Arsenal Post Match

[LCCFox96]

There were some good performances last night. In the first half we were superb and really took the game to Arsenal and got ourselves deservedly in front. If we had we seen the 0-1 lead out to half time we would have come away with something last night. Yes Arsenal were outstanding in the second half but we were really sucker punched with that goal and never showed up for the second half.

 

Think the subs last night were off. I wouldn't have taken off Iheanacho and certainly not Maddison as both looked lively and are our two of best attacking threats. I always feel we bring Okazaki on too late to. Reality of it is we are are a couple players short of going to the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea etc. and being able to consistently really challenge for the win. Arsenal found an extra gear in attack that we just could not cope with last night. 

 

We are nearly there and there were lots of positives from last night. Two big moments in the game went Arsenal's way too. The first being the Holding handball which was a stonewall penalty and a red card and the second was hitting the bar at 1-1. If either of them go our way it could have been a very different result.

 

[Col city fan]

1 minute ago, Babylon said:

Yeah awful losing against a team who have won 10 on the trot and have £60m strikers on the bench, a team we've not beaten since the 70's there.

You must have trotted this out possible ten times since last night?

Yes, they have money but they’ve already lost twice this season and we all know they are beatable.

Your argument seems to be solely along the lines of this was a fixture we had little chance in anyway?

If so, that’s a lot of old plop and takes the argument nearly away from any criticism of Puel.

[Matt_Lcfc]

Best 40 mins off the season in the first half. Poor second half but admire the way Özil, Auba and Lacazette linked up. Bit unlucky I think, Holding should be sent off, Kavanagh bottled it and if Ndidi scores it’s a different game. Poor in the last half hour, and I’m afraid Puel got the subs wrong. 

 

A lot of game changers didn’t go in our favour which is irritating. 

The next 3 games are the ones tho, Puel has to be getting 7 points. 

Ghezell is a Poundland Mahrez 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Ricey said:

 

He shuts up shop. Incredibly deep line,

I wouldn’t disagree as a rule we went deep but all three of their goals took advantage of us attempting to press the ball or allowing space behind the defence 

[LCCFox96]

5 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

Any manager coming in would have a similar problem. It will take time whatever manager we have due to the  smattering of very good players mixed up with some mediocrity. 

 

This is it in a nutshell basically. Was chatting to some other Leicester fans on the tube last night who weren't so keen on Puel. I totally get people not being bowled over by the current football and results as, in true Leicester style, it's a mixed bag and we don't make it easy for ourselves sometimes. 

 

But what I don't understand is why people cannot see that what he is trying to do is right and we have to grit our teeth and crack on even if we have the odd result like the Palace and Bournemouth away defeats. People seem to think we can go to every ground and play on the break and make Europe. It's been obvious we can't do for about two years now. Yes, we might occasionally mug a big team and we'll probably beat some of the weaker teams doing so but we have to adapt and play effectively with the ball to challenge higher up the league.

 

Building the side around the likes of Maguire and Maddison allows us to start to play that way. It's a long term project and we've had teething problems for sure but I think Puel's approach will win out in the end.

[Bablemikey]

1 hour ago, breadandcheese said:

We're paying some big money for players. It's not like we're scraping around trying to find a bargain.

 

Pereira - £19.8m

Ghezzal - £12m

Soyuncu - £22m

Iborra - £12m

Silva - £24m

 

It's a lot of money and a club succeeds or fails due to its signings. I dread to think of what they're actually worth if selling in the transfer market.

 

That Charlie Adam interview last season about Stoke's failings springs to mind where he said that players were replaced by inferior players on big money.

Not sure you grasped the point I was making. We are not fishing in the same pond as the top teams at this time. We are not attracting the kind of talent that those teams do. Therefore we may find we need to pay over the odds to get players, and that those players may be more of a risk.

 

lets not forget though that we are only a few games into this season & that for several of the players it is their first time in the Premiership. Let’s see where we stand after a season or two before writing them off.

Edited 23 October 2018 by Bablemikey

[Babylon]

1 minute ago, Col city fan said:

You must have trotted this out possible ten times since last night?

Because it seems it needs repeating to the idiots on here. 

 

1 minute ago, Col city fan said:

Yes, they have money but they’ve already lost twice this season and we all know they are beatable.

Your argument seems to be solely along the lines of this was a fixture we had little chance in anyway?
 

