Puel interview

[Ted Maul]

4 hours ago, Matt said:

The bottom line is he didn't get the best out of what he had.

Depends which way you look at it- he was the one who built such a talented and exciting squad.

 

The sacking was the right call at the right time but we're in a much better position than we were when he took over.

[Matt]

Read more than just the headline.

 

Alot of it I did have to laugh at though.

 

Interesting he almost admits that communication was a problem even though some people claimed it didn't matter.

 

Quote

 

'I like Jamie Vardy, but he can be like a child, he needs attention': Former Leicester City boss Claude Puel lifts lid on relationship with striker and language barrier during Foxes reign

• Claude Puel says Jamie Vardy is a 'good man' but needs 'attention' and 'support'
• Puel insists he has no regrets over his time at club after being sacked in February
• The Frenchman insists he is delighted to see Leicester doing so well this season

Claude Puel puffs out his cheeks and exhales. He takes a moment to think the question over, then repeats it back before letting out a small laugh. ‘Is there anything I would change?’

 

Another intake of breath. He is mulling over his time in charge of Leicester City, the club now second in the Premier League under his successor Brendan Rodgers.

 

Fans of the club who had called for the Frenchman’s sacking long before he got the boot in February may well be quicker to lend a suggestion or two.

 

Eventually, he replies. ‘I would not change anything. My only regret is that I did not have more language, more sentences to share my feelings with some of my players.

 

It is difficult to do that without all the words. After that, I think it was the right process.’

 

Puel’s unenviable task was to rip up an ageing title winning-squad fighting relegation and replace it with a younger, more skilful bunch for the future.

 

His struggles with English, though greatly improved since his time at Southampton, was always going to make it difficult to him to sell his vision.

 

One might have thought, though, at the very least, Puel regretted not finding a way to get the best out of Jamie Vardy. Puel, so determined to bring in youth, began, or so it felt, to phase Vardy out.

 

He was 32 after all. Puel left him on the bench, even starting winger Demarai Gray ahead of him.

 

It was, without question, the biggest fault of Puel’s tenure. There were reports of friction between the two, though Vardy insisted he and Puel got on well enough.

 

Vardy found the style of play, forcing through a desire to keep possession at all costs, frustrating for someone thrives on the early ball. Puel’s training sessions, too, were said to be long and limp.

 

‘It was like preparing a marathon and the day of the match, we were asked to run a 100m,’ said Vardy after Puel’s departure.

 

Obsessing over the future, Puel took his eyes off the present. Vardy has scored the most goals in the Premier League since Rodgers took over.

 

Six more than anyone else and will on Sunday look to score in his eighth consecutive game. His own record of 11, set in the title-winning season,

is in his sights.

 

He has scored as many goals under Rodgers as he did under Puel but in less than half the games.

 

‘I did not have a problem with Jamie,’ says Puel. ‘Jamie is a good man but sometimes he is like a child: he needs support, he needs attention. It was difficult for me because I was not English, it was difficult to share and explain all my feelings with him.

 

‘When I arrived at Leicester, he scored a lot of goals. He came back from the World Cup injured, he returned without training sessions. It was difficult for me to use him all the time. I have a lot of time for him.’

 

Vardy’s ruthlessness combined with a youthful squad behind him, and Rodgers’ man-management and tactical prowess has Leicester in another title race.

 

They are the team clutching strongest on Liverpool’s runaway coattails.

 

Leicester head into this afternoon’s game against Aston Villa in pursuit of an eighth straight win, which would break a top-flight club record that has stood since 1963.

 

One might think, then, that the man who preceded him would be but a hazy memory. Yet Puel’s name still lingers around fans’ discussions, so polarised is the opinion over his legacy.

 

Some believe Puel did invaluable work in instigating the difficult change from ageing legends with an over-reliance on a counter-attack to a younger, more skilful squad with the ability to play with the ball on the ground. Putting faith in young players like Ben Chilwell, Demarai Gray and

Hamza Choudhury.

