Potential of this Leicester City team.

[Steve Earle]

3 minutes ago, SheppyFox said:

Although I’ve been laughed at for suggesting our best 11 is not far off the best teams in the world, I stand by my statement and would say that our first team is capable of not only winning the Europa League this season but also a consistent top 4 finish thereafter.
 

I remember specifically comparing our best 11 vs Liverpool’s, how many of their first 11 walk into our team? Salah & Mane for definite, beyond that it’s all debatable.
 

Not to mention a lot of the elite have crumbled some what in recent years. On our day we beat any team on the planet. 

Allison, VVD, Robertson, Salah, Mane for sure. TAA & Firmino possibly but that’s debatable!

[Paninistickers]

16 minutes ago, SheppyFox said:

Although I’ve been laughed at for suggesting our best 11 is not far off the best teams in the world, I stand by my statement and would say that our first team is capable of not only winning the Europa League this season but also a consistent top 4 finish thereafter.
 

I remember specifically comparing our best 11 vs Liverpool’s, how many of their first 11 walk into our team? Salah & Mane for definite, beyond that it’s all debatable.
 

Not to mention a lot of the elite have crumbled some what in recent years. On our day we beat any team on the planet. 

Put our top 14 players in Man Utd shirts and Man U would be considered alongside Liverpool and Man City. 

 

in fairness, our same players and same management and same tactics playing as Man U would prob get 10poibts extra a season than the exact same performances playing as us. Just a mentality thing. Chests pumped out 1% more. Opponents  1% more content to lose or draw

[fuchsntf]

4 hours ago, volpeazzurro said:

There weren't that many injuries until right near the end. There were however some piss poor positional team selections and tactics at times. Possibly one benefit of our injury list has been, when required, a more pragmatic approach from Rodgers rather than a slavery to a partly bygone philosophy. I'm not for one minute saying that it was all his fault but neither was it all down to the players or injuries. With the exception of perhaps baffling tactics against West Ham, Rodgers has done remarkably well with what he's has at his disposal thus far. The players seem happy with it also so all power to his elbow. 

Ndidi,Vardy,Ricardo ..had injuries..Plus it has been mentioned Maddison & Chilwell,least Knocks were earlier than known to the outside.

Evans struggle with  niggles were also not late..

 

 

Edited 12 November 2020 by fuchsntf

[deep blue]

2 hours ago, SheppyFox said:

Although I’ve been laughed at for suggesting our best 11 is not far off the best teams in the world, I stand by my statement and would say that our first team is capable of not only winning the Europa League this season but also a consistent top 4 finish thereafter.
 

I remember specifically comparing our best 11 vs Liverpool’s, how many of their first 11 walk into our team? Salah & Mane for definite, beyond that it’s all debatable.
 

Not to mention a lot of the elite have crumbled some what in recent years. On our day we beat any team on the planet. 

Get it right - Salah & Mane would stumble into our team.

[SheppyFox]

2 hours ago, Steve Earle said:

Allison, VVD, Robertson, Salah, Mane for sure. TAA & Firmino possibly but that’s debatable!

I’d forgotten about the keeper to be fair, I’d prefer chestnuts and little Wes over Robertson and VVD though 😁

[Koke]

On 05/11/2020 at 23:39, ajthefox said:

This team is as talented as we have ever been but it's still early in the season, and I do still have a niggling doubt about the mentality.

 

I like this team and I rate them as the best squad I've seen in my lifetime. But I still don't quite fully trust them (and Brendan) in a title race. Question marks over their mentality. Yes, last season we suffered with a few injuries but I still can't wrap my head around bottling a 15 point lead. 

 

This season thus far they have showed they can win in a different way but I want to see more of it.

[UpTheLeagueFox]

7 minutes ago, Koke said:

I still can't wrap my head around bottling a 15 point lead. 

I still can't wrap my head around opening up a 15 point lead.

[UHDrive]

What would our team be worth in man utd shirts and shorts? £7-800m?

[Koke]

On 06/11/2020 at 00:42, sacreblueits442 said:

...I can't agree with that!!!

What you are seeing is the buy-in of the players that was so evident in 2015/16 and the way they carried out the managers instructions. The same way of playing in respect of relinquishing possession and counter attacking is what you are seeing being repeated now and what you should be looking at is not the roster but what we are doing on the pitch.

  You put the 2015/16 team up against this team and they would be very competitive, just look at Albrighton, people wanted him out, absolutely no time for him, he just needs to find a club as he is not at the level required as we had outgrown him. Take a look at his tenacity to fight his way back into the first team..again, what he brings in game after game and this was indicative of the 2015/16 players that surrounded him and the mentality that they had.

  Sad that you could think that, that team could not hold a candle to our present roster, I think you are looking at this all wrong.