If so, that’s a lot of old plop and takes the argument nearly away from any criticism of Puel.

Yes they lost to Chelsea and Man City, two teams far better equipped than ourselves. All teams will lose at some point, but the reality is you do not EXPECT to beat these teams. Which is the point of view some people seem to have.

 

Is Puel to blame for the ref not giving a pen and sending their man off? Iheancho missing a great chance? Maguire not scoring a header he should have scored. Not many teams will go to Arsenal and put them on the ropes like we did in that first half. The players didn't take the chances that were presented, chances that need to be taken if you're ever going to get results at places like that.

 

Arsenal were nigh on guaranteed to come back into it as they are a vastly superior team, going over the top and pinning it all on him for losing is frankly moronic. We got mullered against them when we won the league, we've lost there with great teams under O'Neill. When you play the top 6 you have a punchers chance and not much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NotTheMarketLeader]

12 hours ago, Babylon said:

Nope, I'm saying they need to keep their shape not that they shouldn't push up. Look at our shape when it starts, it's laughable. Evans miles up pitch, Maguire and then Amartey all in some diagonal. They have to charge back, backs are the to play, can't see their men, Maguire never gets back inline and get ripped to bits. 

 

 

So who is in charge of coaching and managing the team? 

 

I think that is Puel; he who shall not be criticised it seems.

 

We have no work ethic, and can’t defend; the manager has been here a year and we are in the round, despite a very good 30 mins at Arsenal, not seeing sufficient progress for me.

[elvisfmcfly]

Puel out 

[Bunyip]

51 minutes ago, hairy said:

Two things bother me from last night

 

Firstly the inability to change our play. The first 30 minutes we were all over them, scored a goal, then it was all them for the next hour. We failed to make a consistent pressure period (over two minutes) in the last hour. For some reason after we scored we were never really in it

 

Secondly, the substitutes. None made an impact. Albrighton has been woeful coming on as  a sub in the past few matches but we still bring him on. Ghezzal worse. Shinji made an impact but it was too little too late. We need more depth in the squad and need the ability to be able to change our play when making the substitutions.

 

I could rant on about Evans who is a championship player at best but i am sure the manager will be looking for a new CB in the next window anyway.

What's wrong with the two cb's we signed in the closed season for millions ?

Edited 23 October 2018 by Bunyip

[elvisfmcfly]

3 minutes ago, Bunyip said:

What's wrong with the two cb's we signed in the closed season for millions ?

Don’t be daft, we don’t spend good money on players to actually play them,they are for the u23s or to loan out for a few seasons to really drive down the asking price,preferably to give away for free. 

[grobyfox1990]

34 minutes ago, Matt_Lcfc said:

Best 40 mins off the season in the first half. Poor second half but admire the way Özil, Auba and Lacazette linked up. Bit unlucky I think, Holding should be sent off, Kavanagh bottled it and if Ndidi scores it’s a different game. Poor in the last half hour, and I’m afraid Puel got the subs wrong. 

 

A lot of game changers didn’t go in our favour which is irritating. 

The next 3 games are the ones tho, Puel has to be getting 7 points. 

Ghezell is a Poundland Mahrez 

Good points. Next 6 games are all winnable. I'd say you need to be getting 14 points from the next 6 games. 

[Babylon]

21 minutes ago, NotTheMarketLeader said:

So who is in charge of coaching and managing the team? 

 

I think that is Puel; he who shall not be criticised it seems.

 

We have no work ethic, and can’t defend; the manager has been here a year and we are in the round, despite a very good 30 mins at Arsenal, not seeing sufficient progress for me.

Once again, you don't seem capable of understanding the difference between fair critisism and stupid overt the top stuff from people who do nothing but look for things to blame him for.

[daddylonglegs]

Just watched the highlights. If we play like we did in the first half for the rest of the season we'll finish in the top 7. 

If we play like we did in the second half, we'll finish in the bottom 3. 

Maguire's header, Ndidi hitting the bar, a stone wall penalty not given (seriously, how is that not given?), a couple of good chances for Iheanacho, all created with a evidently half fit Vardy. Hopefully we can put the second half to bed & play like we did for the first 44 mins on Saturday. 

[urban.spaceman]

I haven’t mentioned it for a few hours but it needs repeating. 

 

I ****ing loathe Arsenal. 

 

They are utter scum.

 

A vile club with vile fans.

 

Cvnts. 

