Slimani

[Babylon]

1 minute ago, Abrasive fox said:

He spent most of the first half chasing his first touch 

He also spent the first half chasing poor wayward passes as well.

[StriderHiryu]

Had a great game today, especially in the second half. Honestly I thought he had already played his last game for us having been left out of the Carabao Cup squad against Man City, but today he reminded us that he is a striker capable of playing in and scoring goals in the Premier League. I have no doubt that Slimani would be a starter and probably even a key player for other teams in the league if he played for them.

 

His problem has always been that he and Vardy are the type of strikers to lead the line so don't really compliment one another, and Slimani hasn't shown he is better than Okazaki at the number 10 / support striker role. It's not that Slimani has ever been a bad player, just not quite as good as the Vardy / Shinji combination. 

 

It will be interesting to see if he stays with us or not. As of right now he's a better alternative to Ulloa or Nacho with the goals he gets. You can also never fault his work rate or character, he always seems willing to fight for himself and the team.

[RowlattsFox]

You can criticise his all round game and his attitude at times but he is a goal threat. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

Love the way people moan that we only play one way (counter-attacking) and also moan about Slimani "not fitting the way we play".

 

 

Personally, I think he provides something different. The problem is, he doesn't play well with Vardy. Think Nacho might gel better with him, but when are they ever going to get the chance of a regular run out together?

[Bluetintedspecs]

Are people overlooking the lack of minutes and subsequent match sharpness?

[katieakita]

Maybe if we had paid £40 million for Vardy some would not be so harsh on him. Price tags have gone silly not his fault and his stats are not as bad as people think. With the right service he can do more good than bad but if we are only playing with Vardy up top with supporting players around him having to be a plan B or playing 2nd fiddle to Vardy hardly makes him the Donkey some portray him as. Hopefully gets more game time on sat as he offers more than the other back up strikers at the moment.

[jim5000]

His second half performance showed why we haven't been rotating enough.

 

We have had the same basic first 11 for so long that the backup players never get a run in the team. Yet they are all players that cost £10-30m. We expect them to start or come on at first team levels when they haven't played any first team minutes for months and instantly perform at the level of the first team players that have 100+ matches in the bank. Amartey demonstrated this with his sending off within 10 minutes on his first appearance but with 2 games behind him is starting to seem vaguely competent.

 

We have somewhat paid the price for having such a settled first team for so long, none of the backup players have gotten the run to acclimatize themselves, and the attack is so build around Vardy and Mahrez that any players playing cameos will never shine as they are not Vardy or Mahrez.

 

Puel seems to be rectifying this, and keeping us competitive and competing for 'best of the rest' this season.

 

You can't ask for more from a non-starting striker to start and score, and that's exactly what Slimani did.

[UpTheLeagueFox]

Absolute garbage for 45-60 mins then suddenly looked the business. Bizarre performance from him.

[Algerian]

10 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Had a great game today, especially in the second half. Honestly I thought he had already played his last game for us having been left out of the Carabao Cup squad against Man City, but today he reminded us that he is a striker capable of playing in and scoring goals in the Premier League. I have no doubt that Slimani would be a starter and probably even a key player for other teams in the league if he played for them.

 

His problem has always been that he and Vardy are the type of strikers to lead the line so don't really compliment one another, and Slimani hasn't shown he is better than Okazaki at the number 10 / support striker role. It's not that Slimani has ever been a bad player, just not quite as good as the Vardy / Shinji combination. 

 

It will be interesting to see if he stays with us or not. As of right now he's a better alternative to Ulloa or Nacho with the goals he gets. You can also never fault his work rate or character, he always seems willing to fight for himself and the team.

+1 

 

He and Vardy are not complementary, both like to take up space in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-1-1 formation, Especially for Slimani, he becomes restrained when playing in other formations featuring two center forwards.

 

I think Claude Puel should have given him more chances in December to shine like Mahrez, and then sell him in January for a good price near the amount spent for him 18 months ago.

[Algerian]

10 hours ago, Abrasive fox said:

I spent 65 mins wondering how he's a professional footballer, and then he was awesome. He's the most baffling footballer I've ever seen.

+1

 

This is due to his weird appearance and poor first touch.

[TaggertvsWise]

10 hours ago, FoxInTheBirstallBox said:

Never looked at it that way... Good post, although I am one of those where the die is cast and I can't see a way back for slim from what I've heard direct from players that's he's a bad apple, and from what I've seen in his 15-20 min cameo's. I just can't see him ever being g a regular for us, we need another option, just not him

This is interesting, anyone who has played sport at half a decent level knows this is fundamental, hence many managers’ diligence and work into potential players’ attitudes. If this is true I struggle to see how he will get the run he needs to win over colleagues and fans but am also mindful about the context of why he is a ‘bad apple’. 3 managers, up and down seasons, star players being sold... it obviously doesn’t make for a stable environment. Hopefully we have a manager who will bring consistently improving results and give everyone a clean slate. If we can stabilise the squad and give him more game time we can rebuild his confidence and turn his disillusionment into a more motivating factor in the squad. We are assembling some good leaders now and I think if he can’t turn this ‘bad apple’ attitude around he will be forced out but we must prepare an environment to help him thrive, just like we must for all the players we bring in.

[RumbleFox]

4 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Absolute garbage for 45-60 mins then suddenly looked the business. Bizarre performance from him.

No way was he "absolute garbage".  Can we please all be a bit more reasonable and stop exaggerating, it really doesn't help any of us make our points.  The first half was boring and grim but not as terrible as most are making out and Slim did not play well.  But absolute garbage is just a silly overreaction.  I thought he actually looked more "up for it" than most in the team during the first half but nothing was coming off.  Glad he got his goal and great second half performance.