 

It was under Puel that Leicester signed James Maddison, Ricardo Pereira and Caglar Soyuncu. They are happy to see Rodgers inherit them and take them to incredible heights, the majority of the dirty work done for him. 

 

Others just think he was a fraud, who obstructed the team’s progression, bored players, bored fans, ostracised heroes, divided the supporters and was the whispering catalyst for a toxic mist that was choking the club.

 

Six defeats in his last eight games, dumped out of the FA Cup by Newport County, blowing the chance of a League Cup semi-final with a weakened team against Manchester City.

 

Every win under Rodgers further proof of Puel’s ineptitude, used to bludgeon his sympathisers around the head. As is usually the case, the truth meanders between the two.

 

‘It is not a surprise for me to see Leicester in this position this year,’ says Puel.

 

‘It is the same team, except for Ayoze Perez. It is the same strategy. It is a pleasure to see. Brendan has made a fantastic job. If you look at this team and remember the one that won the title, the whole style has changed.

 

It was my work at the beginning to put in place a team with the possibility to make this progress.’

 

We are sat in Puel’s new office at Saint-Etienne, the day before their 4-1 win against Nice.

 

When he took charge of his first game in October, Les Verts were bottom of Ligue 1. Now they are just three points off third place ahead of their game against Reims on Sunday.

 

He has taken them as high as third in his eight league games in charge, making the best start of any manager in the club’s history.. He is looking to build something there too.

 

Puel was appointed by Leicester in October 2017. The club, nearly 18 months on from their title win, was in trouble.

 

Claudio Ranieri was sacked nine months after lifting the trophy with Leicester in 17th place. They were in the same position when Craig Shakespeare, the next in line, was sacked too.

 

Something needed to change.

 

‘When I had my first meeting with Top [Leicester chairman, then vice-chairman] and Jon Rudkin [director of football] in London, my first answer was to say that when Leicester won the title, the season was built on one style of play. Direct.

 

The seasons after, opponents put in place a strong deep block with no space behind.

 

It was not possible to use the same style of play.

 

It was important to build a team that could play on the counter and make a set attack.

 

A complete game.

 

I told them that only five players would be good for the future.

 

The others do not have the ability to play this way.

 

‘I said if you want me to come, it is to change the style of play.

 

If that is not for you, I cannot come.

 

I left the meeting room and thought they would not have me because I had said that only five players were good enough.

 

One hour later, they called me and asked me to come.’

 

In that sense, it was never going to be easy to be popular, dismantling a team of immortals.

 

‘If I wanted to come to Leicester to be popular, I would not have come.

 

I chose to come so I could introduce my project and direction.

 

It was difficult to change these players and to say to them “No, it is finished for you, now we need to look forward”.’

 

Things started pretty well, winning five of his first eight league games. The season would derail when Riyad Mahrez went AWOL after a blocked January move to Manchester City.

 

From there, results were inconsistent at best.

 

Fans lost patience.

 

The home form nose-dived, as the team struggled to do anything with the possession they had.

 

In the eight home games last season in which Leicester had more than 50 per cent possession, they won just one, losing five and to the likes of Southampton, Crystal Palace, Cardiff and drawing to West Ham and Burnley.

 

An unavoidable learning curve or proof of a manager out of his depth?

 

Kasper Schmeichel’s legendary father, Peter, made his views clear. ‘Once they get their act together it’s actually not a bad club,’ he said at the time. ‘They’ve got good players, they just don’t have the manager who can get anything of out them. Once that is sorted out we will see them in the eight to fifth place where I think they belong.’

 

‘I did not have all the support,’ said Puel. ‘It was always me at the top of the betting to be first fired.

 

Sometimes when we suffered a defeat, the same article would be in three newspapers criticising and saying there was a bad atmosphere in the dressing room.

 

It was always a bad atmosphere around me.

 

Sometimes it is agents because some players are unhappy they did not sign a new contract.

 

We can imagine different things.

 

‘It was a pity, but I cannot change this. It was my job to prepare this team for the future. When you put in young players, you will lose points but you need to give them game-time. If I wanted to work to save my job, I would put in place just the players with the right level for the moment to secure my place. This is why I insisted with Chilwell when everyone wanted Christian Fuchs. For me, it was the right strategy to accept losing some points for them to perform in the future.’

