irishfoxkev Posted 17 July 2019 Share Posted 17 July 2019 Let’s not forget Wilf has been playing in Afcon for Nigeria including 3rd/4th place play off tonight. ...very hot humid conditions ...Realistically the earliest he will be back is tomorrow, a little more than 3weeks before our opener and I would think he will need at least 3weeks of a break so I think Mendy and Hamza will have important roles to play in our first 2/3 matches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WigstonWanderer Posted 17 July 2019 Share Posted 17 July 2019 Whole bunch of players I’d like to see moved on before him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HankMarvin Posted 17 July 2019 Share Posted 17 July 2019 1 hour ago, daverollo said: Appreciate it is only one game against lower opposition - but was what noticeable last nice is he didn't dwell on the ball he looked to move with energy. When there was space he would move forward and look to pick a pass in a forward direction. Clearly a sign that he can take on board what the manager wants. The other thing that we didn't see under Puel is more raking direct passes (not just from Mendy) generally in a cross field direction to switch the play, something that was a feature of his highlights real when he first signed for us. In terms of pecking order he falls in just behind N'Diddi, Tielmans and Maddison for the 3 midfield slots, but an able stand in and maybe push for a regular spot if he continues to impress. May as well keep for this season, unless a more capable player is signed. It wasnt just that he pass well, he didnt offer much apart from chase the ball 2000 minutes averaging 1 tackle 1 interception a game. So if youre not defending or adding anything offensively what are you doing in a game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st albans fox Posted 17 July 2019 Share Posted 17 July 2019 16 minutes ago, irishfoxkev said: Let’s not forget Wilf has been playing in Afcon for Nigeria including 3rd/4th place play off tonight. ...very hot humid conditions ...Realistically the earliest he will be back is tomorrow, a little more than 3weeks before our opener and I would think he will need at least 3weeks of a break so I think Mendy and Hamza will have important roles to play in our first 2/3 matches Indeed wilf will be off for two weeks min, probably three that means he comes back as the season starts so he could be missing until Sheffield Utd game 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdb Posted 17 July 2019 Share Posted 17 July 2019 I'm a fan. Steady player and hope we keep long term. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collymore Posted 17 July 2019 Share Posted 17 July 2019 16 minutes ago, sdb said: I'm a fan. Steady player and hope we keep long term. Yeah he does the basics so well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WigstonWanderer Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 On 18/07/2019 at 04:22, st albans fox said: Indeed wilf will be off for two weeks min, probably three that means he comes back as the season starts so he could be missing until Sheffield Utd game 3 These youngsters! Seem to remember Wes playing all the way through the close season and then starting the next on time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post volpeazzurro Posted 20 July 2019 Popular Post Share Posted 20 July 2019 (edited) On 17/07/2019 at 21:58, pmcla26 said: No I stick by what I say, he went in to the season with Silva, Mendy, Ndidi and Iborra as his 4 options for 2 spots. Any manager worth their salt, who works day in day out with their players in pre-season, would have addressed that in the summer before or have given Silva a longer run of games. Just because he made some good signings and had good ideas doesn’t mean I can’t fault the fact he had some terrible decision making and was overall, in my opinion, a very poor manager Ranieri stated clearly on two occasions that he was the coach and had no say in transfers. Puel I believe had some. You of course (and I) don't know the mechanics of what happened. The fact that it was while Puel was here we got Tielemens from a club where he had contacts suggests for example that he may have had a role in that and no doubt had recognised that positional problem a long before. Puel joined at the end of October and therefore any transfers had been done. He was lumbered for the most part with a bunch of ill bought misfits with the odd gems scattered amongst them. I'm sure he was astute enough by the summer transfer window to know where our weaknesses lay, combined, like now, with a group who were difficult to shift. The crux is here, again as always, is that we don't know what the transfer budget was that year and who the club tried to get (Tielemans would not have been available at that stage for example). You can't buy from people who won't sell or a player who doesn't want to come and to foreign players, we're not the first club you they'd think of. We just don't know but, most of the transfer dealings were decent. It was that yawning one midfield position that was a huge problem as we had a plethora of either defensive or foreign import duds. The particular type of midfielder we were after is a hard to get one. Puel I'm sure, would have known but he's not a magician and had to go with what he'd got. If the club for whatever reason couldn't or wouldn't get one, again he was stuck with what he'd got. He had after all in Ricardo and Maddison seemingly addressed two of the wish list problems . It always was going to be a longer term restructuring problem. I'm not saying one player would have altered his ways or stopped him getting sacked but he was absolutely nowhere near as bad as people like you make out and Rodgers has inherited some good things thanks to him. Edited 20 July 2019 by volpeazzurro 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post murphy Posted 20 July 2019 Popular Post Share Posted 20 July 2019 (edited) On 17/07/2019 at 21:58, pmcla26 said: No I stick by what I say, he went in to the season with Silva, Mendy, Ndidi and Iborra as his 4 options for 2 spots. Any manager worth their salt, who works day in day out with their players in pre-season, would have addressed that in the summer before or have given Silva a longer run of games. Just because he made some good signings and had good ideas doesn’t mean I can’t fault the fact he had some terrible decision making and was overall, in my opinion, a very poor manager A very harsh assessment. Let's look at what areas of the team Puel did address in the summer. We were crying out for a no.10 and we got Maddison. We needed an attacking RB and got Ricardo, with Huth retiring we needed centre halves and got Evans and cover/future in Benkovic and Soyuncu. Yes, there are other areas of the teams that needed strengthening but it is not possible to buy a team in one window as we don't have unlimited funds. He had to prioritise and did a pretty good job. We needed a RW but bought in Ghezzal as squad cover I believe, until funds would have been available to get the right man. We needed a more adventurous CM and he bought in Tielemans in the January window on loan. I think we did a pretty good job last summer. Ghezzal being the only dubious one, but with what was left of the budget and what was available to us, there didn't seem to be many options. Edited 20 July 2019 by murphy 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 On 17/07/2019 at 20:41, mad biker said: Yep a walking final score, defending a lead get him on = 3pts :-) I think he needs to go. I