shailen Posted 10 February 2019 Posted 10 February 2019 It really does feel we are at a crossroads from what happened in 15/16 in terms of both style and personnel. We have got a far better squad imo and better players but we do not have a set system or identity like we did in 15/16. Everyone knew how we were going to play but couldn't stop us. What is the best way to proceed? Do we stick with Puel and accept his style of play as the way to get to the next level or do we get someone who will play the way that has brought us so much success. A lot of what Puel has done has been good and I see where he is going with his style but it feels like he is trying to achieve something with us that we will never be able to achieve, I.e. the Barca/Man City way of holding onto the ball and being patient until the right opportunity comes about.
jayfox26 Posted 10 February 2019 Posted 10 February 2019 13 minutes ago, shailen said: It really does feel we are at a crossroads from what happened in 15/16 in terms of both style and personnel. We have got a far better squad imo and better players but we do not have a set system or identity like we did in 15/16. Everyone knew how we were going to play but couldn't stop us. What is the best way to proceed? Do we stick with Puel and accept his style of play as the way to get to the next level or do we get someone who will play the way that has brought us so much success. A lot of what Puel has done has been good and I see where he is going with his style but it feels like he is trying to achieve something with us that we will never be able to achieve, I.e. the Barca/Man City way of holding onto the ball and being patient until the right opportunity comes about. We cant go back to the style we adopted when we won the league as teams worked it out, hence why Ranieri struggled in the 2nd season and Shakey struggled. When we won the league, everyone underestimated us and played into our hands. Now, especially at home, against teams outside the top 6 they just shove 11 men behind the ball. Counter attacking football won't help in these games. Teams similar to us like everton and wolves have also struggled to break teams down who park the bus. Claude has bought players like Ricardo and Maddison (plus tielemans on loan) who clearly can play his way but unfortunately a fair few of our squad haven't adapted/haven't got the skill set to play Puels way. We have been defensively much better under Puel but our attacking intent has been poor at times. We are 2 or 3 top players away from being a very good side. If Puel does go in the summer, the next manager will come into the club in a much better position than he did.
StriderHiryu Posted 10 February 2019 Posted 10 February 2019 This is Puel's biggest success IMO, transitioning the team to the next one and blooding the young players. He might not be the one to make the most of the team we have, but players that will be mainstays for the next 5 years will be those that started in Puel's era, of that I have no doubt. We will always love that 15/16 team and all should rightly have their faces decorated around the stadium for years to come, but we can't live in the past. I am quite sure players like Morgan, Simpson, Kasper and Vardy are pissed off with Puel as he brings more and more youngsters in and the nature of the dressing room changes over, but at the end of the day it was always going to happen either with Puel in charge or someone else. Results are indifferent, but look at the way those young guns played today. Changing the way a team plays football is a challenging process that takes time, money and resources. Look at Chelsea today, they are also trying to change their style of play, but it hasn't looked too good in recent weeks! Same with Everton, they didn't like Allardyce football so brought in Silva, but have less points. I disagree with @shailen's view of us having no identity. We are a 4-2-3-1 team with two holding midfielders, a classic number 10, one up front and two raiding fullbacks. And defenders that play out from the back. Is that a good identity to have, and is it one that we even want? Well that's not for me to say, but I don't remember our team in 15/16 ever scoring a goal like this: (And yes I am going to spam this GIF quite a lot!)
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