The Claude Puel Era - what will he bring?

[Gerard]

1 minute ago, brucey said:

Allardyce is decent though.

 

He's decent but no more than that.

 

I'd have been gutted if he got the job here and I'm sure the majority of Everton fans thought similar. He'll probably keep you up but if your ambitions run further then he's a poor choice.

[sylofox]

1 hour ago, Tuna said:

Claude Puel reminds me of a young Arsene Wenger.

Why is he blind?

[WigstonWanderer]

Of all the managers involved in the recent spin of the merry go round I think we got the pick. My initial apprehension when Claude was appointed is dissipating. Playing better football now, albeit still a bit patchy.

[z-layrex]

1 hour ago, Koke said:

 

I'm just glad we as a club have never appointed Allardyce, Moyes, Pardew, Hodgson or Pulis, and hopefully we never will. Palace have had 4 of those above mentioned managers in recent memory. 

For me if you appoint one of those ****ing merry go round British managers you are solidifying yourself as a yo-yo club.

[baldeagle]

12 hours ago, Tuna said:

Claude Puel reminds me of a young Arsene Wenger.

What French !!!

[StriderHiryu]

We're in good form right now with another away win and up to 8th. We were third from bottom at one point!

 

Noticeable changes to our play since CP came in:

- Playing it out from the back as much as possible. Someone please tell me they have a GIF of Wes Morgan's Cruyff turn!

- Fullbacks are pushing up to support the attack. Danny Simpson looks eager to break his LCFC duck and surely he'll do it this season!

- Gray has become the 10 and not Mahrez, but Mahrez drifts as Gray / Mahrez / Albrighton and Vardy all interchange. I think Mahrez probably doesn't have what it takes to be a 10, but maybe Gray does.

- Vardy seems to see less of the ball, BUT the 3 behind see more of it. Whether intentional or not, it's a bit rope-a-dope as now we don't just rely on one striker and one tactic to break down opponents. I wonder what he thinks about it because although he might be getting less service, he's helping the team and we are doing better playing this way. And I think that once teams realise they have to stop the 3 behind him, they will push up and leave more space in behind which he will take advantage of.

- Iborra is the Pirlo-like pivot. When we get the ball in our own half he drops in really deep almost between Morgan and Maguire to help distribute the ball forwards without hoofing it. He is so calm on the ball it helps us get the ball forwards. It's almost like watching a poor-mans Pirlo, although he doesn't go for as many Hollywood style long-balls. He's definitely been the break-out star of the season. He cost the same amount as Palace paid us for Schlupp!

 

Some negatives might be:

- For the first time in a long time, we look like we are susceptible to a counter attack. Maybe a bit like the 2-5 defeat to Arsenal where we looked like we could score plenty, but also looked like if the opposition broke on us they would score. At the moment I think this is OK, but it's definitely noticeable.

- We look crap at both offensive and defensive set pieces. Can't really pin this on Puel given that it was the same with Shakey, but boy is it nerve-wracking to watch.

 

But overall surely the best thing we have going for us is that we consistently look like we can win. We give away cheap goals and have periods in the game where we look awful but we have had spells in almost every game where we've looked like we could put 3 or 4 past the other team. 

[jonthefox]

On 03/12/2017 at 20:37, Tuna said:

Claude Puel reminds me of a young Arsene Wenger.

F**k that. I want higher than fourth 

[nigelbee]

Puel has a knack of keeping the whole squad motivated. Every player has a chance. Look at Ulloa this evening. Great to see him do a job late on. Puel is a tactician. 

[Mendi]

Got us playing, but it's still early days with him.

[HighPeakFox]

He likes goals, and his face is a picture when he's not happy/concentrating. No soft touch, methinks.

[surrifox]

CP hasn't had the opportunity to bring in any of "his" players and has one of the club's biggest signings ineligible to start a game . I think he will restyle the defence at the first opportunity as it's our obvious weakness . 

Gayles goal summed it all up - their first break out in the second half leaves him unchallenged to pick out the far corner - drives me mad so I can imagine the effect on him 

[kingfox]

I was begging him to prove me wrong, so far so good.

 

Slight differences in his style are currently working, I'm enjoying the way we're playing.

[Fox92]

Love it. Show pleased he's our manager.

 

We actually play football now, we seem to shoot on sight more and our young players are given a chance. All Gray needed was a run in the side. 

 

I always knew we could fit both Mahrez and Gray in the side - we just needed a manager brave enough to do it.

[psychonaut]

I've not seen a Leicester side play this way in a very very long time. We pretty much dominated Newcastle today for large periods - I couldnt believe some of the stats flashing up on the screen.. 202 passes to newcastles 70 odd. 66% possession three quarters into the game. We all know too well stats are almost meaningless in the context of the result but its so refreshing to see and reflects the awesone positive changes that are happening to our team. We are actually passing and moving looking for space and trying to create all over the field!

 

The number of chances created I'm sure has increased too, we could easily and probably should have slotted a few more away against Burnley. The football is a pleasure to watch and I find myself saying 'bad luck' repeatedly throughout the game instead of FFS utter dogsh1t and the like. You can see every player is really trying to retain possession and work to a game plan, the direction is clear and the team seem to exude a more relaxed confidence. 

 

Chilwell, Ndidi and Gray look much more accomplished and sure of themselves. I think Morgan mentioned Puel spends time with each player individually which by the fact that he mentioned it could perhaps mean this wasnt done before. Could be one element as to why the younger players seem to do well under Puel, building confidence on a 1 to 1 level.  

 

We do look a little shakey at the back but I think that comes as a slight consequence of holding possession a little more and holding a higher line. The players will need time to adjust with our different style of play defendively speaking, and tbh we were soft at the back prior to Puel joining anyway so its something thats always needed addressing.

 

Onwards and upwards. 

 

 

 

 

[Koke]

63% possession away from home can't remember a top flight Leicester City team having that. As I said in the Newcastle post match I'm actually enjoying watching us play actual football. The myth that we couldn't have Mahrez & Gray in the same side is once and for all put to bed. 

 

Still work in progress. We still need to be more defensively alert and if we iron out 1 or 2 other things we can be a proper side. 

[Finnaldo]

Totally revitalised us, been said so much there's not much to add.

 

But importantly as well, I'm not sure where this idea that we can't finish Top 6 is coming from. I'm in no way saying we should expect it or that it's likely, but we are racking up a good record under the radar (sounds familiar!) and just like 2015/16 we just don't look like losing, even through poor spells. I'm not sure where this whole "the top six are too good for us" is coming from either? Are we basing that on the Shakespeare Leicester who drew against Huddersfield and a shite West Brom? Or the Man City game where Puel was still finding his feet? Since then we've been powering through teams including Spurs, and if we can keep a decent run going into Christmas, Puel will then have Silva as well as any player he feels will bolster us, including possibly a Mr Ben Arfa, and if Claude can get him playing like he has before then we will have possibly one of the most fearsome attacking lineups in the league. 

 

Of course half of that is conjecture, but it's warranted in my opinion, and whilst 7th or 8th (and hopefully Cup progress!) would be a good season all in all, there's no reason why a Puel Era Leicester City, should we continue to improve and bolster up in January, shouldn't be putting some heat on the big boys.

Edited 10 December 2017 by Finnaldo