West Ham (A) Mon 23/08/21 @ 8pm

[Bazly]

They made us look stupid last time we played so hopefully they wont make us look stupid again. Our lack of pace in the middle without Ricardo, Justin and Barnes was a constant problem against any team fielding rapid midfielders who are free to just bypass ours with a simple pass down either wing or even sometimes through the middle. With two out of three players now back, here is hoping for a different kind of game this time out. I do hate Mondays though, Monday evenings - yuk.

[Tomek]

Have tickets sold well for this game?

[Guest Danny Clender]

I’d imagine that Castagne starts, he’s ahead of Thomas in the starting 11 and I’d say brings more overall defending to the system, but if he’s not ahead of Thomas in terms of match fitness, then Thomas offers very little compromise. 
 

The back 3 works for both of them, so we’re still cozy on options. 

[Whys it always me]

1 hour ago, Danny Clender said:

I’d imagine that Castagne starts, he’s ahead of Thomas in the starting 11 and I’d say brings more overall defending to the system, but if he’s not ahead of Thomas in terms of match fitness, then Thomas offers very little compromise. 
 

The back 3 works for both of them, so we’re still cozy on options. 

Castange isn’t that great at left back I personally think Thomas is better and is improving every game he plays. 

Edited 20 August 2021 by Whys it always me
Typo

[oxtonfox]

Thomas should play. I think he’ll keep Maddison, but I guess he will be subbed. I hope he adds Soumare and drops Ayoze. I also hope he brings on Kel  and Patson in second half especially if it’s all square or we are behind. I am positive we will concede after we fell apart last season against them. 

[gw_leics772]

On 16/08/2021 at 15:01, fuchsntf said:

I prefer Thomas to Bertrand...

Bertrand is/was always Cover and Bench...

We Harvest & use our youngsters,especially when they Grab the right to be recognised,and prove their potential.

Plus there are 4 competitions to waver through...Bertrand has been a Great find, on the Evans level...He s going to Play and will be a success

But we have Justin,Evans,Castagna returning.

In Thomas we have a Great player, who has up to Now been IMO exceptional  and is Qualifying his potential...

Please Dont mentions mistakes, or get beaten... its football, even Wclass Top Defenders have their bad moments...

I thought the same originally but after watching Bertrand against Villarreal and man city, I think he's first choice for what he brings from dead balls. They are excellent and something i didn't realise fully what we were missing til I saw it first hand.

 

Thomas is excellent and will rarely let us down, but treated right, he will be some player.

 

Pleased to say that we, and he, can fully trust the club to ensure he reaches his potential and for the first time in my lifetime, we get far more youngsters making a real impact on the first team, rather than burst onto the the scene and file out.

 

Ps. How you doing Fuchs? Good to see you active after your recent new thread.

Feel a bit lost with no Leicester this weekend but luckily I have an all day drinking session with the boys to keep my mind off it. (Kind of)

 

 

Edited 20 August 2021 by gw_leics772
Fat finger **** ups.

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

I can see Rodgers switching this to a back, he always makes little tinkers for games like this. Vestegaard in for Perez would of been my assumption but if the injury rumours are true or he’s not up to speed yet, I think he’ll go with the following to offer more protection for Amartey & because of the way Antonio bullied Soyuncu last season. 

Kasper 

 

Ricardo 

Castagne 

Amartey

Soyuncu 

Thomas

 

Ndidi

Tielemans 

Maddison 

 

Vardy 

Barnes 

 

[foxinsocks]

No start for Madison. Play nacho at 10

[NaijaFox]

3 hours ago, Whys it always me said:

Castange isn’t that great at left back I personally think Thomas is better and is improving every game he plays. 

One of our better players against Wolves

[AyewJoking]

We're obviously gonna try not to lose this one which makes sense given its the second game of a long season.

5 at the back, forget we're allowed to shoot at their goal and generally hang on for as long as possible.

[sacreblueits442]

2 hours ago, gw_leics772 said:

I thought the same originally but after watching Bertrand against Villarreal and man city, I think he's first choice for what he brings from dead balls. They are excellent and something i didn't realise fully what we were missing til I saw it first hand.

