James Maddison Confirmed

[lcfc sheff]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

Find it interesting that Maddison has 2 assists in 1237 Premier league minutes (that's about 13.7 games) which is, what, one every 7 games? 

 

Meanwhile Iheanacho has 3 assists in 811 PL minutes (9.01 games) which is one every 3.

 

Iheanacho has been turned in to a figure of ridicule for, largely, being crap as a number 9 despite stating his preference to play at 10. Meanwhile, Maddison is heralded as our Lord Creator. 

 

They're the same age, one has been sent off for diving this year and gets treated like a hero, the other has created more for Jamie Vardy in less time yet gets cheered ironically off the pitch when he's subbed. 

 

****ing disgrace the way we treat Iheanacho, frankly. He's called "lazy", yet I've seen him running around closing defenders down. I personally don't think he's lazy, he runs around as much as Maddison, he's just being expected to play as a 9 and move like a 9 which he has no idea how to do. He's not a centre forward.

 

Maddison has weighed in with more goals and plays significantly more key passes per game (2.3 vs 0.8), generally out to the wingers, which is his default. But for all the excitement about how Maddison would be slotting through balls to Vardy, Iheanacho gets much closer to him, gives him far more support and has assisted more goals for him than JM. 

 

Now I'm not claiming Iheanacho is better, I'd probably still play Maddison and I'd probably still play Maddison at 10 (he's dogshit at left mid) but it's definitely food for thought. 

That only highlights players not finishing the chances Maddison creates, which is something that can happen but with time Maddison with 2.3 KP per game will have more assists than Iheanacho overall (0.8)

[RowlattsFox]

The only thing I have really been impressed with so far is the fact he can pick up some nice space and sometimes we are able to pass forward into attacking positions and his touch is generally good. Often to leads to nothing because he just passes it back to Ndidi or gets fouled (actually think his first thought is to win a foul sometimes)

 

Definite ability but massively overrated by the press and commentators whenever he's on the pitch. I don't blame him, he's young and learning, playing at a level he never has and we expect him to be Hazard. Problem all our young players have is we need them to play crucial roles in the team.

[lgfualol]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

****ing disgrace the way we treat Iheanacho, frankly. He's called "lazy", yet I've seen him running around closing defenders down. I personally don't think he's lazy, he runs around as much as Maddison, he's just being expected to play as a 9 and move like a 9 which he has no idea how to do. He's not a centre forward.

If the player isn't Vardy, Okazaki or Albrighton then they are always called lazy. Mahrez, Nacho, Slim, Gray, Ghezzal, Musa, etc. 

[Finnegan]

6 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

That only highlights players not finishing the chances Maddison creates, which is something that can happen but with time Maddison with 2.3 KP per game will have more assists than Iheanacho overall (0.8)

 

This isn't necessarily true. I took the stats from who scored who consider that a key pass is any pass before the receiving team mate takes a shot at goal. So if Mendy lays off a one yard sideways pass to Ndidi who dribbles it a couple of steps and then blasts it in to the Kop, it's a key pass. 

 

It's not really surprising that Maddison has the highest number of key passes per game given that he's been playing in a central, attacking midfield position. You'd expect that. 

 

By contrast, Iheanacho has played most of his games "out of position" as the end receiver of a lot of passes so it's not really surprising that his key passes per game is low. 

 

There's not a metric on here for the number of clear cut chances created, OPTA probably do have that stat but you have to pay a subscription to get their full range of statistics, I think, unless I'm remembering wrong. 

 

Stats can be deceiving if they're misrepresented, I like Maddison, I'm not trying to bring him down and like I said, I'd still play him ahead of Iheanacho. 

 

I just feel very uncomfortable with how we vilify Nacho. It's often very unfair and counter productive. 

[Gamble92]

How did i know he was from Coventry before i checked? 

[The Doctor]

7 hours ago, Finnegan said:

There's not a metric on here for the number of clear cut chances created, OPTA probably do have that stat but you have to pay a subscription to get their full range of statistics, I think, unless I'm remembering wrong. 

xGA (sum of expected goals off a players key passes) would function similar, wouldn't show number but it'd answer over misses from players supplied vs just not that good a pass: https://understat.com/team/Leicester/2018

 

Maddison is on 3.67 (0.26/90 mins), Iheanacho on 1.32 (0.15/90 mins). So, Iheanacho is as expected less creative in terms of the sort of assist numbers you'd expect if players converted the chances you'd expect, but is one extra theoretical assist per 10 games for your main number 10 vs the guy playing as a number 9 that good? Probably not.

[Guest]

I can't believe some of the crap that Young Mado is getting here.

 

Go to this page

 

https://www.premierleague.com/stats/player-comparison

 

And compare Maddison with Mahrez. 

 

One the young lad playing his first season in the prem with a struggling, evolving team (and apparently a terrible manager) the other an experienced title winning player of the year playing alongside a wealth of talent to make his life and game easier with the messiah as a manager.