[Blue ROI]

The first 30 minutes or so were magnificent. About 4 to 5 good chances and we got right stuck into them. They were all over the place. As bad as they ever were against us.

 

It would nearly have been better for us to score around the 80th/85th minute though as once we went ahead went back into our shell. The equaliser when it arrived was inevitable from the 35th minute.

 

In contrast to the 1st half Arsenal were as good as they ever were against us in the 2nd. We didnt really have the fitness or the guile to live with them once they got on top. The game was up when Albrighton replaced Nachoman.

 

Arsenal would have been a handful for anyone in the world on that 2nd half performance but at the same time the manner of our collapse was very concerning. Like Vardy the whole thing turned to s''' for a finish.

 

A sobering enough result. It's days like these that make you so thankful of the time from April 2015 to May 2016.

[Finnaldo]

I can't deal with this subforum.

 

We had Arsenal on the ropes for 40 minutes in the first half. The referee failed to give an obvious penalty and sending off and individual players failed to take their chances. Arsenal lived up to their quality second half. 

 

Unless you're truly, utterly deluded, how can you blame that on Puel?? He got his subs wrong, but by that point the game was truly past us already. It's genuinely pathetic how some of you can deflect all that goes wrong onto him, any other manager you'd give them a pass.

 

I don't even particularly like him but the entitlement on here makes some of you look like children.

[volpeazzurro]

47 minutes ago, Babylon said:

Because it seems it needs repeating to the idiots on here. 

 

Yes they lost to Chelsea and Man City, two teams far better equipped than ourselves. All teams will lose at some point, but the reality is you do not EXPECT to beat these teams. Which is the point of view some people seem to have.

 

Is Puel to blame for the ref not giving a pen and sending their man off? Iheancho missing a great chance? Maguire not scoring a header he should have scored. Not many teams will go to Arsenal and put them on the ropes like we did in that first half. The players didn't take the chances that were presented, chances that need to be taken if you're ever going to get results at places like that.

 

Arsenal were nigh on guaranteed to come back into it as they are a vastly superior team, going over the top and pinning it all on him for losing is frankly moronic. We got mullered against them when we won the league, we've lost there with great teams under O'Neill. When you play the top 6 you have a punchers chance and not much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spot on and as Puel hasn't been here since 1973, even he can't be blamed for all of our bad run there. A good big un nearly always beats a good or mediocre little un.

Edited 23 October 2018 by volpeazzurro

[NotTheMarketLeader]

21 minutes ago, Babylon said:

Once again, you don't seem capable of understanding the difference between fair critisism and stupid overt the top stuff from people who do nothing but look for things to blame him for.

Not sure there is too much in

post that is over the top? 

 

I wrote that post to counter the many you have written in this thread complaining about our defenders. As far as you are concerned Claude was to be commended for the first half an hour, but has no responsibility for the remainder of the performance ??‍♂️

Puel is the manager and as such is responsible for the players play as individuals and as a team. If they are not doing their jobs properly he has ‘to carry the can’ because it’s his role to get the best out of them.

 

I would say that’s not an over the top view.

 

Are you at least able to comcede that Puel is failing in shaping our team’s defensive abilities, or to engender a backbone to the side which looks devoid of spirit to me.

Edited 23 October 2018 by NotTheMarketLeader

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Col city fan said:

I consider Albrighton, for instance, to still be streets ahead of Ghezzal. I said I know we needed to evolve. But not with mediocrity. 

Harping on about a team that was great in 2015 but mediocre and aged since is a waste of time. Other than Kanté, none of those players are worth worrying about. Our whole defence from then has aged so much they'd lose a game in first division. We kept vardy and Kasper, two of the better players. Mahrez threw a mardy and the rest are not as good as what we have. As for Ghezzal, he's not been here long enough to acclimatise. The player we're missing is Demarai Gray who off the bench is a terror with skill and speed. We do need another attacker though as Shinji-san is finished.

 

 

4 hours ago, Pliskin said:

I do smile at the scoulding you get for merely suggesting an ounce of dissatisfaction. We were poor, and yet a 30 minute spell of wasted domination is enough to satisfy some people? 

