Do we have enough physical players?

[st albans fox]

Even our physical players are soft! 

[BKLFox]

18 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

What I don't see in our games is us aggressively closing the space when we're without the ball, applying the press so to speak. 

Wilf used to do it, Vardy used to do it, Kante would do it, Fofana would come out and do it, Ricardo and  castagne could also apply that pressure. 

I think it's our play style rather than the players we have.

It’s unfortunate the players you mention are all injured, but I get what you mean.

With regards to style of play I honestly think the style he wants is that of the Villarreal game if you think back to that game Fofana and Cags were hitting the opposition on the halfway line very reminiscent of VVD & Matip for Liverpool the other night.

They would turn the ball over and we were away & straight into the final 3rd no messing about with passing around the back etc.

We cannot underestimate the importance of 2 settled quality CBs they are probably the most critical of positions, if they are all over the shop it affects everything up field as we see now.
Think further back to title season it got to a point that I never sweated as opponents got near our box as I just knew Big Wes & Huth would just snuff them out.

 

just to finish with regards to OP after the Liverpool game Rodgers said they were shifting some focus to players that will provide more dominance.

[splinterdream]

5 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

It’s unfortunate the players you mention are all injured, but I get what you mean.

With regards to style of play I honestly think the style he wants is that of the Villarreal game if you think back to that game Fofana and Cags were hitting the opposition on the halfway line very reminiscent of VVD & Matip for Liverpool the other night.

They would turn the ball over and we were away & straight into the final 3rd no messing about with passing around the back etc.

We cannot underestimate the importance of 2 settled quality CBs they are probably the most critical of positions, if they are all over the shop it affects everything up field as we see now.
Think further back to title season it got to a point that I never sweated as opponents got near our box as I just knew Big Wes & Huth would just snuff them out.

 

just to finish with regards to OP after the Liverpool game Rodgers said they were shifting some focus to players that will provide more dominance.

We had players our and was still winning games. I don't remember the order of fofana injury and incoming transfers but maybe we spread ourselves too thin and bought in 2/3 quality players with price tags to match instead of 5. 

 

And why do we have so many injuries anyway? I've never known anything like it

[cruzFOX]

I get the feeling players are missing some motivation. Maybe they feel too 4 or 6 is out of sight and aren’t willing to graft to even try. Stuck in the middle of the table their is some lethargy and complacency setting in. Before the inevitable boost of having foffana and timmy back we are dangerously sleep walking into a relegation scrap if we’re not careful. Not that many points if you look at the table. Someway or somehow we gotta get 3 points tomorrow.

[BKLFox]

8 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

We had players our and was still winning games. I don't remember the order of fofana injury and incoming transfers but maybe we spread ourselves too thin and bought in 2/3 quality players with price tags to match instead of 5. 

 

And why do we have so many injuries anyway? I've never known anything like it

I think the 1st 4 signings weren’t a problem, Daka no brainer, Soumare we wanted another midfielder with quality then looked to move Hamza & Mendy on & again nothing wrong in principle he just needs time to settle with the pace of Prem. Lookman on loan & Bertrand on a free again principle was right an older head to be used in emergency. So 4 in with 2 costs & we did expect to recover some costs with fringe player sales but never happened.

Then Fofana injury the w/end before the community shield and a week I think (maybe 2) before window closed.

Rodgers said he originally was going to get another young CB with Fofana style qualities pace on the front foot etc that would be nurtured into the side & would only be a nominal fee but Fofana injury changed that. Evans had the foot injury and would miss 5 games leaving Cags as main CB with Amartey who would have been cover thrust in, we now have no let alone experienced cover so went looking for some with a limited fund and window with Vestergaard being the cheapest or only option.

[splinterdream]

52 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

I think the 1st 4 signings weren’t a problem, Daka no brainer, Soumare we wanted another midfielder with quality then looked to move Hamza & Mendy on & again nothing wrong in principle he just needs time to settle with the pace of Prem. Lookman on loan & Bertrand on a free again principle was right an older head to be used in emergency. So 4 in with 2 costs & we did expect to recover some costs with fringe player sales but never happened.

Then Fofana injury the w/end before the community shield and a week I think (maybe 2) before window closed.

Rodgers said he originally was going to get another young CB with Fofana style qualities pace on the front foot etc that would be nurtured into the side & would only be a nominal fee but Fofana injury changed that. Evans had the foot injury and would miss 5 games leaving Cags as main CB with Amartey who would have been cover thrust in, we now have no let alone experienced cover so went looking for some with a limited fund and window with Vestergaard being the cheapest or only option.

For me Evans and Vardy needed replacing, Daka was a cracking purchase but I would have gone all.out and spent the money on tarkowski or a similar quality CB. Deal with replacing the aging players first with top quality, then loom at complimenting the squad

[sacreblueits442]

1 hour ago, splinterdream said:

For me Evans and Vardy needed replacing, Daka was a cracking purchase but I would have gone all.out and spent the money on tarkowski or a similar quality CB. Deal with replacing the aging players first with top quality, then loom at complimenting the squad

....we would having been looking a paying £40m for Tarkowski, Burnley knew we were desperate!!!