 

Patience does not stretch that far in the Premier League.

 

Puel was sacked in February after a 4-1 defeat by Palace, the team’s fourth straight loss.

 

Yet, strangely, it was a 3-1 defeat by Tottenham the game before that made Puel hopeful it was all about to click.

 

Leicester had 20 shots, nine on target, scored a stunning team goal with new loanee Youri Tielemans at the heart of it and Vardy at the end of it.

 

Vardy had been left on the bench and came on to miss a penalty with his first touch.

 

‘After the game, the Tottenham sporting director told me we had a very good team for the future. I was happy because I was sure of the quality of this team,’ said Puel.

 

‘I have had this feeling twice in my career. The other was at the beginning of my career when I put in place the team at Monaco that won the French title with the youngest ever team. I had the same feeling after Tottenham. I was proud of our work. It was only a few games later I left.

‘It was a little disappointment not to have the chance to follow the team but it was my project at the beginning and it was not possible to perform at this level when I arrived. After my time in Lille, in Lyon, in Nice, in Leicester, all the managers who came after me cannot regret the things I put in place.’

 

Whatever Puel says, he is unlikely to change the opinions of those entrenched on either side.

 

Whether you believe it is in spite of him or thanks partly to him, Leicester are back reaching for the incredible with one of the game’s finest managers at the helm.

 

Meanwhile, Puel is starting work on something new to build.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7767753/Former-Leicester-City-boss-Claude-Puel-says-Jamie-Vardy-like-child.html

 

[Rusko187]

Good article, tries to take a lot of credit for where we are... think it's fair to say he can take some, but we're not playing his vision of football.

 

We're far more direct, faster and more clinical then he could have got out of us. However, his comments about 5 players being able to play the style of football, I feel is totally correct.

[brucey]

41 minutes ago, Matt said:

Others just think he was a fraud, who obstructed the team’s progression, bored players, bored fans, ostracised heroes, divided the supporters and was the whispering catalyst for a toxic mist that was choking the club.

I wonder who “Others” is referring to 

 

But seriously, great interview. He made some mistakes and knows it. Glad he’s doing well 

[HankMarvin]

Hmmmm one manager has him scoring a goal a game as one of the top strikers in Europe 

 

the other was dropping him after being cursed and scared by spidey

[Lambert09]

If you could combine Puels vision and philosophy with Ranieris man management, you’d have one hell of a coach. 

 

He had had the right ideas but lacked the charisma to actually inspire the team to fully implement it. Perhaps the language is the reason he fairs so much better in France. 

[Mehrez]

4 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

5 players point is interesting, What do you reckon the 5 players were? 

 

Vardy, Chilwell,  Maguire, Mahrez and Silva? When he first joined?

 

Think he was a big fan of Gray

[Aus Fox]

11 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

5 players point is interesting, What do you reckon the 5 players were? 

 

Vardy, Chilwell,  Maguire, Mahrez and Silva? When he first joined?

 

Ndidi, Mandy, Maguire, Mahrez and Silva I would say.

[foxes_rule1978]

48 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

If you could combine Puels vision and philosophy with Ranieris man management, you’d have one hell of a coach. 

 

He had had the right ideas but lacked the charisma to actually inspire the team to fully implement it. Perhaps the language is the reason he fairs so much better in France. 

Isn’t that Rodgers... 

[HybridFox]

He played a part in our transition so he deserves credit for that. I've no doubt if he stayed on he'd have continued to build with youth.

 

But his downfall was he couldn't make the most of the present. Players like Vardy might have been phased out the club completely.

[Dan]

His 5 I reckon were Maguire, Chilwell, Mendy, Mahrez and Gray.

 

I do kind of see where he comes from in all of this but I just think it's wrong to think it's ever going to work out if you completely neglect the present.

[Dan]

Problem as well is I don't think it would've actually come good under him even with better communication. His football was overly cautious and just too easy to defend against. It wouldn't work.