 

In my mind you can blame Puel... he’s the chap who carries the can ultimately when shit goes bad, not the owners. Having a half decent 30 minute spell won’t keep you in a job if you can’t win games. Recent results and performances have started to show some real issues and imbalances within the side. The defence I would say was marginally better today, however Arsenal scored three although attractive, routine goals a few simple passes had us star struck. Mendy and N’didi still continue to stifle us going forward, through no fault of their own it’s just their game isnt about attack. Our attack is about a useful as a door with no handle, Vardy is starved of any kind of service and yet gets berated for not delivering and Kalechi is certainly a member of the “worst we’ve had” club. He’s absolute dog and completely useless.

 

I don’t think all the players buy into Puels philosophy and I think that is evident in the body language of a few of them, I’m not happy with how things are going theres nothing about us anymore, we’ve lost all of our previous characteristics we had prior to Puels arrival and we have a soft underbelly and are easy to beat. 

 

Performances ultimately mean jack, unless you back them up with some kind of result. 

 

To put it bluntly I’m looking forward to the day Puel finally gets the sack. 

We haven't won at Arsenal since 1973 - and you'd blame Puel! 

 

That's crazy. Did you really exepct to beat Arsenal away? Do you expect to beat Man City away too?

 

And this made up scenario of players not playing for Puel is another FT special make up a story. They all keep saying that's not the case but you and others continue the lie and refuse to accept that maybe the players just aren't quite as great as you think they are. 

 

We are a mid table team in the prem. Your visions of grandeur are just illusions or more likely delusions.

 

But hey sack Puel and everything will be better - we'll be top 3 next season.

 

 

4 hours ago, daddylonglegs said:

The lack of a plan B is really worrying. Albrighton, Okazaki & Ghezzal are all very very average PL players, bringing them on to change a game is only going to go one way. 

 

Not saying Slimani & Ulloa were Drogba & Shearer but at least it was something different to throw the opposition. Investment needed in January.

 

also - important to reflect on how good we were in the first half, but unfortunately we were worse in the second half than we were good in the first. Spineless, no direction, confused. Just looked like we’d given up. Disappointing ... 

We do have a problem with second string attackers. It needs to be sorted. however Demarai Gray is really our second line attacker - he just happens to be injured.

 

 

4 hours ago, BlueSi13 said:

Already difficult for me to get passionate about this season.  We've become such a 'meh' side.  A make-up-the-numbers Premier League club.

 

Lose a couple, shithouse a win or two, lose some more.  All whilst looking decent in patches but overall, pretty useless.  We don't have anything about us, no steel, no guts, no arrogance.  Our record against the top six is quickly becoming an abomination for example.  We just roll over when the tide is against us.

 

In my opinion we are underachieving, our squad (and wage bill to boot) should be at a higher standard.  

 

Mid to top half of table and it's meh and nothing to get passionate about. You are either a spoiled football fan or you need to support Man City or you need a break from Football.

 

Top half of the Prem is incredible and more than Leicester fans can ask for.

 

 

3 hours ago, Dr The Singh said:

Who buys 3 defenders to sit on the bench, who buys a left winger who hasnt aued for a year, who buys a left back that can't defend. Bwhongets rid of the target strikers and doesn't replace them?

 

It's our own doing, our player strategy has been awful

 

You buy three young defenders so that you have enough time to get them ready to enter the prem team in a year or so when your seasoned pros start to flag. In case you missed it we bought Evans to alternate with Morgan alongside Maguire. the young ones need to be readied to take over from Morgan and Evans .

 

 

3 hours ago, yorkie1999 said:

As soon as vardy starts sitting back, that's when we go down hill. Should be forced to sit on the last defender. His very presence is a threat, as an attacker, pull him back into midfield to help cover, and we've no outlet and no threat.

I can only assume that Vardy was injured or ill yesterday. he started with speed and eagerness and that disappeared. We do need him to close players and keeper down as he has for many years and we need him to re-find the spark in front of goal. we are lacking in attacking depth at the moment.

 

 

1 hour ago, Bunyip said:

Typical underreaction to yet another abysmal managerial display. The sooner you realise how bad Puel is the easier your life will be. 

I think my life will be easier than yours. I need a mid/top half finish in the prem which is difficult. you need to challenge for a title to be happy.

[urban.spaceman]

13 minutes ago, Finnaldo said:

I can't deal with this subforum.

 

We had Arsenal on the ropes for 40 minutes in the first half. The referee failed to give an obvious penalty and sending off and individual players failed to take their chances. Arsenal lived up to their quality second half. 

