Ghezzal....

[mucfox]

1 hour ago, Col city fan said:

I thought the game changed when we brought Albrighton on

All energy, better crossing and chasing down defensively. Good sub that from Claude

A good sub, you said???

 

Albrighton would have had to play from the BEGINNING and CP once again got it wrong. As simple as that...

[Gerard]

6 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Never should have signed him to begin with. Im not hating on him but just didnt seem a good buy back then. Whilst he has a city top on i will support him but we need better quality simple.

 

Buy cheap, buy twice.

 

Going into the season I didn't think we needed a player who wasn't going to walk into the first team. We had Iheanacho who could play behind Vardy as he thinks that's his best position. We also had the ever reliable Albrighton as a sure thing, Puel knew Riccardo could play there and there if need be and two highly thought of youngsters in Gray and Maddison. We also had Okazaki, Diabate and sent Barnes on loan.

 

Spending £12m on a 26yo player who had failed over the last couple of seasons had failure written all over it. We should either have bought a player who was top shelf for us or not at all. It was really depressing considering there were links to Leon Bailey and Malcolm who ended up going Barcelona. 

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, mucfox said:

A good sub, you said???

 

Albrighton would have had to play from the BEGINNING and CP once again got it wrong. As simple as that...

You don't understand why he didn't start from the beginning? 

[oadby.fox]

Whilst people are right to say that he shouldn't be booed and that fans should always get behind the team - you can't deny that both on paper and in reality, he has been an awful signing.

 

I don't really understand why people say that he will develop into a top player. There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that he was able to cut the mustard in France and there is definitely nothing to suggest he will be able to here, in what is a much tougher league. It's irrational to believe something which is so contrary to the evidence. He was poor in the past and he's been poor for us, he's 26 years old and should be in his prime. He will have virtually no resale value and I bet it will be tough to get rid of him in the end.

 

I don't have anything against him personally but he doesn't seem to offer anything at all. I'd much rather have a U23 player in the squad, at least there's a chance that they will develop further and even if they don't end up staying here, a few premier league appearances could definitely increase their market worth. 

[somebum]

Don't even know who he is sounds more like speciality kebab

[Monsell1976]

1 hour ago, Gerard said:

 

I've seen nothing in him to suggest he'll be a player for us, he's not quick, can't beat a man and isn't a great passer or deliverer of the ball which is not what you want in an attacking wide player. He's not good enough to command a regular spot and at 26 has little scope for improvement. He's a tidy enough player but that's not enough.

 

He looks exactly the type of player I thought we had bought. One stand out season for Lyon a few years a go and still living off it. Why O why didn't we just get him on loan as a poor Monaco team were desperate to get rid of him and there were no other takers. He'll probably be here until the end of his contract and leave as a 30 year old having been no more than a squad player. 

Time will tell, you could well be right, but I think he deserves more than a few random starts and sub appearances in his first season in English football.

 

 If he’s still off the pace like he is now in 12 months, I think it would be fair to say he’s not good enough, now is harsh imo.

[KrefelderFox666]

1 hour ago, mucfox said:

A good sub, you said???

 

Albrighton would have had to play from the BEGINNING and CP once again got it wrong. As simple as that...

Puel, how dare he. How can he live with himself for benching Albrighton who has played 200+ mins of football in a week and looked knackered against Cardiff.

 

Why does Puel not play the same 11 players for 90 mins every game.

[Gazza M]

Clear Albrighton knackered. Gave him 45 mins as probably all could manage. Would have started under normal circumstances in my opinion. 

[Legend_in_blue]

Once he starts against Newport at the weekend, I think he'll have finally found his level.

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, Dickov22 said:

HOW DOES HE GET A GAME

HOW DO YOU TURN CAPS LOCK OFF?

[foxile5]

58 minutes ago, somebum said:

Don't even know who he is sounds more like speciality kebab

Could just go for one of those fancy kebabs. 

[BoyJones]

3 minutes ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Puel, how dare he. How can he live with himself for benching Albrighton who has played 200+ mins of football in a week and looked knackered against Cardiff.

 

Why does Puel not play the same 11 players for 90 mins every game.

Yes why doesn't he.? A winning team doesn't get tired. I reckon five hours a week is doable unless you are injured. 

 

The modern mindset is that you can only play three hours a week! Most games players are walking over 50% of the time. 

 

Start off off with your best team always, hopefully control the match, then rest your key players. Don't bring them on to save / win games. We lost points at both Fulham and Brighton away because we kicked off with weakened teams and the wrong formation. 

 

 

 

[Hotdogsandwich69]

He is a 10. He’s too one footed and weak athletically to do anything besides play in the Hole. Good player but shockingly bad on the wings.

[volpeazzurro]

2 minutes ago, BoyJones said:

Yes why doesn't he.? A winning team doesn't get tired. I reckon five hours a week is doable unless you are injured. 

 

The modern mindset is that you can only play three hours a week! Most games players are walking over 50% of the time. 

 

Start off off with your best team always, hopefully control the match, then rest your key players. Don't bring them on to save / win games. We lost points at both Fulham and Brighton away because we kicked off with weakened teams and the wrong formation. 

 

 

 

Or ... do it the other way like Puel did and chalk up three wins, two against much stronger teams. 9 points out of 12.

 

I note you use the terms 'hopefully' control the match and

'I reckon' 5 hours a week is doable?

