Brighton (A) pre match - 6 March - 8pm

[Dahnsouff]

7 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

Obviously Fofana if deemed fit I agree (not sure about Evans situation, if not either then Armarty, a centre half, without wasting and sacrificing our best midfielder Ndidi).

 

Under has shown little because he's been played little. When he has it's been in front of an u23s debutant or a makeshift right back in Armarty. In front of a competent defender in Ricardo he might just stand a half decent chance.

 

Vardy I totally agree is out of sorts and has not been helped by his unnecessary inclusion at times after his operation. However, in the circumstances, he's the best we've got and if we could start strong for a change and attack instead of the now dull and entirely predictable 'don't lose at all cost ' approach in the first half, even against non scoring leaky relegation threatened teams, then, if we could muster a couple of goals, we could perhaps afford to rest a couple of players.

 

The team selection and formation against Burnley was diabolical and what ensued was entirely predictable. 

The Burnley game told us several things we probably already knew.

Defensively we are a little light, especially if we are seriously considering 5 at the back a valid formation on occasion.

We certainly need another (maybe 2 depending on Perez/Praet progress) attack minded advanced midfielder, as Maddison makes us tick and we hurt when he is out.

Under is done. Whether there is some contractual restriction (buy is played X games) which limits his play time is unclear, either way, he is finished here.

Vardy could do with a few weeks off.

Ricky has some way to go yet.

[sacreblueits442]

5 hours ago, Haywood_6 said:

Definitely this!

...Cags not good on the right..has to switch with Fofana!!!

[sacreblueits442]

36 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

Obviously Fofana if deemed fit I agree (not sure about Evans situation, if not either then Armarty, a centre half, without wasting and sacrificing our best midfielder Ndidi).

 

Under has shown little because he's been played little. When he has it's been in front of an u23s debutant or a makeshift right back in Armarty. In front of a competent defender in Ricardo he might just stand a half decent chance.

 

Vardy I totally agree is out of sorts and has not been helped by his unnecessary inclusion at times after his operation. However, in the circumstances, he's the best we've got and if we could start strong for a change and attack instead of the now dull and entirely predictable 'don't lose at all cost ' approach in the first half, even against non scoring leaky relegation threatened teams, then, if we could muster a couple of goals, we could perhaps afford to rest a couple of players.

 

The team selection and formation against Burnley was diabolical and what ensued was entirely predictable. 

..can't say I can agree with this!!!

We always come out on the front foot, we play well and squeeze the opposition. The problem starts when we fail to score and run out of ideas and the opposition play themselves into the game. We need to score when we are on top but that does not happen a lot of the time.

[volpeazzurro]

21 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

The Burnley game told us several things we probably already knew.

Defensively we are a little light, especially if we are seriously considering 5 at the back a valid formation on occasion.

We certainly need another (maybe 2 depending on Perez/Praet progress) attack minded advanced midfielder, as Maddison makes us tick and we hurt when he is out.

Under is done. Whether there is some contractual restriction (buy is played X games) which limits his play time is unclear, either way, he is finished here.

Vardy could do with a few weeks off.

Ricky has some way to go yet.

Yes, I do tend to agree with most of that. I did find it disappointing that whilst we fielded 8 more defensively minded players, we nevertheless looked poor defensively! I do believe though that if you're not offering any kind of threat to keep some of the opposition occupied, you shouldn't be surprised if you find yourself under pressure. 

Under is a really strange one and it's been done to death on here I suppose with various theories. Given the right backup though he can be a thorn in the side. We sometimes moan if a player is reluctant to shoot or take another on, yet at the same time, if an attempt is made and it doesn't come off we start moaning. A winger prepared to shoot is always in the back of a defenders mind. When we're short of players, it seemed an ideal opportunity to play him in front of Ricardo against Burnley because wide play against them by Spurs ripped them open.

I like and see a place for Praet but not Perez next season. The latter won't be going anywhere though I'd suggest. 

For me, Vardy could have been on the bench against Villa as he had to play against Prague. If he's not capable of 90 minutes yet why do it. A great impact sub until fully fit might have helped. His groin maybe ok but he still supposedly has a hip problem. Tielemans could badly do with a rest also I suppose. 