 

You'll see that even the attacking stats slightly favour maddison, the team stats even moreso and the defensive stats are a walkover. I espeically loved seeing that most of Mahrez passes are backwards and most of Maddison's are forwards.

[Finnegan]

After all the talk about assists and the Maddison Vardy link, I did really enjoy the goal we scored at Chelsea. More of that James please. 

[Mint23]

He looked like he was allowed to play with more freedom and drop deeper than he has been doing which is more similar to his position for Norwich last season. Long matbthat continue and we’ll soon see the best of him and more consistency.

[Arriba Los Zorros]

On 19/12/2018 at 09:29, Finnegan said:

Find it interesting that Maddison has 2 assists in 1237 Premier league minutes (that's about 13.7 games) which is, what, one every 7 games? 

 

Meanwhile Iheanacho has 3 assists in 811 PL minutes (9.01 games) which is one every 3.

 

Iheanacho has been turned in to a figure of ridicule for, largely, being crap as a number 9 despite stating his preference to play at 10. Meanwhile, Maddison is heralded as our Lord Creator. 

 

They're the same age, one has been sent off for diving this year and gets treated like a hero, the other has created more for Jamie Vardy in less time yet gets cheered ironically off the pitch when he's subbed. 

 

****ing disgrace the way we treat Iheanacho, frankly. He's called "lazy", yet I've seen him running around closing defenders down. I personally don't think he's lazy, he runs around as much as Maddison, he's just being expected to play as a 9 and move like a 9 which he has no idea how to do. He's not a centre forward.

 

Maddison has weighed in with more goals and plays significantly more key passes per game (2.3 vs 0.8), generally out to the wingers, which is his default. But for all the excitement about how Maddison would be slotting through balls to Vardy, Iheanacho gets much closer to him, gives him far more support and has assisted more goals for him than JM. 

 

Now I'm not claiming Iheanacho is better, I'd probably still play Maddison and I'd probably still play Maddison at 10 (he's dogshit at left mid) but it's definitely food for thought. 

Interesting post but stats aside, Madison has good ball control, awareness, quick feet, 2 footed, and looks to drive forward. (Plus he tries.)

 

Iheanacho has none of the above. Sometimes it's best to ignore stats, watch the games and trust your own judgement of the game.

[Finnegan]

54 minutes ago, Arriba Los Zorros said:

Interesting post but stats aside, Madison has good ball control, awareness, quick feet, 2 footed, and looks to drive forward. (Plus he tries.)

 

Iheanacho has none of the above. Sometimes it's best to ignore stats, watch the games and trust your own judgement of the game.

 

I'm glad you said that because, anecdotally, I also think Iheanacho gets butchered at times on here by people who barely seem to acknowledge the good he does. 

 

I think he's got fairly quick feet for a six foot, stocky footballer to be honest. What I like most about him in the 10 role is that he's a lot more creative than our other players. He'll try a little lob over the back four or a no look reverse pass or he'll beat a man with a swerve and get a through ball away. 

 

There's been a lot of shit from Iheanacho where he just looks timid, shy and clumsy, I'll absolutely concede that, but on the rare occasions he's looked happy and confident (which is nearly always playing behind either Vardy or a couple of times Slimani) he's got some real quality in him. 

 

People just don't want to see it because it doesn't fit the narrative that he's a lazy waste of money. 

 

I really don't see it. I think he's been let down by the way he's been handled here. I mean maybe that's his fault, maybe he just doesn't have the mental strength or the determination to be a top level footballer when things are against him. 

 

But I don't see a lazy guy with no ability when I watch Iheanacho, I see a 20 year old child who looks scared out of his mind every time he's on the pitch. 

 

 

Edited 24 December 2018 by Finnegan

[AKCJ]

I like this formation we've been playing as more of a 4-3-3 with Maddison playing where he likes.

 

The extra solidity in midfield allows our fullbacks more opportunities to bomb forward, that's how both Chilwell and Ricardo thrive.

 

If we can get a midfielder that's got a bit about him in terms of dictating the tempo and an ability to get a goal every now and then and a forward that offers something different to Vardy and Iheanacho then I seriously think we can be the "best of the rest".

 

 

[coolhandfox]

On 19/12/2018 at 09:29, Finnegan said:

Find it interesting that Maddison has 2 assists in 1237 Premier league minutes (that's about 13.7 games) which is, what, one every 7 games? 

 

Meanwhile Iheanacho has 3 assists in 811 PL minutes (9.01 games) which is one every 3.

 

Iheanacho has been turned in to a figure of ridicule for, largely, being crap as a number 9 despite stating his preference to play at 10. Meanwhile, Maddison is heralded as our Lord Creator. 

 

They're the same age, one has been sent off for diving this year and gets treated like a hero, the other has created more for Jamie Vardy in less time yet gets cheered ironically off the pitch when he's subbed. 