 

Well done Slim.

 

X

[ZeGuy]

15 minutes ago, TaggertvsWise said:

This is interesting, anyone who has played sport at half a decent level knows this is fundamental, hence many managers’ diligence and work into potential players’ attitudes. If this is true I struggle to see how he will get the run he needs to win over colleagues and fans but am also mindful about the context of why he is a ‘bad apple’. 3 managers, up and down seasons, star players being sold... it obviously doesn’t make for a stable environment. Hopefully we have a manager who will bring consistently improving results and give everyone a clean slate. If we can stabilise the squad and give him more game time we can rebuild his confidence and turn his disillusionment into a more motivating factor in the squad. We are assembling some good leaders now and I think if he can’t turn this ‘bad apple’ attitude around he will be forced out but we must prepare an environment to help him thrive, just like we must for all the players we bring in.

This on-going "bad apple thing" is what I don't get. As he scored his team mates were all around him and seemed to be genuinely happy for him. It was the case every time he scored. He can be a moaner on the pitch but a bad influence in the dressing room is something i can't get my head wrapped around.

[RumbleFox]

1 minute ago, ZeGuy said:

This on-going "bad apple thing" is what I don't get. As he scored his team mates were all around him and seemed to be genuinely happy for him. It was the case every time he scored. He can be a moaner on the pitch but a bad influence in the dressing room is something i can't get my head wrapped around.

People like to make up things in their heads then they keep repeating them and they start to believe it themselves.  Like Gray "having a bad attitude".  People are weird.  To me Slim looks like a man possessed sometimes on the pitch, he always looks up for it.  He looks frustrated sometimes but that is a good thing, he looks so desperate to perform.

 

X

[HighPeakFox]

The other things that happen are a) people only see what they want to see b) people (and I witnessed this) heckle certain players more, based on a pre-conceived position, and thus c) when the hecklee does something alright, it doesn't get seen - twas ever thus, in my experience.

 

Slimani wasn't great 1st half, I grant you, but he was trying hard and some things were ok, he wasn't universally awful by any reasonable assessment.

[Trav Le Bleu]

5 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Absolute garbage for 45-60 mins then suddenly looked the business. Bizarre performance from him.

Read the post above yours.

[Foxes1]

What people would do well to remember is that as a striker it's a confidence thing the longer they go without scoring the more frustrating it gets not only for the player but also the supporters. Remember when Vardy first came to the club he struggled and people started getting on his back and saying we wasted money on him, but look at him now. 

[Rusko187]

Hard to expect a player who hasn't featured to come in and be match fit, sharp and bang in form. Slim needs game time to boost his confidence, really we persist with Vardy at the top for every game. Vardy is a big game player where bigger opposition will allow space behind the defence, Slim is effective where we need strength and height to break teams down who "park the bus". He adds another dimension and should feature more!

 

Happy to see the rotation and it's refreshing.

[FoxInTheBirstallBox]

3 hours ago, RumbleFox said:

People like to make up things in their heads then they keep repeating them and they start to believe it themselves.  Like Gray "having a bad attitude".  People are weird.  To me Slim looks like a man possessed sometimes on the pitch, he always looks up for it.  He looks frustrated sometimes but that is a good thing, he looks so desperate to perform.

 

X

I did hear it from vardy himself so make of that what you will 

[Colourmy]

4 hours ago, RumbleFox said:

People like to make up things in their heads then they keep repeating them and they start to believe it themselves.  Like Gray "having a bad attitude".  People are weird.  To me Slim looks like a man possessed sometimes on the pitch, he always looks up for it.  He looks frustrated sometimes but that is a good thing, he looks so desperate to perform.

 

X

I don't think Gray ever had a bad attitude, I think that's just the attitude of his generation. He only knows the one he has and it will take time to instill another into him, if it is at all possible of course. My feeling is it isn't.

Edited 2 January 2018 by Colourmy

[Countryfox]

1 hour ago, FoxInTheBirstallBox said:

I did hear it from vardy himself so make of that what you will 

 

You may be right and he may have said that but ultimately its the manager who will make the decision ..   sometimes once we get a little bit of information we think we have the full picture ...  maybe he does wind a few players up ..  but maybe he gets on well with Mahrez and that might help to keep him here ..  who knows ..   all I'll say, (and I've said it before) is, in Claude we trust.   Personally I like him, he puts in a good shift, can run hard for 90 minutes, gives us different options, and definitely has goals in him.  His first touch and decision making would most likely improve with more game time and more confidence.

[polarbear]

2 hours ago, FoxInTheBirstallBox said:

I did hear it from vardy himself so make of that what you will 

Would be in Vardys interest to say that perhaps? 

[HighPeakFox]

14 minutes ago, polarbear said:

Would be in Vardys interest to say that perhaps? 

I would imagine that Vardy has it in him to chat shit on occasion too... 

[RumbleFox]

4 hours ago, FoxInTheBirstallBox said:

I did hear it from vardy himself so make of that what you will 

So if one payer says one other player is a bad apple then they must be?  Not saying he is not but lots of people don;t get on with other people and it does not mean they are fundamentally a bad apple.  The other players seemed to be very happy for him when he scored and I have never read him complaining about game time or kicking off too much.  Life is all about opinions I suppose so never a bad thing to disagree.  I personally rate him and would like him to stay. X

[Farrington fox]

Me too, he may look a bit laboured at times, but he’s strong, got good feet for a big lad. And make no mistake, he’s always a threat and capable of scoring. Would be gutted to lose him.