[volpeazzurro]

8 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

..can't say I can agree with this!!!

We always come out on the front foot, we play well and squeeze the opposition. The problem starts when we fail to score and run out of ideas and the opposition play themselves into the game. We need to score when we are on top but that does not happen a lot of the time.

We try but invariably the lack of success is sometimes down to initial team selection or formation,  there seems a rigid approach to a game in a first half whether the opposition is Liverpool, Fulham or Athens. How many times does Rodgers belatedly make changes (we know what minute in the second half 😆) and suddenly we look a little more effective for some magical reason. 

[Mike Oxlong]

wrong thread 

Edited 4 March 2021 by Mike Oxlong

[SkegnessSteve]

There seems to be a few people thinking Vardy should be dropped and saying Nacho isn't good enough.

 

I really do not think you can blame either of them for lack of Goals. In my view it is all down to how we are playing and the lack of balls that get up to them.

Barnes and Maddison get a lot of their goals from things they create themselves from midfield. My concern is that we just do not get the ball forward enough for the forwards to get on it.

 

Here are a couple of things that really bug me at the minute about how we play.

1) We try to always play out from the back and a lot of the time we lose it before the half way line.

2) Players seem to spend more time passing back than forward. It is like they look back before forward.

3) When we get a corner or free kick and we take it short and end up passing it all the way back to the keeper or even when we do get the ball up there we can have one chance then instead of chipping it back into the box or someone else running in with it a lot of times it ends up all the way back to the keeper. Just have a go, I believe some pf these players are better than they are showing and they need to have a go, I would much rather it was chipped in for a chance and lose it than go all the way back and then lose it.

4) When we have 10 mins to go and are behind or level and one defender passes to another, then back again and then back again.

5) We don't seem to vary play. I think a lot of teams have figured out how we play now.

6) A lot of passes that do go forward are too hard. When your 40 foot away from a player and there is no one in between you don't need to blast it.

7) Lack of movement off the ball. It is like most players just wait till its right to them. I have just watched extended highlights of last 5 games and when we have a throw in there is no one moving to get into a space to get the ball.

8) Stupid clearances or passing the ball right in front of our goal. It is very dangerous and there is no need.

 

From watching the last 5 games again I have noticed a real lack of urgency, lack of closing down.

 

Don't get me wrong I am very happy at 3rd in the table but I really think we have through lack of effort and being predictable and negative thrown away a very good chance to be even higher. Some of these games we should have won. 

[CosbehFox]

Quite a monumental weekend on the fixtures 

 

Everton and Chelsea play each other, West Ham have a potentially tricky game against Leeds whilst the Manchester derby is on as well

[KrefelderFox666]

21 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Quite a monumental weekend on the fixtures 

 

Everton and Chelsea play each other, West Ham have a potentially tricky game against Leeds whilst the Manchester derby is on as well

We also play first out of our competitors (or at least most of them). A win would really help us put pressure on others and ease ours. A loss however would see us possibly overtaken and make for a not so nice Sunday/Monday.

[Vardinio'sCat]

Lamptey being out is good news, we do really need to win in any way possible. Getting Kel close to Vards from the start would be my suggestion, we must be positive from the off.

 

 I guess the defensive organisation won't be as good as with Johnny Evans, but the recovery pace will be epic!

Edited 5 March 2021 by Vardinio'sCat

[Kasey Keller]

Massive 3 points.

please 

[Ric Flair]

If Rodgers has learnt anything its not to play 3 at the back vs this lot. We started with that formation in the home game in the league in December and were atrocious for the first 20 mins and then quickly changed it and ripped them apart scoring 3 goals before half time. We then 2ent 3 at the back again in the FA Cup game last month and what happened? We were diabolical and our last gasp win was grossly unfair and pure shithouse. 

 

 

[coolhandfox]

Not keen on the term must win.

 

But this feeling like a pivotal game in out season win and it give us momentum going in to the Sheffield U game which would probably see us win that too.

 

6 points would be massive, but 4 wouldn't be a disaster.