[Langston]

The bloke can piss off. Hate him, cretin.

[Lambert09]

1 hour ago, foxes_rule1978 said:

Isn’t that Rodgers... 

I’d say Rodgers is part Puel & part Claudio but also part Guardiola 

[Wolfox]

41 minutes ago, Langston said:

The bloke can piss off. Hate him, cretin.

Which side are you on?

[fuchsntf]

I do believe many discenters, misunderstood or wasnt willing to understand his mandate,from the owners.Plus the media parrotted what they obviously got from this Forum...

I do believe in this instance the language was a barrier. If any of you Observed and took in his reactions,you also seen he was frustrated,and sometimes mentions it indirectly in interviews,that we Held the ball Too long,and dient move smooth or quickly enough,Losing or in some games not being able to Build up a rythme.

 

He  tried to inform us in his way,and we laughed about it,but it was a fact we lacked intensivity and mental discipline,through our moves.We let Advantage gained

during moves die out,through Not pressing to the end,or not committing to the forward movement. The players because of feeling and Lack of confidence within themselves  lost momentum in team movement.causing unforced errors und Tippy tap,sideways football.  Gray for instance just didnt trust himself to Drive forward..und many players looked for the easy get out...It was his Lack of man management due to Language barriers...

 

He did the needed Dirty work,he Set up the base,and tried to installiert the mental attitude that the style must change,and some possesion with Skill, quality and meaning is the Way forward,but also with Swift movement...Not stuttering or staggered front foot movement and we seen often enough his annoyance when we dithered on the ball..!!!   

Rebuilding the squad,Investing and having patience,with youth. Allowing the flotsam to drift somehow out of the club.AND  HE DID GIVE EVERY squad Member a chance...His ridding und aquiring players,were more positive than negative...all managers have failing flailings,he wasnt any different,nor poorer because of it.

He couldnt be Held responsible,for Previous poor Player Contract management,that hung around the club like a heavy Yoke...

 

I still reckon if he had a Bit of Pearson & Rodgers English,he would of succeeded,though for the PL .Though I Don t Think he would of been astute enough,to Take us to the heights we are Now finding ourselves.

Our present swiftness and translation in movement,still has those occasional questionable traits,but Rodgers is I fee lmore Technical astute,and PL streetwise,for those higher echolons of the PL .Rodgers has taken us that wonderful Step & Phase further...

Gray,Chilwell,Soyuncu,Maddison are Prime examples of Puels belief,but Rodgers better awareness..!!

And I believe it is fair to say...'Puel-football'  at Leicester was Not just the manager but also the failing of the players themselves Bit

Not taki on their own game responsibilties.  Another Not so small issue,if we had Converted the real excellent chances we created, bis tenure would of been looked on more generously....

Yes I Defended Puel right into January,but by then everybody even with my patience could see,despite excellent Off Field needed work,it just wasnt jelling for him

Into the Teams matchday,and onfield expansion...It was for our ambitions Not in Position but performances,became  stagnant..!!!

Take Pochettino & Puel, 2 managers with Good squads &  different reasons,but they struggled to find the mojo to inspire,and One got to a CL -final.

Ole.G.S. with similar Responsibility of dying every with the playing Ethos of his tenured club,is slowly creating bis own positive story.

Puel sourced more than the base und Now Bbone of this squad...I Really believe we would Never have struggled under his management,but like many mentioned,

due to Language barriers and the relevant hurdles it then creates, Onfield he just couldnt take us Any further...

 

Rodgers is proving to be a gem of a replacement....but!!!   would he have had the balls,or even the aptitude to take on what Puel did...Puel had to so the washing ironing,and scrubbing the squad while promising to rearrange the Furniture ,still look After the kids,and prepared them for their education...Rodgers Now just has to do the ironing,though still use his nous,to carry on the TLC ,with some Repairs &   Build that needed extension..  

Hes won the Lotto,so all Dreams are attainable,on a five year mortgage..!!

 

 

 

 

 

[That_Dude]

1 hour ago, Langston said:

The bloke can piss off. Hate him, cretin.

The irony.

