Puel

[ZeGuy]

Puel's system will become effective as soon as we get a (real) 10 and an attacking rightback. Before that, the team's play will stay wonky and largely depending on Mahrez's and Vardy's form. And no, there is no other sutstainable system which will only delay us to master Puel's anyway. Shinji and Simspon as much as they were great, are simply not up to the necessary evolution the team is undertaking (stating there the obvious). It is very likely Morgan's last season as a starter.

 

Diabaté looks like the real deal, so we got the right wing covered should Mahrez leave. Chilwell is slowly showing results and justifying Puel's insistence to play him, we still need however a back-up as it's highly unlikely that Fuchs will be there next season. 

 

Ben Arfa is set to leave PSG this summer, I'm not overly fond of him (mentality wise) but he could fill in the 10 gap at least for one season if we fail to find another alternative. 

 

Then and only then we can set higher objective and slag Puel off all we want.

Edited 3 April 2018 by ZeGuy

[Koke]

55 minutes ago, winteriscoming said:

Unless we have a catastophe we will have a manager who in the last 2 seasons has finished in the top 10. This is where we are as a side and anyone who thinks we should be challenging for the top 6 is deluded. 

 

This is the bottom line to be honest. Puel finished 8th last season and will finish 7th or 8th this season. 

 

If that isn't a good manager then what is?

[Chocolate Teapot]

1 hour ago, Koke said:

I've mentioned this before but cast your mind back to Shakespeare last game. A shocking stultifying 1-1 home draw to what is now the worst team in the league, and look at us now. We're far from perfect but we are a damn sight better than the shower of shit we were before. 

 

Our style needed to be revamped. And it was paramount that an outsider who had no emotional connection to our title win and players to come in and move us foward.

 

Diabate is a good signing and if Marcia and Puel can get the signings right in the summer I think we are in for some good couple of years.

 

I wish people would support the manager and players. We are on course to our 2nd best finish in decades. We are not crap and Chilwell is not a Championship player (he's a regular for a top 8 PL side ffs).

Is constructive criticism not allowed or are we meant to say everything is dandy? Not sure of what the point of this forum is if the answer is the latter tbh.

[HighPeakFox]

19 minutes ago, Abrasive fox said:

Is constructive criticism not allowed or are we meant to say everything is dandy? Not sure of what the point of this forum is if the answer is the latter tbh.

If you read what he said, you'd know how he feels.

 

Constructive criticism is great, but although you aren't a slag it off with swearing type, you aren't exactly telling us what Puel could do better - correct me if I'm wrong, but you're basically complaining (understandably) that a work in progress isn't thrilling. 

 

Perhaps you can explain what he could have done better, what you would have done differently. 

[Bunyip]

6 hours ago, Donut said:

Because certain sections of the support are determined not to embrace him or his style, rather than him actually doing badly.

I've been watching the qualiteee of our football steadily get worse week by week. I'm dreading next season with him at the helm. If he gave me something to embrace it wouldn't be so bad. Plus I would not be surprised if we lose some of our best players in the close season besides Mahrez. 

[Foxxed]

He's trying to make us play possession football. The key for possession football is quick, incisive, one touch passeses. Quick, incisive, one touch passeses from the defence. We have the unbenchable Wes Morgan and Danny Simpson who take seven ages to control and pass the ball. And in those seven ages the opposition have already stepped three yards closer to all of our players, who have fewer options now, who are now under more pressure, who are now more likely to make a mistake. He doesn't have the players to fully realise his plans.

[gurru991]

5 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

He's trying to make us play possession football. The key for possession football is quick, incisive, one touch passeses. Quick, incisive, one touch passeses from the defence. We have the unbenchable Wes Morgan and Danny Simpson who take seven ages to control and pass the ball. And in those seven ages the opposition have already stepped three yards closer to all of our players, who have fewer options now, who are now under more pressure, who are now more likely to make a mistake. He doesn't have the players to fully realise his plans.

I do agree but why did he drop Drago, a ball playing CB for Morgan who really does not have much of a touch

[Foxxed]

Just now, gurru991 said:

I do agree but why did he drop Drago, a ball playing CB for Morgan who really does not have much of a touch

Wes is quite a large man. And the captain. He's also the man who told Ranieri that his team would be playing fast counter attacking football and then we won the league. Wes is probably unbenchable. He will need to retire for us to have two ball playing centre halfs.

[jayfox26]

2 hours ago, winteriscoming said:

Unless we have a catastophe we will have a manager who in the last 2 seasons has finished in the top 10. This is where we are as a side and anyone who thinks we should be challenging for the top 6 is deluded. 