 

This team is far more talented. Only players from 15/16 who walks into this current side is Mahrez. Even the great Kante have a battle on his hands for his spot. 

 

I love Robert Huth, the big beautiful German bastard, but nobody can tell me Huth is more talented or better footballer than Evans or Soyuncu.  Ricardo is a million times better than Simpson. And Drinkwater can't hold a candle to Tielemans. Some will take offence to what I'm saying but Im sorry, the talents at our disposal now is far greater.

 

@StriderHiryu is correct. The competition was much weaker back then. 

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, Koke said:

 

This team is far more talented. Only players from 15/16 who walks into this current side is Mahrez. Even the great Kante have a battle on his hands for his spot. 

 

I love Robert Huth, the big beautiful German bastard, but nobody can tell me Huth is more talented or better footballer than Evans or Soyuncu.  Ricardo is a million times better than Simpson. And Drinkwater can't hold a candle to Tielemans. Some will take offence to what I'm saying but Im sorry, the talents at our disposal now is far greater.

 

@StriderHiryu is correct. The competition was much weaker back then. 

I think you could also make an argument for Vardy being a better footballer now too.

[Jobyfox]

I actually think that, if last season taught us anything, we should approach threads like this with caution. There were the same conversations then about how we were better than teams from the rich six.

 

Ultimately Liverpool won the league, Arsenal won the FA Cup, Man City won the League Cup and qualified for the Champions League, Man Utd got Champions League as did Chelsea. Even Spurs matched us by getting in the Europa League. 

 

After just 8 games it starts again. We have an exciting team and a good squad of players, but we need to win something or qualify for UCL before we can really make a breakthrough. The test will come when we see whether we can last the course and if our squad is deep enough.

 

I think we have much better depth in midfield and defence than I can ever remember us having, but fear that it’s our forward line that might take the strain. I’m not intending to be pessimistic, but just realistic about how hard it would be to consistently break through. Patience is key and 8 games isn’t the time for conclusions. 

[Koke]

Just now, HighPeakFox said:

I think you could also make an argument for Vardy being a better footballer now too.

 

I think he is. Its strange to say 33 year old Vardy is better than 29 year old Vardy but he looks much better all round now. Its an interesting debate to have about which season Vardy was best in. 

[Corky]

11 minutes ago, Koke said:

 

I think he is. Its strange to say 33 year old Vardy is better than 29 year old Vardy but he looks much better all round now. Its an interesting debate to have about which season Vardy was best in. 

Back then he was a tearaway striker and underestimated by opponents. Now he's a clever, clinical striker and defenders can't cope with his pace and movement.

 

He tore the Man City defence apart and the Leeds defence didn't have a clue how to deal with him.

[volpeazzurro]

2 hours ago, fuchsntf said:

Ndidi,Vardy,Ricardo ..had injuries..Plus it has been mentioned Maddison & Chilwell,least Knocks were earlier than known to the outside.

Evans struggle with  niggles were also not late..

 

 

Are demise started pre Christmas for me, not merely just after the lockdown. Norwich, Southampton, Manchester City and Liverpool were all approached poorly from a tactical sense for me. Anyway, it's over now and the future is bright 🌞 

[deanolegend1989]

4 hours ago, Koke said:

 

This team is far more talented. Only players from 15/16 who walks into this current side is Mahrez. Even the great Kante have a battle on his hands for his spot. 

 

I love Robert Huth, the big beautiful German bastard, but nobody can tell me Huth is more talented or better footballer than Evans or Soyuncu.  Ricardo is a million times better than Simpson. And Drinkwater can't hold a candle to Tielemans. Some will take offence to what I'm saying but Im sorry, the talents at our disposal now is far greater.

 

@StriderHiryu is correct. The competition was much weaker back then. 

Don’t be silly. Kante of 15/16 is first choice every day of the week.

 

4 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

I think you could also make an argument for Vardy being a better footballer now too.

He’s a much better footballer now that’s true. Although his physical capabilities back then was absolutely world class compared to now understandably.

If he’d got to the top in his early 20s he’d of gained experience and improved his game in a few seasons as he ultimately has , but would of been mid- late 20s by the time he did which would of meant he’d still of had his prime fitness and body with the improved elite brain of a footballer at the same time.

Then again if that happened then he’d be at Man City or Real Madrid.

[shailen]

I've said this for a while now that our squad is capable of going toe to toe with the so called big boys. We were and probably still are missing the big boys up front which makes it harder but when you've got Jamie Vardy then that makes up for a hell of a lot. 