I still believe he (Tarkowski) will be here in the summer on a free.

[FoxesWalk]

We don’t have physically strong enough players, but the right mentality is a big factor in being physically dominant, we lack that too. A smaller guy can beat a bigger guy on the pitch physically if they want it more, look at players like McGinn. 

[An Sionnach]

5 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

....we would having been looking a paying £40m for Tarkowski, Burnley knew we were desperate!!!

I still believe he (Tarkowski) will be here in the summer on a free.

He would be a very suitable replacement for Evans medium term but make no mistake this will mean a big signing on fee, £5 million a year and if he's fit ( which  he always seems to be) he plays. Apart from Fofana every body else is behind him.

[splinterdream]

29 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

....we would having been looking a paying £40m for Tarkowski, Burnley knew we were desperate!!!

I still believe he (Tarkowski) will be here in the summer on a free.

I think we'd have got him for £30m and it'd have been worth it, instead we've probably wasted that on vestegaard and Bertrand with fees and wages.

He'll probably end up at Newcastle, we won't be able to out do them in wages

Edited 12 February 2022 by splinterdream

[Buzzell]

We don’t have any bollocks in this side so the answer is no.

[sylofox]

We dont have any. Put a Steve Walsh in Alan Young and Neil Lennon even a headless Robbie Savage.

 

Then we would have fight bottle and attitude. Even David Speedie.

 

If you took all 11 players and added them together you would not make 1 of the above.

[Fox1980]

16 hours ago, sammy82 said:

Categorically no we haven’t and I’ve never seen a Leicester team so weak! But we have to be careful in balancing physical with skill, pep’s Barca team we’re tiny in stature but very aggressive/physical and probably one of the greatest teams of all time. We don’t want to go full tony pulis stoke with centre half’s filling every position but just get some players with heart and pride who hate to be beaten! 

It should be the spine of the team and at the minute with injuries and all the chopping and changing we haven’t got one. 

Edited 13 February 2022 by Fox1980

[fazzyfox]

For the West Ham game I'd have Wilf at CB with K D-H and Choudhury in midfield. Madison is going to get kicked all over the place again today, I swear he gets barged in the hip area more since it was made public that he had / has a long term problem there, he needs a minder like the classic Macalister / Mauchlen partnership. If a Chris Kamara character tried to bully Gary Mac Ali would be there like Scrappy Doo on steroids. We don't even seem to do that anymore. Think the most Physical team of ours that I saw would be v Derby at Wembley with the three big CF's for the first and only time (OK Ormondroyd was more awkward than physical), the three big CB's, full backs being Coatsworth and Whitlow then Colin Gibson putting in challenges in midfield. Imagine defending set pieces against that lot!

[Babylon]

Enough for what? We finished 5th twice and won and  FA Cup. 
 

It might not be enough when you come up against a good team, that’s also physical. But that’s why West Ham have been out Krptonite if late.

 

Our real problems are injuries and stale players lacking motivation. Along with a manager at least partly responsible for most of it.

[Kinowe Soorie]

Weak physically and mentally. Stems from the manager.

[lcfc sheff]

We do need a few bastards but I’ve said this for a while 

[Fox92]

I was amazed Amartey stopped play for Antonio but Kasper, quite rightly, wanted to play on.

 

Weird to see.

[Corky]

2 hours ago, Fox92 said:

I was amazed Amartey stopped play for Antonio but Kasper, quite rightly, wanted to play on.

 

Weird to see.

They played the ref very well today. Went down at virtually every touch trying to break the game up.

 

Amartey should've carried on, they would've done.

[HybridFox]

Thought we were a bit better today in terms of pressing and rustling a few challenges in. Just a shame we throw all the work out the window when there's a set piece 

Edited 13 February 2022 by TK95

[lcfc_forever]

It's not just physicality, it's determination. Amartey, Schmeichel and Vestergaard might have prevented that equaliser but none of them were as determined to get to the ball as Dawson. 

 

So frustrating. 

[volpeazzurro]

In the not too distant past I seem to remember pressing from the front, aggressive snapping at heals,  one or two touch football and generally giving opposition teams no time to breathe. This seemed to get replaced by a slow motion build from the back dirge which allowed opposition sides to do to us what we used to do to them!

 

This is no accident, not to do with players or injuries, it's been coached. Pace, aggression, intensity and anything that resembles spontaneity or footballing instinct has been coached out of them. How can you be intense passing the ball from side to side in your own half? It's been a gradual downhill dirge for almost 3 years. The 5th places were achieved by early season moments of mostly individual talent until snuffed out in disciplinarian fashion as the seasons progressed.

[Fazzer 7]

No we don't. we need another Huth or Wes.

[Stadt]

It's a mentality thing. Bernardo Silva is what, 5'8? But he's committed as it gets.