 

Unless you're truly, utterly deluded, how can you blame that on Puel?? He got his subs wrong, but by that point the game was truly past us already. It's genuinely pathetic how some of you can deflect all that goes wrong onto him, any other manager you'd give them a pass.

 

I don't even particularly like him but the entitlement on here makes some of you look like children.

[st albans fox]

I’m becoming strangely irritated by the lack of discipline in allowing ourselves to become stretched when the game is still alive 

 

we did it when down to ten men against Everton and we did it again last night. 2-1 down with 25 to go. Stay in the game. Don’t go chasing like headless chickens - instead we over commit and get caught.  The top teams rarely allow their shape to be stretched so that in the event the ball is turned over, they are not exposed. We need to learn this lesson double quick but it relies somewhat on mendy/ndidi pulling the strings verbally and I don’t think they do much talking ......

[Col city fan]

1 hour ago, Babylon said:

Because it seems it needs repeating to the idiots on here. 

 

Yes they lost to Chelsea and Man City, two teams far better equipped than ourselves. All teams will lose at some point, but the reality is you do not EXPECT to beat these teams. Which is the point of view some people seem to have.

 

Is Puel to blame for the ref not giving a pen and sending their man off? Iheancho missing a great chance? Maguire not scoring a header he should have scored. Not many teams will go to Arsenal and put them on the ropes like we did in that first half. The players didn't take the chances that were presented, chances that need to be taken if you're ever going to get results at places like that.

 

Arsenal were nigh on guaranteed to come back into it as they are a vastly superior team, going over the top and pinning it all on him for losing is frankly moronic. We got mullered against them when we won the league, we've lost there with great teams under O'Neill. When you play the top 6 you have a punchers chance and not much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fair enough Babs but does it not worry you how we cave when put under pressure?

My belief is this stems from the players not having much confidence in how they are being asked to play. I think you said yourself last night how our defence in particular went to pieces.

Of course, the players can’t be absolved of responsibility, but this must come from the boss?

I’m not only referring to Arsenal. It happened a couple of weeks back against Everton too.

[Babylon]

7 minutes ago, NotTheMarketLeader said:

I wrote that post to counter the many you have written in this thread complaining about our defenders, and lauding the first half an hour. As far as you are concerned Claude was to be commended for the first half an hour, but has no responsibility for the remainder of the performance ??‍♂️

Puel is the manager and as such is responsible for the players play as individuals and as a team. If they are not doing their jobs properly he has ‘to carry the can’ because it’s his role to get the best out of them.

 

Would love to see the "many" posts where I've commended him and said he gets all the credit for the good and should get no blame for anything else.

 

If I think he's made a massive **** up that's lost us the game, I'll say it. The reality is though we should have been 3 up before we lost control. He's not made Maguire miss a header, N'didi head against the bar later on, the ref miss a clear penno etc. Not EVERYTHING is his fault, managers can only do so much.

 

Arsenal are a very good team, us losing doesn't always have to be someones fault. They are going to beat most lower teams they come up against, like the majority of big teams do. Because they are simply better teams with more resources. I don't believe Puel made a decision that made us lose that game particularly, their class told in the end and we let them into the game with some awful ball retention after our goal... should I blame him for all of our players suddenly not being able to pass to a blue shirt?

 

 

7 minutes ago, NotTheMarketLeader said:

 

 

Are you able to comcede that Puel is failing in shaping our team’s  defensive abilities, or to engender a backbone to the side which looks devoid of spirit? 

I'm sorry, but you must have selective memory or something, because I've literally been through this multiple times already with you. There are issues defensively, which I've said myself numerous times and I've put the blame on Puel for not rectifying it. What I don't have, is people saying  we're "worst in the league" etc. We're just decidedly average at the back. Just to point out some critisism from today alone....

 

4 hours ago, Babylon said:

Little wrong with Amartey's positioning in that shot, not a chance he should be expected to cover that man alone, he's been dragged over because Maguire and Evans have both gone that side. If he was covering the player at the back the space between him and Maguire would be huge and their other player behind him in this shot would be free to have a tap in.

 

Ricardo just looks static and has been caught ball watching again. I still think he'll be good, plenty of plus points he he just needs time with a good defensive coach... which I don't think Puel is as he keeps insisting and player slow cb's on our own half way line.

There is a lot that Puel needs to improve, but the chances are we'll still lose against the top 6, especially away.

[Guest]

Cananyone tell me how many times we've beaten one of the big four teams away in the prem since 1973?