 

You look at Liverpool, Spurs and Man City and they've got world class front threes which is something we've improved on with the likes of signing of Under and the ever increasing emergence of Barnes, but we're not on that level yet. Having said that we've probably got the best shot stopper in the league in Kasper, the best back four imo in the league and probably also the best midfield trio in Maddison, Tielemans and N'didi. If our wide players up front improve or have more impact then let's be honest here, we could well be consistent title challengers. 

[shailen]

7 hours ago, Koke said:

 

This team is far more talented. Only players from 15/16 who walks into this current side is Mahrez. Even the great Kante have a battle on his hands for his spot. 

 

I love Robert Huth, the big beautiful German bastard, but nobody can tell me Huth is more talented or better footballer than Evans or Soyuncu.  Ricardo is a million times better than Simpson. And Drinkwater can't hold a candle to Tielemans. Some will take offence to what I'm saying but Im sorry, the talents at our disposal now is far greater.

 

@StriderHiryu is correct. The competition was much weaker back then. 

I agree with this. I think 15/16 we were just on a wave the whole season and showed some incredible resilience and mental toughness combined with brilliance from Vardy and Mahrez in the main. 

 

Under Brendan Rodgers, we have probably played some of the best football I've ever seen us play. I think when we scored 4 against Leeds I heard a stat that we've scored 4 or more in PL games 11 times in under 70 games which is outstanding. Where the 15/16 team had an edge was being resilient but this season we're starting to show that this current team is able to be exactly that and we're combining it with some top quality football. 

[RumbleFox]

This team is better. But the 15/16 one would beat them. X  

[HighPeakFox]

1 minute ago, RumbleFox said:

This team is better. But the 15/16 one would beat them. X  

This doesn't make sense, actually. I think that the current team would probably work them out tactically.

[RumbleFox]

3 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

This doesn't make sense, actually. I think that the current team would probably work them out tactically.

It doesn’t make sense but neither did that season. If I had to stake everything I own on the match I’d bet on the 15/16 team. To say the current team is better after a decent 8 games seems mad to me. On paper they seem better I agree but 15/16 team were a force of nature. Sometimes a team is more than the sum of its parts. For me the 15/16 teams beats the current one. X 

Edited 13 November 2020 by RumbleFox

[TRAD-DAD]

16 hours ago, Koke said:

 

This team is far more talented. Only players from 15/16 who walks into this current side is Mahrez. Even the great Kante have a battle on his hands for his spot. 

 

I love Robert Huth, the big beautiful German bastard, but nobody can tell me Huth is more talented or better footballer than Evans or Soyuncu.  Ricardo is a million times better than Simpson. And Drinkwater can't hold a candle to Tielemans. Some will take offence to what I'm saying but Im sorry, the talents at our disposal now is far greater.

 

@StriderHiryu is correct. The competition was much weaker back then. 

Talent alone does not win you the premier league title. Yes todays team is more talented than the title winning side but as we saw last season they do have a tendency to bottle it. There is no way the 15 / 16 side would have thrown away a 15 point lead and that ,despite the talent gap is the difference. 

Edited 13 November 2020 by TRAD-DAD

[Guest Markyblue]

28 minutes ago, RumbleFox said:

It doesn’t make sense but neither did that season. If I had to stake everything I own on the match I’d bet on the 15/16 team. To say the current team is better after a decent 8 games seems mad to me. On paper they seem better I agree but 15/16 team were a force of nature. Sometimes a team is more than the sum of its parts. For me the 15/16 teams beats the current one. X 

Intresting.  Would/ will this current team win the premier league probably not. Are they a better team than 15/16 i think they probably are more talented but in a team sport that doesn't make them a better team.

[UHDrive]

54 minutes ago, RumbleFox said:

It doesn’t make sense but neither did that season. If I had to stake everything I own on the match I’d bet on the 15/16 team. To say the current team is better after a decent 8 games seems mad to me. On paper they seem better I agree but 15/16 team were a force of nature. Sometimes a team is more than the sum of its parts. For me the 15/16 teams beats the current one. X 

I wish I could agree but the 15/16 season was pure counter attack both dribbling facing forward and with kasper hoofng the ball to Vardy. We play classy one touch two touch on the floor football now and with arguably better players.

[shailen]

59 minutes ago, RumbleFox said:

This team is better. But the 15/16 one would beat them. X  

I get this. The 15/16 team was tactically set up brilliantly but the trio of Kante, Mahrez and Vardy were the reason we won it then. 

 

I still don't think Mahrez gets the credit he deserves and for me after Messi he is the best dribbler in world football. Man City don't utilise him like they should as his ability in tight spaces and also on the counter attack is phenomenal. He truly is world class and if we still had him in our team we'd be up there with Liverpool and Man City. The Vardy Mahrez partnership still remains our best combination ever. 

[ARM1968]

Potential is off the charts - but potential has to be realised.