I agree to some extent but Arsenal have been awful this season and 6th could have been realistic had we had a little more consistency. I feel we could become more consistent when Puel has his own players that suit his style but I doubt Arsenal will be as bad next year, especially if Wenger leaves. If we had won home games against the likes of WBA, Stoke and Swansea we'd have been 6th now but Again, our lack of consistency may be as a result of Puel not having enough players that suit his style. Our home form has got to improve next year though. If we make the KP a fortress we have more chance of pushing towards the top 6. 

 

Edit:I know Puel wasn't in charge against WBA at home but I was just highlighting that all season we've been a bit inconsistent at home. 

Edited 3 April 2018 by jayfox26

[reynard]

13 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

He's trying to make us play possession football. The key for possession football is quick, incisive, one touch passeses. Quick, incisive, one touch passeses from the defence. We have the unbenchable Wes Morgan and Danny Simpson who take seven ages to control and pass the ball. And in those seven ages the opposition have already stepped three yards closer to all of our players, who have fewer options now, who are now under more pressure, who are now more likely to make a mistake. He doesn't have the players to fully realise his plans.

So the basic premise of your argument, with which I agree to a point, is that we have a manager who is trying to play a type of football for which he does not have the players. It is too simplistic to blame Morgan and Simpson. We don't move the ball quickly enough all over the pitch. We used to use our pace upfront (one of the strengths of our squad) to our advantage. Now we no longer use that strength or very seldom. Our transition through midfield is painful to watch and so slow and deliberate that Mahrez is being forced deeper and deeper to get the ball. We essentially play one striker up front, even at home against so-called weaker sides and that striker, usually Vardy, is basically isolated for most of the game. We seldom commit players to attack in any number and against Brighton our first goal eventually came because finally we got numbers in their box and finally our left back managed to cross the ball.

Our possession stats might have gone up but I would hazard a guess that most of the increase has occured in our own half and much of it sideways or backwards.

Personally I don't think we play with enough tempo or intensity, we don't close down in numbers as we used to do and allow the opposition far too comfortable a time. I'd like to see us play more on the front foot but under Puel we either can't or he doesn't want it.

This summer will be huge. To get the sort of side Puel will need at least 5 or 6 new players and that is if we keep all his current first choice which is unlikely.

My concern is if we start badly next season we are not playing the type of football required for the dog fight of the lower reaches of the league.

We're having an ok season but considering the amount of invesment in the club it is the least we should hope for.

 

[Koke]

56 minutes ago, Abrasive fox said:

Is constructive criticism not allowed or are we meant to say everything is dandy? Not sure of what the point of this forum is if the answer is the latter tbh.

 

Criticism is fine but seem misplaced tbh. With the current personnel I'm not sure how much better he could have done. We've had some bad games under Puel but nowhere as bad as under Shakespeare and latter part of Ranieri. The away wins at Newcastle and Southampton were some of the best football we've played. Of course we dropped the ball hugely with 3 straight draws and mistakes were made by Puel but overall I see far more good than bad under Puel.

 

Barring a huge catastrophe I think we will finish top 10 again next season. 

Edited 3 April 2018 by Koke

[winteriscoming]

7 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

I agree to some extent but Arsenal have been awful this season and 6th could have been realistic had we had a little more consistency. I feel we could become more consistent when Puel has his own players that suit his style but I doubt Arsenal will be as bad next year, especially if Wenger leaves. If we had won home games against the likes of WBA, Stoke and Swansea we'd have been 6th now but Again, our lack of consistency may be as a result of Puel not having enough players that suit his style. Our home form has got to improve next year though. If we make the KP a fortress we have more chance of pushing towards the top 6. 

 

Edit:I know Puel wasn't in charge against WBA at home but I was just highlighting that all season we've been a bit inconsistent at home. 

To counter your argument about home wins under puel we've done better away from home. We've won 5 so far and last season only 2. I agree it's disapointing not beating sides you should at home but we have away from home (wba, swansea southampton etc). 

[Chocolate Teapot]

1 hour ago, HighPeakFox said:

If you read what he said, you'd know how he feels.

 

Constructive criticism is great, but although you aren't a slag it off with swearing type, you aren't exactly telling us what Puel could do better - correct me if I'm wrong, but you're basically complaining (understandably) that a work in progress isn't thrilling. 

 

Perhaps you can explain what he could have done better, what you would have done differently. 

 

Few things I think are pretty obvious that Puel seems to not get:

 

- Gray is better on the right than the left, but has played him there once against Everton.

- Danny Simpson isn't comfortable in this system, but he declined to sign a right back in the window despite a good one being available.

- Amartey's exile until he returned against Bournemouth - he was playing well, but he dropped him after one performance where he wasn't great.

- Chilwell over Fuchs, although to be fair to him Chilwell is improving

- Dragovic's exile, we're going to lose him in the summer as a result, which is a shambles in my opinion.