 

****ing disgrace the way we treat Iheanacho, frankly. He's called "lazy", yet I've seen him running around closing defenders down. I personally don't think he's lazy, he runs around as much as Maddison, he's just being expected to play as a 9 and move like a 9 which he has no idea how to do. He's not a centre forward.

 

Maddison has weighed in with more goals and plays significantly more key passes per game (2.3 vs 0.8), generally out to the wingers, which is his default. But for all the excitement about how Maddison would be slotting through balls to Vardy, Iheanacho gets much closer to him, gives him far more support and has assisted more goals for him than JM. 

 

Now I'm not claiming Iheanacho is better, I'd probably still play Maddison and I'd probably still play Maddison at 10 (he's dogshit at left mid) but it's definitely food for thought. 

Most chances create by an English player in the PL, not his fault ours don't take them.

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, AKCJ said:

I like this formation we've been playing as more of a 4-3-3 with Maddison playing where he likes.

 

The extra solidity in midfield allows our fullbacks more opportunities to bomb forward, that's how both Chilwell and Ricardo thrive.

 

If we can get a midfielder that's got a bit about him in terms of dictating the tempo and an ability to get a goal every now and then and a forward that offers something different to Vardy and Iheanacho then I seriously think we can be the "best of the rest".

 

 

 

It certainly worked better with Chilwell and Ricardo in the team but I'm still not particularly convinced. 

 

Against both Spurs and Man City it was absolutely garbage with zero creative or attacking numbers at all. 

 

As good as the Chelsea result was and as good as the performance was on our part, can't really overlook the fact they were horrifically wasteful as well. 

 

I much prefer the standard 4231 we'd been playing if I'm honest. I get why you'd go defensive away at Stamford Bridge and I expect he'll do it again on boxing day but I hope it doesn't become too regular. 

[blaaklint]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

 

It certainly worked better with Chilwell and Ricardo in the team but I'm still not particularly convinced. 

 

Against both Spurs and Man City it was absolutely garbage with zero creative or attacking numbers at all. 

 

As good as the Chelsea result was and as good as the performance was on our part, can't really overlook the fact they were horrifically wasteful as well. 

 

I much prefer the standard 4231 we'd been playing if I'm honest. I get why you'd go defensive away at Stamford Bridge and I expect he'll do it again on boxing day but I hope it doesn't become too regular. 

What we played against Chelsea was, more than anything, a 4-5-1 with Vardy dropping in on Jorginho. This makes sense against the top teams: compact with the potential for the counter-attack. However, against others, I think you could shift Maddison into the middle for one of Ndidi, Choudhury or Mendy, and have Ghezzal, Iheanacho or Gray pushed further upfield with Albrighton for a more typical 4-3-3.

[RODNEY FERNIO]

Check his twitter account …. well I found it quite funny.

 

Cheeky young chappie. 

[StanSP]

Yep, was quite funny as was Chilwell's comment

[Vacamion]

[Fox92]

He doesn't like a challenge does he. Backs out of all of them.

[Countryfox]

4 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

He doesn't like a challenge does he. Backs out of all of them.

 

Still love him ....   a joy to watch.

[Bert]

Backs out of every challenge. As does Gray. Too busy bothering about Instagram and trying to make everything spectacular. 

[martyn]

1 minute ago, Bert said:

Backs out of every challenge. As does Gray. Too busy bothering about Instagram and trying to make everything spectacular. 

Will never understand comments like this. Just a nothing throwaway line used to criticise a player.

 

"Too busy bothering about Instagram"? So you're saying whilst on the pitch, Maddison is thinking about what he is doing on social media? Would you say the same about Chilwell?

 

I actually think Maddison can be too unselfish at times. Many times he has been 25 yards out with a shot on but he looks to slide someone in rather than "going for the spectacular"

 

Fine to criticise players, but stuff like that is just utter nonsense. Just a thinly veiled way of attacking a players character.

[That_Dude]

Please, cut the lad some slack. His penalty was awful and from now on I'd rather let Kasper take them than him, but the potential is there. We'll talk about him next season.

[Fox92]

1 minute ago, martyn said:

Will never understand comments like this. Just a nothing throwaway line used to criticise a player.

 

"Too busy bothering about Instagram"? So you're saying whilst on the pitch, Maddison is thinking about what he is doing on social media? Would you say the same about Chilwell?

 

I actually think Maddison can be too unselfish at times. Many times he has been 25 yards out with a shot on but he looks to slide someone in rather than "going for the spectacular"

 

Fine to criticise players, but stuff like that is just utter nonsense. Just a thinly veiled way of attacking a players character.

It's because he backs out of challenges. He's done it all season. I'm not saying go around like a thug but you can't afford to lose the ball like he does in midfield all the time.

[lcfc sheff]

Knew we’d get a few knee jerk reactions, doesn’t need to put a foot in you people are just old fashioned