Over-trained and underwhelmed: How Leicester players and fans lost faith in Claude Puel

[urban.spaceman]

 

Over-trained and underwhelmed: How Leicester players and fans lost faith in Claude Puel

20 Jan 2019, 10:30pm

Style and selection

Leicester scored three goals on Saturday at Molineux, a week after Claude Puel opted for three defensive midfielders against Southampton. 

 

It is the apparent lack of a coherent plan or consistent approach which infuriates Leicester supporters and begs the question – what is Puel actually trying to build? 

Predicting a Puel starting XI every week is now a futile act so how must the players feel about the constant chopping and changing? There must also be scrutiny on the recruitment - Wilfred Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy are both woefully out of form but continue to be selected, while Vicente Iborra has been sold to Villarreal and £22million signing Adrien Silva – remember him? – has suffered the deep freeze treatment.

Slow starts and over-training

When Diogo Jota scored the opening goal, it was the 15^th time in 23 games - or ninth in 11 - that Leicester have fallen behind first. It is giving Puel’s players a mountain to climb every week. 

There are growing suggestions their slow starts could be down to the training regime. It is alleged that Puel opts for lengthy sessions on Fridays before games, despite player opposition, which may explain why Leicester begin so poorly. 

Puel allegedly opts for lengthy sessions on Fridays before games, despite opposition from playersCredit: Leicester City FC

Demarai Gray said: “We talked about it [the poor starts] on Friday and before the game, but we have done the same thing again and put ourselves under pressure. We can only work on it. It is game management and decision making.” 

Training sessions are also said to lack intensity and can be long and laborious, with some players not even being properly utilised.

The focus must also be on the players, too, for throwing away the game at Molineux. After recovering a two-goal deficit, and then clawing it back to 3-3, Leicester should have seen the game out or even "run down the clock". Perhaps the determination to chase a win was admirable, but it also left huge holes for Wolves to expose.

How to use Vardy

Jamie Vardy is Leicester’s leading scorer with seven Premier League goals and remains the talisman, despite the club spending over £80m on strikers since the title win. 

Last month he admitted Puel’s style of play is not suited to his strengths and, on Saturday, it was another hugely frustrating afternoon. Vardy was even running back into his own half to tackle Wolves players in the second half. The days of Danny Drinkwater’s long ball over the top may be gone, but Leicester’s slow possession-based approach often leaves Vardy totally out of the game. 

When Leicester revert to a counter-attacking style, and when opposition teams are not sitting back, Vardy is far more effective. He retired from England duty to focus on his club football but this campaign is proving difficult. 

Bad public relations

It is difficult to remember one chant for Puel, or even a request for a wave, since his appointment 14 months ago. 

Some may argue that is not important, but in football terms there is nobody more important at a club than the manager and he is the person who drives the agenda. When he launched an impassioned defence a few weeks back about reality checks and how seventh place is the best Leicester could hope for, he completely missed the point: especially after tossing away the club’s hopes of progress in the two cup competitions by fielding weakened teams. 

His comments about how the tragic death of beloved owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has affected his squad were also awkward, as it is impossible to overlook performances before that dreadful evening, including the West Ham game. 

It may have been lost in translation, but his insistence that the fans’ reaction after the Southampton defeat was “not my concern” also went down badly.

 

Leicester City fans have voiced their displeasure at Puel over the last few weeks Credit: Action Images

 

A daunting fixture list

Puel’s position remains under serious scrutiny and the next three games do not get any easier, with matches against Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur up next. 

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, the club’s vice-chairman, will be reluctant to avoid more upheaval after suffering such unimaginable grief and at this stage it is difficult to imagine Puel leaving unless the club slip towards the bottom three. It appears most likely that there will be a change in the summer, with Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers a top target. 

Asked about his position after the defeat at Wolves, he said: “It’s not my concern. My concern is to keep my focus with my players and my team, so that they can play with consistency. Other things are not my focus or my priority. Against good teams we have had good consistency, focus, concentration since the beginnings of games. I hope we can find this again and to get good result. We have showed before fantastic quality against these teams.”

[lgfualol]

Aww those poor babies having to do extra training hours

[LCFC1996]

Thought it'd been a while since John Percy popped up

Edited 20 January 2019 by LCFC1996

[fuchsntf]

Sorry..but get stuffed.!!?.another shit-stirrer is just what we need..!!

[La-li-lu-le-lo]

Normally when Purcy pipes up it’s for a reason. I fear Puel has been backed into a corner and I really felt for him yesterday, you could tell it really got to him. 

[Bayfox]

Isn't the general perception that when Percy writes a story on us it has been fed to him by a player?

[dmayne7]

8 minutes ago, lgfualol said:

Aww those poor babies having to do extra training hours

Think you're missing the point. I'd normally join you when it comes to footballers moaning about having it tough but in this day and age, to be having extra training the day before a game seems pretty dumb.

