MOTD

[Xen]

10 hours ago, koop. said:

Jenas and Shearer just hit the nail on the head.....

 

Puel stated he wants to give opportunity to others.... 

 

Jenas rightly said "opportunity? This isn't a charity" quite why Vardy wasn't starting from the off today is criminal and with the amount of chances we created we decided to put Gray up top? 

 

That decision alone is beyond words 

Vardy has been crap at finishing recently and would have deservedly been dropped much sooner had we had a capable backup striker. At some point, though, you have to bite the bullet to give the player a kick up the backside otherwise he'll just carry on being complacent and not get back into form. And lets be real, Vardy has missed numerous identical chances to the ones yesterday in the last 5 or 6 games.

 

The front 4 we went with should have been able to bury those chances, and if they had then we'd be 3 points better off, Vardy wouldn't even have came on and Puel would have been branded a genius for it. Odds are that in training this week they were all finishing well and justified the decision, but then they had an off day yesterday. On another day Barnes could've ended up with a hat-trick and Gray would be adding one or two to his tally.

 

And that's not even considering any sort of disciplinary issues that may or may not have had an impact on the decision.

 

Was it the correct decision? In hindsight, maybe not. But Puel trusted the youngsters to step up and we played our best football in ages - save for the final cutting edge - so to blame him is needlessly harsh.

[Babylon]

5 minutes ago, Rusko187 said:

Again though and it's been identified several times, we barely supply him... and often when we do it lacks any real quality or too late an opportunity for him to effectively finish. I think with introduction of Tielemans that may change for the more positive.

I'm afraid that's just not true, as I've pointed out before and put all the stats down to show it. He's missed the 2nd most 'big chances' in the league all season, only Aubameyang (who plays for a team that creates far more chances) has more misses than Vardy.

[Xen]

9 hours ago, Captain... said:

The problem was Puel’s reasoning in the interview. Give Gray an opportunity.

 

If he had said he wanted to use Gray to exploit the space left by the full backs, to double up on that area with Barnes/Ghezzal and not play through the middle then at least it shows some tactical thinking.

 

Then say the plan was always to introduce Vardy on 60 minutes to run at a defence that’s been chasing Gray all round the pitch for an hour.

 

It may be that Vardy is going to struggle to play 90 minutes every week and we need to start trying other options. I thought Gray did quite well and I’d have kept him on for longer and taken Ghezzal off. Moving Gray out wide.

What managers say in public interviews and soundbites is very rarely exactly what they're thinking.

 

For instance, if Vardy really is struggling for 90-minute spells then it'd be suicide to let all opposition managers know that.

[HighPeakFox]

11 minutes ago, Xen said:

What managers say in public interviews and soundbites is very rarely exactly what they're thinking.

 

For instance, if Vardy really is struggling for 90-minute spells then it'd be suicide to let all opposition managers know that.

Don't be so sensible 

[Xen]

48 minutes ago, Rusko187 said:

But he has no-one else to challenge for that spot, nor anyone even in any form that can challenge. He needs to face facts, he may not be in form but he's still our best striker.

 

A 1 legged Vardy is better then any other striking option we have.

And he knows it, so he's got complacent.

 

Any other player knows that if they don't perform they get dropped and have to earn back their place. Vardy knows that if he doesn't perform he's still going to be picked week in week out, so has no incentive whatsoever to knuckle down and work his way back into form. Given his wastefulness lately he needs a kick up the backside, frankly

[SecretPro]

Gray is not and never will be a striker. His positioning and movement were terrible. Of course we shouldn't be trying to look at 'options' like that. It was purely a disciplinary move and I hope it doesn't happen again. 

[Xen]

53 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Don't be so sensible 

Sorry, forgot I was on FoxesTalk for a moment there. Let me get back into character... Ahem:

 

Puel Out! Gray and Iheanacho are lazeh and Vardz should have started and he'd have banged in a hat-trick in 20 minz. Frog dont know what he's doing - should have signed Mahrez back in Jan and sent em Gazelle as a swop. #PuelOut #Puelexit #BritishManagersForBritishClubs #BringBackPearson #CaptainMorgan #VardyParteh

 

 

 

...Better?

Edited 11 February 2019 by Xen

[Babylon]

5 minutes ago, SecretPro said:

Gray is not and never will be a striker. His positioning and movement were terrible. Of course we shouldn't be trying to look at 'options' like that. It was purely a disciplinary move and I hope it doesn't happen again. 

I suppose it depends on what his instructions were, if he was asked to play like a 9 then he spent too much time out wide. If he was asked to try and move people about, drag people out of the middle etc, then it would shed a different light on it. But we'll never know as nobody bothers asking for detail.