 

Fortunately our management team uses more scientific means of discovering whether our players are fit enough to play all, part, or none the game. Whilst I'm sure that the Hogwarts school of management may provide some excellent managers and coaching staff in the future, at this moment in time I prefer to go with the professional, experienced and ultimately more empirical approach. 

[wokinghamfox]

If we get Barnes back in January then we can bin this chap. Again today his passing was awful, has no confidence in beating players, always does the easy thing.

 

When i saw his name as a starter today I thought we are playing with ten men. I just dont get his purchase and would like to have the opportunity to understand what we actually saw in him. 

[Father Ted]

Find the nearest dust bin, pick him up, put him in it and close the lid. Don't forget to put the bin out on bin day too.

[m4DD0gg]

Him and nacho are complete and total dog shit.

[Raj]

And Leicester City fans have found the latest scapegoat to all our woes!!!!.....until the next one...

[The Doctor]

2 hours ago, mucfox said:

A good sub, you said???

 

Albrighton would have had to play from the BEGINNING and CP once again got it wrong. As simple as that...

Yeah, not as if Albrighton couldn't finish the match 2 days beforehand because he was dead on his feet. Not like fatigue is a thing

[BoyJones]

31 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

Or ... do it the other way like Puel did and chalk up three wins, two against much stronger teams. 9 points out of 12.

 

I note you use the terms 'hopefully' control the match and

'I reckon' 5 hours a week is doable?

 

Fortunately our management team uses more scientific means of discovering whether our players are fit enough to play all, part, or none the game. Whilst I'm sure that the Hogwarts school of management may provide some excellent managers and coaching staff in the future, at this moment in time I prefer to go with the professional, experienced and ultimately more empirical approach. 

Fair enough mate,  but the so called professional experienced approach is getting more players injured this season, resulting in key players being unavailable. There is no science involved in picking a winning team, Puel is cold shouldering some players for personal reasons. 

[Russell sprout]

Carnt say his name without thinking of dierdre rachid 

[volpeazzurro]

3 minutes ago, BoyJones said:

Fair enough mate,  but the so called professional experienced approach is getting more players injured this season, resulting in key players being unavailable. There is no science involved in picking a winning team, Puel is cold shouldering some players for personal reasons. 

And your knowledge and the evidence of the first is? Players get injured all the time, are you regularly at training sessions and have noted something that may have contributed to this or have you made it up?

 

And regarding the second, unless Puel has taken you into his confidence and told you this, or you have an extremely good source, it's all supposition isn't it? 

[Guest Dirkster the Fox]

6 hours ago, Keiriel said:

He's looking nervy, but he's trying to do the right thing. Notice that he's not dwelling on the ball as much and is looking to release the ball quickly. Yes, he's given the ball away a few times, but none as bad as Maguire passing the ball to the opposition while under no pressure at all.

Agreed with you comments.

 

I thought he looked very nervous and tried too hard to move it too quickly, but suffered with continual bad passing.  In fairness for the first 20 minutes he was the worst player on the pitch as a result of it, with literally nothing going right for him.  However, towards the latter stages of the first half he did look better, was clearly trying hard and in that first half most others were as equally poor.  Some of our collective team passing today was dire.

 

Not saying he should be in our starting 11, but with a bit more confidence in his play (slow it down by a second or two) he could be a decent squad player. 

[BoyJones]

3 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

And your knowledge and the evidence of the first is? Players get injured all the time, are you regularly at training sessions and have noted something that may have contributed to this or have you made it up?

 

And regarding the second, unless Puel has taken you into his confidence and told you this, or you have an extremely good source, it's all supposition isn't it? 

No

[StriderHiryu]

He was clearly brought to be a squad player, not a first team player. If he's taken someone's spot, that someone is Diabate who doesn't make the bench anymore, when last season he was both on the bench and featuring in games. He wasn't a direct replacement for Mahrez.

 

That said, he's been largely poor. I didn't expect him to be the next Mahrez, but was hopeful he was another Albrighton. Albrighton is never going to be signed for Man City / another money bags club, but is a fans favourite who works his bollocks off, is a team player has more than decent quality and who can always be relied upon. And of course we got Marc for zero and was considered "inconsistent" at Aston Villa, which is the opposite of what he's been for us.

 

Ghezzal gives the ball away too often or the move breaks down when he gets given the ball. He's also not the best defensively. Between him and Gray, I'd choose to play Gray because though Gray is frustrating to watch, he chases back to win the ball back for the team often. He's also prepared to drive at opposition players which can get us up the field.

 

But rather than just slating him, I think it's important to see the bigger picture here, which is to get players like Gray, Barnes and Diabate into the first team in those forward positions. Ghezzal is an option to use when we need to rotate players or for cup competitions. Had Puel thought that our young players had no chance whatsoever, I have no doubt we would have coughed up the big bucks for Felipe Anderson or someone of that nature. Right now I think the plan will be to bring back Barnes and then asses our options again in the summer. But I expect Ghezzal stays with us till next January, at which point he might end up being loaned out depending on how our young players perform. That said, I do feel the reason for our inconsistent performances if the failure to directly replace Mahrez. Ricardo has been fabulous but isn't quite the same kind of swashbuckling maverick. I'd have loved to have seen Mahrez, Maddison, Vardy and Ricardo all in the same team!