[That_Dude]

2 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

Problem as well is I don't think it would've actually come good under him even with better communication. His football was overly cautious and just too easy to defend against. It wouldn't work.

In hindsight, probably not. The results would've been better with Tielemans, but I also don't think we would've been where we actually are with him. Even with the full team. Nevertheless, I'm thankful for what he did, the new impulse he gave to the club but appointing Rodgers was the right thing to do.

[Deeg67]

Said it before, say it again - it's because Puel was willing to do the dirty work and didn't care if it pissed some people off that we transitioned into a side that could do what this one is doing.  If people are too petty or xenophobic to see that it's their problem, not Claude's.  I hope both LCFC and St. Etienne make the CL next season.

[420Hashish]

1 hour ago, Deeg67 said:

Said it before, say it again - it's because Puel was willing to do the dirty work and didn't care if it pissed some people off that we transitioned into a side that could do what this one is doing.  If people are too petty of xenophobic to see that it's their problem, not Claude's.  I hope both LCFC and St. Etienne make the CL next season.

Would be even better to draw them in the same group

[Deeg67]

10 minutes ago, 420Hashish said:

Would be even better to draw them in the same group

Yeah, I mentioned that a few weeks ago - that would be delicious.

[Dahnsouff]

3 hours ago, Langston said:

The bloke can piss off. Hate him, cretin.

Love a nice, informed, urbane, non-polarised attitude, early on a Sunday morning. Really refreshes your faith in humanity/

[car1os]

Good article. Whilst Puel is not a manager suited to the Premier League, he did what he needed to do here - his work has helped our young team build a lot of experience for their respective ages.
 

Rodgers has taken us to a new level, there’s no doubt about that, but I wonder how things would have gone if Rodgers came in at the time  Puel was appointed. Would we have players like Ricardo and Tielemans? Would he have sacrificed winning points for giving players like Chilwell game time?
 

This might be controversial, and I’m pleased we sacked him when we did, but Puel is Rodgers very own version of how Pearson helped Ranieri IMHO....

[The_77]

Unfortunately for Puel (and for many posters on here), the man was hired as a manager and not a DoF. Rudkin did a great job of bringing in players to set us up for the future. 

Perhaps a target man would have been nice with all our wasted crosses during Puel’s term. 
 

Also, it was awesome when we went to Brighton in November 2018 with Shinji playing as a false nine. 
 

Do we really need to have *another* thread making all the same points we’ve all made before?

[Foxhateram]

On 16/04/2019 at 13:15, Deeg67 said:

Puel took one for the team - he was willing to do the dirty work most managers would never have been willing to do.  He'll never get anything but hate from most "fans" but he's a big part of the reason why the club is set for a potentially excellent run in the next few years.

Clearly the 100 likes you got for this post is exceptional, but I do have to break the trend. He is claiming glory for our young squad. We had most of these players breaking through or on the radar before he arrived. The only exception to this is maybe Ricardo, who I admit, is exceptional. 

 

His style of play that he is claiming to be an evolution though is tosh. We don't play like that now, there is a reason Brendan ripped that up and changed it immediately after his arrival. 

 

We had no penetration under Puel. We played the ball far too slowly and as a result never found space in behind. Our biggest threat, Vardy, was a shadow of himself as a result of said slow build up. He also removed our ability to press high with a stifling formation, again affecting some of the performances of our top players. 

 

Now, we mix it up, some fast paced passing, some slow build up in possession. But we are always looking to penetrate and break through. We also press high and win the ball higher up the pitch. It is this high pressing game that has protected our defence, much as it did in the title winning season. It's no coincidence that it is both Puel and Ranieri (over time) that removed this element and we saw form drop and a weakened defence under both of those managers. 

 

Didn't like him, thought he was arrogant and stubborn. He found a way that worked at previous clubs and assumed it would work in the premier League. But as proven, it didn't work for Saints or us. We sacked him, because he refused to change direction. 

 

Rogers is a superior manager, with a much more Leicester like style of play. It is exciting and fast paced. That is how we won the league, that is how we are 2nd now. High press, fast paced.