[The Doctor]

How is it difficult to predict a Puel line up? It'll change occasionally due to injuries but if everyone's fit you can be confident it'll feature:

 

Schmeichel

 

Periera

Morgan

Maguire

Chilwell

 

Mendy

Ndidi

 

Maddison

 

Vardy

 

 

The only thing that really changes is the wingers, because none of them are really good and consistent enough to lock the place down.

 

[foxile5]

I think we'll shortly be seeing the demise of Puel. 

 

The crowd,the players and the media have turned on him and the is the death knell. 

[IsItMuzzy]

I know he's usually a good source for information about the club but Percy's agenda against Puel is so clear it seems forced. Lots of comments that aren't backed up by any quotes or evidence.

[lgfualol]

3 minutes ago, dmayne7 said:

Think you're missing the point. I'd normally join you when it comes to footballers moaning about having it tough but in this day and age, to be having extra training the day before a game seems pretty dumb.

Funny how they can find this energy and fight when we are already losing and we are in the second half/last 10 minutes. You would think if they were so exhausted they would get worse as the game goes along. 

[sphericalfox]

Just now, IsItMuzzy said:

I know he's usually a good source for information about the club but Percy's agenda against Puel is so clear it seems forced. Lots of comments that aren't backed up by any quotes or evidence.

Maybe he's pitching for a job over at talkSport

[Toddybad]

So bored of this kind of thing. 

 

[Ted Maul]

7 minutes ago, dmayne7 said:

Think you're missing the point. I'd normally join you when it comes to footballers moaning about having it tough but in this day and age, to be having extra training the day before a game seems pretty dumb.

Based on our defending on Saturday, they're not training enough.

[Steve_Walsh5]

I’m not a Puel fan and I couldn’t careless if he was to get sacked tomorrow. 

 

But I am finding it uncomfortable to the amount of stories John Percy is writing about Puel. Obviously it’s his job to get people reading but it doesn’t help the manager & the team when we are having weekly newspaper articles about Puel’s job. 

 

To me it looks like Percy is sticking the boot in at any given opportunity.

Edited 20 January 2019 by Steve_Walsh5

[smr]

Exactly. Its the starting xi and not knowing what it will be one week to the next which pisses me off the most. 

 

How can you build consistency, a rhythm, a momentum when you put a team out and then completely abolish it and wreak havoc with several changes a week later? 

 

Its not rocket science. 

[Tielemans63]

It does seem as though there may be some sort of agenda on Percy's behalf but equally, he does tend to be accurate when reporting on all things Leicester. Either way, it does seem increasingly as though Puel's days are numbered. 

 

I just hate when the media vultures start circling like they have for Claude. The way they stoke the fire to get a few more page clicks - it's appalling. They'll keep going for Claude every day until he's gone. Despicable really. I'm not talking just about Percy here btw.

Edited 20 January 2019 by Paddy.

[AjcW]

We all know this will have come from a player. Wonder if he asked the player whether they thought it was sensible to have a late night in London on the Thursday if Friday training is the norm??? 

[Poznan34]

John Percy playing to the crowd again. He clearly doesn't like Puel. Not all the fans are anti-Puel, not that you would know it from reading that. 

[sphericalfox]

Just now, Steve_Walsh5 said:

I’m not a Puel fan and I couldn’t careless if he was to get sacked tomorrow. 

 

But I am finding it uncomfortable to the amount of stories Henry Winter is writing about Puel. Obviously it’s his job to get people reading but it doesn’t help the manager & the team when we are having weekly newspaper articles about Puel’s job. 

 

To me it looks like Winter is sticking the boot in at any given opportunity.

Media vultures circling any club if there's a sniff of unhappiness or poor form. It's all about the numbers and if it's possible to inflate the story or push it towards a sacking, then this sells, and the subsequent rumour stories of who's next shift more numbers.

[Beechey]

Getting really annoyed with Percy's issue with Puel. There's no substance in this article whatsoever. It's all quotes and opinion and nothing to substantiate anything.

Has he ever written a non-negative article about Puel?

 

Didn't he write that the dressing room hated Puel, and then Maguire, Chilwell and others rubbished these reports? How close is he actually to the club?

Edited 20 January 2019 by Beechey

[Mr Mister]

Rubbish article

[fuchsntf]

15 minutes ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

I’m not a Puel fan and I couldn’t careless if he was to get sacked tomorrow. 

 

But I am finding it uncomfortable to the amount of stories Henry Winter is writing about Puel. Obviously it’s his job to get people reading but it doesn’t help the manager & the team when we are having weekly newspaper articles about Puel’s job. 

 

To me it looks like Winter is sticking the boot in at any given opportunity.

Yup,he's selling his club short!!  Used to like him,thought he was at one time one of the best around!!!

seems he's joined the cheap-shots brigade...must of cell from stardom!

[lifted*fox]

embarrassing attempt at 'reporting' by Percy. 

 

loads of unsubstantiated opinions and a clear agenda. 

 

this shit passes for news these days, jeez.  

[LinekersApples]

Percy out