 

Thomas is excellent and will rarely let us down, but treated right, he will be some player.

 

Pleased to say that we, and he, can fully trust the club to ensure he reaches his potential and for the first time in my lifetime, we get far more youngsters making a real impact on the first team, rather than burst onto the the scene and file out.

 

Ps. How you doing Fuchs? Good to see you active after your recent new thread.

Feel a bit lost with no Leicester this weekend but luckily I have an all day drinking session with the boys to keep my mind off it. (Kind of)

 

 

.....just goes to show how poor Maddison is in those situations!!!

For someone lauded for his talents he is not productive in deadball situations. I think the last time he scored from a deadball situation was against Southampton in the 0-9 victory. Bertrand delivery for Soyuncu was inch perfect and he did not need to get off the ground to meet the ball with his head. We miss out on goals from deadball situations and we need to improve that area urgently.

[jim5000]

Castange won't start, Brendan doesn't throw raw players into the starting line-up and generally plays it safe and sticks with a winning team. I woul expect the same team as against Wolves, but Castange and Daka to come on as subs. Vestergaard will be introduced over the next few games and expect him to replace Amartey until Evans is back.

[jim5000]

9 hours ago, Tomek said:

Have tickets sold well for this game?

 

They are no longer on sale, but that is probably more due to the Royal Mail. Last time I checked there was a couple of hundred still going, although that was well over a week ago.

[Guest Danny Clender]

9 hours ago, Whys it always me said:

Castange isn’t that great at left back I personally think Thomas is better and is improving every game he plays. 

I still don't think we've seen quite enough of Castagne playing Left Back to say he 'isn't that great' in that position.

I understand "isn't that great" is open to interpretation, but both equally available, I'd select him over Thomas.

Then again, they'll definitely be sharing the role thus keeping injuries and fatigue low and competition high in that position. 

 

Thomas is sensational and an incredible talent and from the recent'ish academy promotions, he's only behind Barnes, just. 

 

I'm just hoping for a revolution in tactics which allows a back four of Ricardo, Castagne, Justin and Thomas. 

 

[Fox1980]

On 15/08/2021 at 11:29, turlo said:

Looking at the highlights from last years fixtures, 3 of West Hams goals were from Leicester playing an extremely high line and West Ham hitting us on the counter with a long ball and getting in behind.  Hopefully Rodgers will of learned from this after having our pants pulled down in both fixtures last season. 

Spot on.. and lingaard was involved in everything and he’s not there

[Fox1980]

1 hour ago, Danny Clender said:

I still don't think we've seen quite enough of Castagne playing Left Back to say he 'isn't that great' in that position.

I understand "isn't that great" is open to interpretation, but both equally available, I'd select him over Thomas.

Then again, they'll definitely be sharing the role thus keeping injuries and fatigue low and competition high in that position. 

 

Thomas is sensational and an incredible talent and from the recent'ish academy promotions, he's only behind Barnes, just. 

 

I'm just hoping for a revolution in tactics which allows a back four of Ricardo, Castagne, Justin and Thomas. 

 

Get Pep to invent something and then the world will follow 

[Whys it always me]

2 hours ago, Danny Clender said:

I still don't think we've seen quite enough of Castagne playing Left Back to say he 'isn't that great' in that position.

I understand "isn't that great" is open to interpretation, but both equally available, I'd select him over Thomas.

Then again, they'll definitely be sharing the role thus keeping injuries and fatigue low and competition high in that position. 

 

Thomas is sensational and an incredible talent and from the recent'ish academy promotions, he's only behind Barnes, just. 

 

I'm just hoping for a revolution in tactics which allows a back four of Ricardo, Castagne, Justin and Thomas. 

 

I know you rate Thomas based on your reply but why would you select him over Thomas as based on recent performances including Spurs at the end of last season Thomas has been brilliant and should be starting on merit. 

[volpeazzurro]

5 hours ago, jim5000 said:

Castange won't start, Brendan doesn't throw raw players into the starting line-up and generally plays it safe and sticks with a winning team. I woul expect the same team as against Wolves, but Castange and Daka to come on as subs. Vestergaard will be introduced over the next few games and expect him to replace Amartey until Evans is back.