don't like the idea of bringing on a defensive midfielder for the last 20. It is basically inviting the opposition to attack and what happens if they score? You have just compromised your ability to hit back. Mendy himself will want to play, not just to be a part time road block. A move will benefit both parties as we can get another off the wage bill and maybe get that other no. 8 that the club has talked about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozartfox Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 There are more worthy cases for binning off than him. Would like to see them out first. Mendy has his uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywood_6 Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 Tackling/intercepting/sensing danger are the things what he's meant to be good at as a DM, but personally think Choudhury and Ndidi are miles ahead in those areas. Do think he has contributed well at times for us. Just think he's a very limited player we should move on from now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urban fox Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 If we got 8-10mill for him that would be good business for both parties as he is unlikely to be first choice barring injuries etc but I would also happily keep unless we got the right offer as he is more than capable of doing a job for us. That said if we are going to keep he needs to be put on a new contract or he will go for free next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchsntf Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 11 hours ago, WigstonWanderer said: These youngsters! Seem to remember Wes playing all the way through the close season and then starting the next on time. And not just one season...!? Ndidi I week at Butlins Clacton. Then back to his club for some serious Team talks & binding. He has next summer to relax!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Billy Big Balls Posted 20 July 2019 Popular Post Share Posted 20 July 2019 Been outstanding so far in preseason imo. Finally an assist! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SO1 Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 F that! Mendy Stays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Flair Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 4 minutes ago, Billy Big Balls said: Been outstanding so far in preseason imo. Finally an assist! What a time to be alive, one of those remember where you were moments. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizerud Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 Mendy channeling his inner-Tielemens with that assist. Which was probably our biggest knock against him last season - even though he was probably doing what he was told he was too defensive with his passing. Maybe under Rodgers he will be more progressive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mehrez Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 I’m all for keeping him based on his preseason so far, hopefully we’ll give him a years extension Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SO1 Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 1 hour ago, Wizerud said: Mendy channeling his inner-Tielemens with that assist. Which was probably our biggest knock against him last season - even though he was probably doing what he was told he was too defensive with his passing. Maybe under Rodgers he will be more progressive. If there's two things that Rodgers instills in all his players its "move forward" and "faster". I don't see how you can play in one of his teams and not be aggressive. That's the what I noticed about Mendy today. The speed of his passing and his larger range of positioning. If he's going to stay he'll have to do more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaspa Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 He's a good player but a year left on contract and isn't getting ahead of Ndidi or Tielemans and maybe even Choudhury if he cracks on. So give him a new contract or sell and replace appropriately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vardinio'sCat Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 On 15/07/2019 at 13:22, Ric Flair said: The man has zero goals and zero assists in his ENTIRE time at Leicester, it's pretty damning. Good ball into Albrighton today tho, maybe BR can get more out of him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post kingfox Posted 20 July 2019 Popular Post Share Posted 20 July 2019 Fans seem to be forgetting how good he was at the start of last season, first few months he looked our best player. If Ndidi gets injured or suspended can we go into games with Choudhury and Tielemans as our midfield two, I'm not so sure. The Mendy/Tielemans partnership has looked good in pre season, it looks a reliable partnership. For that reason Mendy is worth keeping, I'd still have him ahead of Choudhury in the squad for most games. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post StriderHiryu Posted 20 July 2019 Popular Post Share Posted 20 July 2019 2 hours ago, Billy Big Balls said: Been outstanding so far in preseason imo. Finally an assist! He's proved why he's invaluable. His role in the team is not an exciting one, but it is incredibly important. It's a bit like Deschamps for France back in 1998 or Leon Britton for Swansea City when Rodgers was in charge. Does this formation / tactical setup look familiar? It should be! It's a very similar setup to what we have seen in preseason thus far. Albrighton was pushing on to support the attack, making exactly the run indicated below from Sinclair to score his goal. Mendy is there to drop back into a three when we don't have the ball so one or both of the full backs can bomb on but allow us to keep some defensive shape on the turnover. Mendy doesn't have the physical attributes of Ndidi, nor the tackling prowess. But he is cool, calm and composed on the ball - an excellent recycler if you will. I can't see him being let go because he's so good at doing his job. Even if he's just a squad option rather than a starter, it would be foolish to let him go. He has experience and he'd be really useful in many games. In fact against "weaker" teams in the league he might even start ahead of Ndidi. Today Cheltenham were very well organised defensively, and keeping the ball and making the space was needed to break them down. In games like that where we see majority of the ball, Mendy might be a better choice than Ndidi. 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vardinio'sCat Posted 20 July 2019 Share Posted 20 July 2019 (edited) I like Papy. He is a very different kind of DMC to Wilf, closing space rather than leaping in, and his short passing is much more reliable. If we have a lead, Papy will keep us ticking over much better than Wilf, even if his interventions are less appealing to us fans. He has spent his whole career in France trying to pass sides to death, but if BR can get him to be more progressive he could be very valuable. Wilf cannot go on playing in every game, and I think relying on Hamza and Amartey as back up is risky if we want to push for the top 6. The only problems are the contract situation and blocking of youth, but on balance I'd prefer Papy's experience in that key role. Hamza is good but he isn't really that disciplined yet (see England under 21's), and Daniel is only just back from a terrible injury. Edited 20 July 2019 by Vardinio'sCat 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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