 

 

Edited 5 March 2021 by coolhandfox

[daddylonglegs]

As a side that really really enjoys helping sides get out of their horrible runs, I don't think there's a worse time to be playing Brighton. 

[Collymore]

14 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

If Rodgers has learnt anything its not to play 3 at the back vs this lot. We started with that formation in the home game in the league in December and were atrocious for the first 20 mins and then quickly changed it and ripped them apart scoring 3 goals before half time. We then 2ent 3 at the back again in the FA Cup game last month and what happened? We were diabolical and our last gasp win was grossly unfair and pure shithouse. 

 

 

Could it be it's a part of the tactics to start out like that to get them set up in a certain way and then it makes the impact of the change more extreme? 

 

It was interesting there was a bit of footage of Rodgers V Burnley with him deep in his notepad and not much really happening in play but it was as if he was looking at the positioning of the Burnley players and noting it down. I always just think he's writing about us being shit but perhaps he really analyses all of the opposing nuances and then he fine tunes his formation even further when we change to a back 4. 

 

 

[Ric Flair]

Just now, Collymore said:

Could it be it's a part of the tactics to start out like that to get them set up in a certain way and then it makes the impact of the change more extreme? 

 

It was interesting there was a bit of footage of Rodgers V Burnley with him deep in his notepad and not much really happening in play but it was as if he was looking at the positioning of the Burnley players and noting it down. I always just think he's writing about us being shit but perhaps he really analyses all of the opposing nuances and then he fine tunes his formation even further when we change to a back 4. 

 

 

Possibly, I liked it when we had the flexibility of going 3-4-2-1 or 4-2-3-1 but that was with Justin, Maddison and Barnes available 😥

[Happy Fox]

I don’t care if we play dogshite as long as we win! Winning games breed confidence as the old saying goes, right now we are in a rut of form, I just hope the players realise what’s at stake here

[ARM1968]

13 hours ago, Mike Oxlong said:

wrong thread 

Why, what’s wrong with it?

[Mike Oxlong]

14 minutes ago, ARM1968 said:

Why, what’s wrong with it?

[volpeazzurro]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

If Rodgers has learnt anything its not to play 3 at the back vs this lot. We started with that formation in the home game in the league in December and were atrocious for the first 20 mins and then quickly changed it and ripped them apart scoring 3 goals before half time. We then 2ent 3 at the back again in the FA Cup game last month and what happened? We were diabolical and our last gasp win was grossly unfair and pure shithouse. 

 

 

Spot on. 

[Dahnsouff]

2 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

If Rodgers has learnt anything its not to play 3 at the back vs this lot. We started with that formation in the home game in the league in December and were atrocious for the first 20 mins and then quickly changed it and ripped them apart scoring 3 goals before half time. We then 2ent 3 at the back again in the FA Cup game last month and what happened? We were diabolical and our last gasp win was grossly unfair and pure shithouse. 

So in 2 games versus Brighton we started with 3 at the back, then moved to 2 at the back and won?

 

Start with 3 at the back it is then

 

#dontbreakthemagic

[filbertway]

These have an unbelievable xG compared to their actual goals scored, it will click for them sooner or later. No idea what to expect, hopefully Rodgers doesn't out think himself and allow them the opportunity to smash in 3 or 4.

[ARM1968]

49 minutes ago, Mike Oxlong said:

Bit harsh on yourself there. Cheer up. 

[Leicesterpool]

Certainly miss this away day of the season, always enjoyed the games by the seaside. Be a tough one the seagulls certainly do like to attack and cause problems, downfall cant score. How they lost to West Brom last week was unbelievable. Hope they can stay up though, but want three points for the foxes. 

 

I mean Danny Welbeck what a player he used to be, always relied on him to grab a goal for England. Now he struggles to keep fit and when does play misses sitters. Such a shame, his move from Arsenal really affected I think. Watford move was a bad went to a new club to try and revive his career, only to join a club going down. Brighton for some reason he cant play for 90 minutes.

Edited 5 March 2021 by Leicesterpool

[Ricey]

Feels like one of those matches when you just know that if we don't win, regardless of the circumstance, you are going to be in the worst possible mood for a day or so.

 

Please win. Please.