. Had the close control of a concrete stanchion, the athleticism of a giraffe and the all the finesse of a stampeding elephant. But the bloke became something of a cult figure. No matter who was in front of him, he just ran through em or over em leaving a trail of destruction and the ball in the net. 

 

Shinji doesn't even do the last bit very often but he does do something. I'm not completely sure what it is, even now. Maybe it's just that his enthusiasm's infectious. Either way he seems to make a difference.                  

  

Mostly scoring goals, no one can't deny that Slimani scores way more goals than Shinji and is more of a threat than Shinji.

[Eagle10]

7 hours ago, AlloverthefloorYesNdidi said:

"Basically one on one"....?

That one was gold, if he thinks that it was a one on one, I think he was watching another game. Like how was that considered a one on one?

[steflcfc]

Slim has been a bit hit and miss with Afcon and injuries, had he stayed fit him and Vards could have made a decent partnership.

 

At first they struggled to gel and seemed maybe, personality clashes or both wanting to be the "main striker" as they seemed distant with each other at the start.

 

Like when one or the other scored they were slow to congratulate each other....maybe if anything, more on Vardys part on the latter...but maybe that's me reading more into it than needed.

 

Only recently has both seemed to be on the same wavelength when on the field together...it looks as Slim is having to adapt his game, as he is trying to chase and pressure like Oka which he doesn't always seem comfortable with.

 

They are different in how our team may need to set up, as Slim being more a target man for crosses from deep or the wings, and Vardy being a ball over the top to chase.

It looks to be hard to implement both in our game plan at times.

 

Hopefully a pre season together may get them both up to scratch and firing on all cylinders, it could be very good partnership, as the potential is shown at times as to how good they both could be.