- James over Silva and Iborra (for a time), people saying Silva wasn't dropped the other week when he wasn't on the bench seem to have missed the fact that James is injured. I'm not sure why Silva hasn't been afforded the game time that Gray and Chilwell have had to settle in particularly after the debacle he went through.

 

A lot of people going that he doesn't have the players to play the system he wants but as far as i can see he has players on the bench that are more suited but he declines to use them.

 

There's more of those decisions as well, but I won't go on any longer. I stress that he's done well despite this, but I still have concerns if he's going to be a long term success. There are already rumours that the players are baffled by what he wants them to do, and that Appleton is doing a lot of the work to hold it together. We'll see, but from my perspective the jury is still out.

Edited 3 April 2018 by Abrasive fox

[Chocolate Teapot]

43 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

Wes is quite a large man. And the captain. He's also the man who told Ranieri that his team would be playing fast counter attacking football and then we won the league. Wes is probably unbenchable. He will need to retire for us to have two ball playing centre halfs.

Also told the club in the summer that he'd leave if they signed another centre half after Maguire and he wasn't still first choice.

[Foxxed]

31 minutes ago, reynard said:

So the basic premise of your argument, with which I agree to a point, is that we have a manager who is trying to play a type of football for which he does not have the players. It is too simplistic to blame Morgan and Simpson. We don't move the ball quickly enough all over the pitch. We used to use our pace upfront (one of the strengths of our squad) to our advantage. Now we no longer use that strength or very seldom. Our transition through midfield is painful to watch and so slow and deliberate that Mahrez is being forced deeper and deeper to get the ball. We essentially play one striker up front, even at home against so-called weaker sides and that striker, usually Vardy, is basically isolated for most of the game. We seldom commit players to attack in any number and against Brighton our first goal eventually came because finally we got numbers in their box and finally our left back managed to cross the ball.

Our possession stats might have gone up but I would hazard a guess that most of the increase has occured in our own half and much of it sideways or backwards.

Personally I don't think we play with enough tempo or intensity, we don't close down in numbers as we used to do and allow the opposition far too comfortable a time. I'd like to see us play more on the front foot but under Puel we either can't or he doesn't want it.

This summer will be huge. To get the sort of side Puel will need at least 5 or 6 new players and that is if we keep all his current first choice which is unlikely.

My concern is if we start badly next season we are not playing the type of football required for the dog fight of the lower reaches of the league.

We're having an ok season but considering the amount of invesment in the club it is the least we should hope for.

 

Actually, we have a ball playing centre back, but we just can't use him since Wes is unbenchable. If Wes retires, and if Danny either becomes a ball player or Amartey is decent, I reckon Puel's football will be a lot better.

[Nigel Graham Pearson]

9 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

Actually, we have a ball playing centre back, but we just can't use him since Wes is unbenchable. If Wes retires, and if Danny either becomes a ball player or Amartey is decent, I reckon Puel's football will be a lot better.

Whether he truly is or not, I hope you don’t think Wes deserves to be unbenchable. 

[brucey]

1 hour ago, Abrasive fox said:

Gray is better on the right than the left, but has played him there once against Everton.

Where has this come from? Gray has always seemed better on the left to me, especially if Chilwell is playing behind him so they can link up. The recent England U21 game Gray started on the right but the team improved massively once he was swiched to the left. Regardless, Mahrez, Albrighton and possibly Diabate are better on the right as well, so Gray will have to settle for the left.

 

Quote

Chilwell over Fuchs, although to be fair to him Chilwell is improving

Fuchs played pretty poorly at the start of the season, an error-prone Chilwell wasn't far behind him at the time. Chilwell (as well as Maguire) have improved loads throughout this season after both being at fault for a fair few goals initially. Fuchs is now clear second choice IMO, not sure how focused Fuchs is anyway as he is now spending all his time promoting his clothing line aka retirement plan.

 

Agree with the rest of your points.

[murphy]

3 hours ago, Abrasive fox said:

Is constructive criticism not allowed or are we meant to say everything is dandy? Not sure of what the point of this forum is if the answer is the latter tbh.

 

It is allowed just don't expect everyone to agree.

 

We are eighth in the league in with a chance of qualifying for Europe.  For a Leicester fan, that means everything IS dandy.

[Foxxed]

2 hours ago, reynard said:

So the basic premise of your argument, with which I agree to a point, is that we have a manager who is trying to play a type of football for which he does not have the players. It is too simplistic to blame Morgan and Simpson. We don't move the ball quickly enough all over the pitch. We used to use our pace upfront (one of the strengths of our squad) to our advantage. Now we no longer use that strength or very seldom. Our transition through midfield is painful to watch and so slow and deliberate that Mahrez is being forced deeper and deeper to get the ball. We essentially play one striker up front, even at home against so-called weaker sides and that striker, usually Vardy, is basically isolated for most of the game. We seldom commit players to attack in any number and against Brighton our first goal eventually came because finally we got numbers in their box and finally our left back managed to cross the ball.