[Dahnsouff]

10 hours ago, koop. said:

Jenas and Shearer just hit the nail on the head.....

 

Puel stated he wants to give opportunity to others.... 

 

Jenas rightly said "opportunity? This isn't a charity" quite why Vardy wasn't starting from the off today is criminal and with the amount of chances we created we decided to put Gray up top? 

 

That decision alone is beyond words 

Oh dear lord. Good job

Vardy is the only decent striker we have (Sorry Nacho, Okazaki, etc) - he is not in great form (How very dare I!) - Puel looks for other options

 

Yup - I agree, this is the reasoning of a mad man....

 

 

[Lionheart10]

10 hours ago, fuchsntf said:

I know Barnes has missed some chances in these last games,but I would stick with him....

He needs now the coaching staff to EARN their bread,by taking him to the side and iron out his approaches

and looking up when he shoots....God He could be brilliant for us,if he starts netting....!!

I know he missed a couple but it is the fact that he got into those scoring positions that we should be happy with,the finishing will come with experience,keep with him.

[Rigga]

It’s all coming to a head now in my opinion

 

Puel obviously does not fancy playing Vardy ( 2nd time been dropped now)

so go out and buy a replacement last summer or in the last transfer window rather than neglect the situation.

Gray isn’t a striker and never will be despite Puels bizarre comments after the game.

Our striking options are terrible.. Shinji and Nacho are a waste of time.

Theres no target man to finish off the crosses.

Never liked Slimani  but he would have had some great opportunities during games to finish off promising moves.

The one thing he could do was head a ball.

 

We sign a ball playing CM in Tielemans but then drop the player that would benefit from him 

 

I think if we lose our next two games, Claude is gone.. 

[AKCJ]

6 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Oh dear lord. Good job

Vardy is the only decent striker we have (Sorry Nacho, Okazaki, etc) - he is not in great form (How very dare I!) - Puel looks for other options

 

Yup - I agree, this is the reasoning of a mad man....

 

 

If you need hindsight to tell you that Vardy is 10 times the striker that Gray is then I don't know what to say to you.

[Captain...]

27 minutes ago, Xen said:

What managers say in public interviews and soundbites is very rarely exactly what they're thinking.

 

For instance, if Vardy really is struggling for 90-minute spells then it'd be suicide to let all opposition managers know that.

I’m not saying Puel should have said that Vardy can’t manage 90 minutes every game. (That was an addendum that as a club and fans we need to accept that Vardy might not be able to play every minute of every game).

 

Im saying give a reason why Gray is a tactical alternative to Vardy. Why he is better suited to that game, it boosts Gray and gives opposition something else to think about. Part of the problem is the opposition know we’re going to start Vardy, know how he plays and know how to set up to defend against him.

 

Gray may not be the best striker but the movement of Gray, Barnes and Maddison caused Spurs all kinds of problems.

Edited 11 February 2019 by Captain...

[Strokes]

We can all tell what the right decision was after the event, it’s having the foresight before the match is played, which is what managers are paid a premium for.

Should Vardy have started? Probably. Would it have changed the result? Maybe but not guaranteed. 

Did we play well against one of the best sides in the country and give them a tough game? Definitely.

I’ll focus on the last question and take the positives from the game, rather than picking the bones out of a negative that has an inconclusive result.

[SecretPro]

14 minutes ago, Babylon said:

I suppose it depends on what his instructions were, if he was asked to play like a 9 then he spent too much time out wide. If he was asked to try and move people about, drag people out of the middle etc, then it would shed a different light on it. But we'll never know as nobody bothers asking for detail.

True but you would assume he's supposed to be in the number 9 role otherwise we are playing without a striker, which I don't believe even Puel would advocate, away from home. 

[Dahnsouff]

8 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

If you need hindsight to tell you that Vardy is 10 times the striker that Gray is then I don't know what to say to you.

Of course Vardy is miles ahead of Gray as a striker currently, but will he always be? Or is his performance in the past enough to cement a place forever?

If you think yes, then when Vardy`s career ends, then what do we do? Maybe he won`t ever retire? 

 

(Do I think Gray is striker? Nope, but who else? Maybe Barnes?)

Edited 11 February 2019 by Dahnsouff

[AKCJ]

1 minute ago, Dahnsouff said:

Of course Vardy is miles ahead of Gray as a striker currently, but will he always be? Or is his performance in the past enough to cement a place forever?

If you think yes, then when Vardy`s career ends, then what do we do? Maybe he won`t ever retire? 

I think yes.

 

I also think we need to think about buying a striker to accommodate for Vardy's looming retirement as opposed to playing 2nd rate wingers up front.