Except we were very fortunate to be the winning team against Wolves. In fairness, he may have to play Armarty if Vestergaard isn't quite ready yet and I think we can cope with that but for Christ sake don't weaken our midfield by putting Ndidi there.

 

West Ham are a strong physical side so no room for powder puff passengers like Perez, we've ample alternatives and he's not even worthy of a place on the bench for this one, I'd sooner see Sowah there as an option. 

[volpeazzurro]

9 hours ago, Ross 'LCFC' Turner said:

I can see Rodgers switching this to a back, he always makes little tinkers for games like this. Vestegaard in for Perez would of been my assumption but if the injury rumours are true or he’s not up to speed yet, I think he’ll go with the following to offer more protection for Amartey & because of the way Antonio bullied Soyuncu last season. 

Kasper 

 

Ricardo 

Castagne 

Amartey

Soyuncu 

Thomas

 

Ndidi

Tielemans 

Maddison 

 

Vardy 

Barnes 

 

I really can't see a semi-fit Castange in a mask starting as a centre half, probably one of the most combative positions on the field. We've also seen, with due respect to a very good player, how piss poor he performed out of position there last season. Sticking him and Armarty there together is asking for huge trouble, might as well drop Soyuncu and stick Perez in there as well if we're determined to watch a bunch of clowns running round and bumping into each other 🤣🤣

[Guest Danny Clender]

29 minutes ago, Whys it always me said:

I know you rate Thomas based on your reply but why would you select him over Thomas as based on recent performances including Spurs at the end of last season Thomas has been brilliant and should be starting on merit. 

Purely down to experience and my own belief that Castagne is better, is more versatile and is ahead in the learning stakes.

Castagne is a better defender right now and that's what we need with Evans and Fofana out. 

Thomas has proved himself and the way we're utilising him is testament to his development.

 

From a theoretical point of view, Rodgers started Bertrand over Thomas for the Community Shield, I know this was only once, but it may have been some insight into selection. Rodgers has also said Thomas can learn from Bertrand, which feels like Chilwell / Fuchs again.

With that in mind, I'd start Castagne over Bertrand, if that makes sense. 

 

You're absolutely right though, Thomas does deserve to start based on his form and consistency.

As we all know though, we have so many games this season and the starting 11 isn't always going to be as pre-determined as we were, not so long ago, used to. 

I imagine both will earn around the same amount of starts over this season. 

[Phil Bowman]

On 19/08/2021 at 22:41, justfoxes said:

The referee is Michael Bloody Oliver ffs this bloke is horrendous

I guess it just shows how people see things differently! I reckon he’s an excellent ref; can’t think of many better.

[Whys it always me]

12 minutes ago, Danny Clender said:

Purely down to experience and my own belief that Castagne is better, is more versatile and is ahead in the learning stakes.

Castagne is a better defender right now and that's what we need with Evans and Fofana out. 

Thomas has proved himself and the way we're utilising him is testament to his development.

 

From a theoretical point of view, Rodgers started Bertrand over Thomas for the Community Shield, I know this was only once, but it may have been some insight into selection. Rodgers has also said Thomas can learn from Bertrand, which feels like Chilwell / Fuchs again.

With that in mind, I'd start Castagne over Bertrand, if that makes sense. 

 

You're absolutely right though, Thomas does deserve to start based on his form and consistency.

As we all know though, we have so many games this season and the starting 11 isn't always going to be as pre-determined as we were, not so long ago, used to. 

I imagine both will earn around the same amount of starts over this season. 

All fair point was just curious. 
 

There’s a lot of football this season so they will all get game time that’s for sure. 

[Ricey]

They out fought us both times last season so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Soumare for Maddison.

[ian__marshall]

Soumare surely has to start this game along with Vestergaard if fit. They're a physical side and we need to match them up otherwise we'll be outfought and the game will end up similar to last seasons. 

Edited 21 August 2021 by ian__marshall

[foxinsocks]

31 minutes ago, Ricey said:

They out fought us both times last season so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Soumare for Maddison.

I would hope so too...