Our possession stats might have gone up but I would hazard a guess that most of the increase has occured in our own half and much of it sideways or backwards.

Personally I don't think we play with enough tempo or intensity, we don't close down in numbers as we used to do and allow the opposition far too comfortable a time. I'd like to see us play more on the front foot but under Puel we either can't or he doesn't want it.

This summer will be huge. To get the sort of side Puel will need at least 5 or 6 new players and that is if we keep all his current first choice which is unlikely.

My concern is if we start badly next season we are not playing the type of football required for the dog fight of the lower reaches of the league.

We're having an ok season but considering the amount of invesment in the club it is the least we should hope for.

 

I agree. But you can't solve every problem at once. If we had a right of defence partnership as happy on the ball as the left, however, we'd see enough of an improvement to move the pitchforks slightly further to back of the closest.

[Chocolate Teapot]

41 minutes ago, brucey said:

Where has this come from? Gray has always seemed better on the left to me, especially if Chilwell is playing behind him so they can link up. The recent England U21 game Gray started on the right but the team improved massively once he was swiched to the left. Regardless, Mahrez, Albrighton and possibly Diabate are better on the right as well, so Gray will have to settle for the left.

 

Fuchs played pretty poorly at the start of the season, an error-prone Chilwell wasn't far behind him at the time. Chilwell (as well as Maguire) have improved loads throughout this season after both being at fault for a fair few goals initially. Fuchs is now clear second choice IMO, not sure how focused Fuchs is anyway as he is now spending all his time promoting his clothing line aka retirement plan.

 

Agree with the rest of your points.

I haven't seen Gray play for the 21s recently. 

 

However - Everton remains his best game for the club, he played on the right. He didn't make an assist all season, until Saturday when he popped up on the right. 

 

Remember how he announced himself for the club with a 50 yard run against Swansea, also on the right.

 

A few others have said it on here as well, there's more mystery to his play on the right as he does occasionally cross it, when on the left more often than not he shoots. When Mahrez was out it was the perfect opportunity to try it but it seems as though Puel doesnt even consider it. 

 

And on Chilwell I agree now, but I'm not sure I would have said the same even a week ago.

Edited 3 April 2018 by Abrasive fox

[lcfc sheff]

i'd definitely rather see Gray on the right, like others have said it encourages him to cross it rather than just shoot

[BenTheFox]

7 hours ago, Abrasive fox said:

We've won 4 games since the win at Southampton. 

 

If you take out the last two wins against Brighton and West Brom we were 16th in the form table so what does that tell us?

 

I'm hardly inspired by the following wins, but some of our fans are blown away by possession stats:

One against Huddersfield, who are on one of the worst runs of form in the league, may well get relegated.

Against Watford - who sacked their manager the next day.

Against West Brom - who sacked their manager yesterday.

Against Brighton - and I'm not sure anyone could explain how we won it, but a wins a win and all that.

 

 

 

 

That every team encounters a sticky patch of form?

[BenTheFox]

6 hours ago, Abrasive fox said:

Yes and we're going to lose that player in the summer, and to be honest take Vardy and Mahrez out of our side and I don't think we're that much better than a lot of the other teams around us. 

 

I'm not arguing that being 8th in the table is a bad thing - I just think we should be 7th, by a mile, and also should be hunting down Arsenal, and we're nowhere near that.

 

In terms of style as well, people go on about it being an improvement, but for 75 mins against Brighton we were woeful, and Bournemouth, Stoke, Swansea, etc... as well. I don't buy that it's that much improved. We used to be an exciting side, I'm not sure we are anymore.

 

I'm non plussed about Puel to be honest, I don't think he's a bad manager. I just don't think he's improved us as much as some make out, the style is fairly boring and I'm sceptical as to whether we will be any good next year without Mahrez. I don't think he should be immune from criticism as some suggest on here.

 

 

Not buying this idea that we poor against Swansea. Should have been 2 or 3 nil up at half time. 

[HighPeakFox]

I really hope that things behind the scenes are not as bad as the rumours inform you @Abrasive fox. Not doubting your conviction or commitment as a fan whatsoever, but even people close to the club may 'colour in' events - people like gossip, and I hope that's all it is. However, I am sure you report what you report in good faith.

[1972 Fox]

6 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

I really hope that things behind the scenes are not as bad as the rumours inform you @Abrasive fox. Not doubting your conviction or commitment as a fan whatsoever, but even people close to the club may 'colour in' events - people like gossip, and I hope that's all it is. However, I am sure you report what you report in good faith.

Hear, hear.