[Xen]

3 minutes ago, Captain... said:

I’m not saying Puel should have said that Vardy can’t manage 90 minutes every game. (That was an addendum that as a club and fans we need to accept that Vardy might not be able to play every minute of every game).

 

Im saying give a reason why Gray is a tactical alternative to Vardy. Why he is better suited to that game, it boosts Gray and gives opposition something else to think.

And I'm saying that there's no requirement whatsoever to put our tactics out into the public eye where other clubs can pick up on it and address it.

 

Pearson used to do it all the time where he'd just dismiss a question if he didn't want to answer it - and we loved him for it. Why do we then criticise Puel for exactly the same behaviour?

 

Management nowadays is becoming more and more a PR exercise with the way the media focuses in on them, so it makes sense to keep your cards close to your chest and not give much away. The only people who need to know his reasonings are the players, and they'll have had this conversation behind closed doors.

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, AKCJ said:

I think yes.

 

I also think we need to think about buying a striker to accommodate for Vardy's looming retirement as opposed to playing 2nd rate wingers up front.

Oh no doubt we need another striker! On that we agree for sure! 

[Captain...]

13 minutes ago, Xen said:

And I'm saying that there's no requirement whatsoever to put our tactics out into the public eye where other clubs can pick up on it and address it.

 

Pearson used to do it all the time where he'd just dismiss a question if he didn't want to answer it - and we loved him for it. Why do we then criticise Puel for exactly the same behaviour?

 

Management nowadays is becoming more and more a PR exercise with the way the media focuses in on them, so it makes sense to keep your cards close to your chest and not give much away. The only people who need to know his reasonings are the players, and they'll have had this conversation behind closed doors.

Pearson would say “none of your business balloonhead” (which I didn’t love, he had an opportunity to talk to the fans and didn’t take it).

 

He wouldn’t say he was giving someone an opportunity, by dropping our best striker and playing a winger up front instead of a £20m striker. It’s a valid question that deserves a better answer.

Edited 11 February 2019 by Captain...

[Xen]

1 minute ago, Captain... said:

Pearson would say “none of your business balloonhead” (which I didn’t love, he had an opportunity to talk to the fans and didn’t take it).

 

He wouldn’t say he was giving someone an opportunity, by dropping our best striker and playing a winger up front instead of a £20m striker.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

Some managers dismiss it whilst giving nothing at all to the media, like Pearson used to. Some managers give a half-answer to avoid the question, as Puel did. Some managers tell lies (little white ones or big massive ones) to obfuscate their agenda - Pearson did this a few times (e.g. Wood signing) and who knows if Puel does it or not. All accomplish the exact same thing

 

If a manager wants to talk to the fans there are other channels they can go down. Club media, the matchday programme etc. They don't need to do anything to help out the media which more often than not has an agenda against them.

 

Vardy is our best striker but he's not playing like it. Barnes and Gray have both had spells up front for England youth setups, WBA etc., and Barnes at least has looked more clinical over the course of the season than Vardy has. Didn't work out that way yesterday, but that's a risk that Puel chose to take. On another day we'd have won and Puel lauded a genius.

[Edingleyfox]

The BBC post match interview was a bit odd, perhaps I'm wrong but Puel seemed to play down Vardy's importance in the club, and his contribution in the last half hour of the game. This was the classic sort of game for Vardy to start- away against an attacking side leaving some space to exploit.Having said all this we played well and very unlucky so you do feel for Puel, who should have been celebrating a good away point at least. However,time is running out to turn things around, and the next couple of home games are going to be crucial in terms of the managers future and keeping the club safe from an anxious run in.

[sylofox]

Could the OP please remind us of the great management jobs both of the have done. How many years of management experience do they have? 

 

Very easy to criticise when you don't know the full facts behind it. Not sure why people take these one sided comments so serious. 

[Grebfromgrebland]

Vardy was probably being punished for swearing the other day. He was always going to come on at half time. 

 

Get over it.

[HighPeakFox]

Here are some facts. 

 

Vardy recently signed a long-term lucrative contract. 

 

Vardy almost always starts when fit (and probably when not fully fit too). 

 

Vardy has had fitness issues all season. 

 

Vardy hasn't been at his best, largely. 

 

Vardy is still class, but a bit of a naughty boy. 

 

Vardy said something on camera that looked less than complimentary, and it might have been about Puel. 

 

So, to suggest Puel has no justifiable reasons for benching Vardy is to ignore all of the above. To suggest that Puel should tell us 'I dropped him because we've had a barney / his groin is iffy / he needs a kick up the arse / nobody is sacred' is at best naive. But let's not pretend that Puel doesn't know he's our best striker - he's trying to manage a tricky personality in an ageing body who has almost certainly peaked. 

Edited 11 February 2019 by HighPeakFox