Centre midfield crisis on the horizon?

[fuchsntf]

2 hours ago, dylanlegend said:

So Rodgers has no say on player recruitment?

 

Is it just a coincidence that In all the years Rodgers has been here we haven’t signed 1 player who has improved the quality of any position (1-11) compared with the team he inherited. Not including any of the Jan signings as it’s too early to tell.

So .!

Managers will always take the credit..

But the days are long gone when a Rodgers, names names,and gets that one after board ask him..."this one"

 

He suggests, and put forward, positions,not names he needs..Because Leicester have recruit-management. 

Rodgers /any manager is the man who takes the frontline questions around club..and is mainly responsible for setting up an onfield envireroment and character of the squad..If they get what they want on type of players,then a total other team have first been busy busting their asses in scouting,assesment, profiling a player...

sometimes over yrs/months/ within days...but NO manager does the ground work..their claim for plaudits...is simply

under "my tenure"

 

Leicester type teams over years,have to fight to get players first interest,many times losing out, "not the type of ' set up "I want, or  or looking for..Or they simply don't pay enough..

 

Fans scream & shout about poor investment or lack thereof, and dream of those marvellous transfers..

but will not understand even accept, the difficulties the club have landing their various transfer targets...

More fail requests than  succeed.

Bloomfield was probably our last manager,who came in and have a actual direct choice,building his actions & set up to his desires.

Pearson "unfinished busines" was setting up the various teams and management to procure and open possibilities...Resulting in one of the best B.Room staff we or any club had produced...Ranieri tore it down..!!

 

one can argue/discuss/debate how far

A manager's influence through PL/Championship on transfers stretches that He actually chose that individual...

once the manager has them,they become his charges and faire..

And there starts another story...

 

 

 

 

[dylanlegend]

1 hour ago, fuchsntf said:

So .!

Managers will always take the credit..

But the days are long gone when a Rodgers, names names,and gets that one after board ask him..."this one"

 

He suggests, and put forward, positions,not names he needs..Because Leicester have recruit-management. 

Rodgers /any manager is the man who takes the frontline questions around club..and is mainly responsible for setting up an onfield envireroment and character of the squad..If they get what they want on type of players,then a total other team have first been busy busting their asses in scouting,assesment, profiling a player...

sometimes over yrs/months/ within days...but NO manager does the ground work..their claim for plaudits...is simply

under "my tenure"

 

Leicester type teams over years,have to fight to get players first interest,many times losing out, "not the type of ' set up "I want, or  or looking for..Or they simply don't pay enough..

 

Fans scream & shout about poor investment or lack thereof, and dream of those marvellous transfers..

but will not understand even accept, the difficulties the club have landing their various transfer targets...

More fail requests than  succeed.

Bloomfield was probably our last manager,who came in and have a actual direct choice,building his actions & set up to his desires.

Pearson "unfinished busines" was setting up the various teams and management to procure and open possibilities...Resulting in one of the best B.Room staff we or any club had produced...Ranieri tore it down..!!

 

one can argue/discuss/debate how far

A manager's influence through PL/Championship on transfers stretches that He actually chose that individual...

once the manager has them,they become his charges and faire..

And there starts another story...

 

 

 

 

Congerton was Rodgers guy as much as Steve Walsh was Pearsons guy. he’s also the highest paid manager in our history and under his ‘tenure’ we are much weakened than the day he was appointed.

 

Just reminds me of the Peter Taylor days signing ‘squad’ players who simply aren’t good enough. The great Nigel Pearson once said he’d never sign a player that doesn’t improve the first 11 and that’s the philosophy we should have kept. 

[Arriba Los Zorros]

On 05/02/2023 at 10:45, Bourbon Fox said:

Do we have a problem on the horizon in CM in the same way that we had a problem on RW after Mahrez?

 

Ndidi is ineffective in anything but the very deep ball-winner role he played under Ranieri - although with Ricardo, Victor, Barnes and Tetê to offload short passes to he might do better. He's still woefully out of form and clearly not in favour.

 

Tielemans is off, but for no money so I really do think Maddison will be the asset we sell to fund the next window.

 

That leaves Bouba (hasn't kicked on) Mendy (out of contract) Praet (I rate him but he wanted out) and KDH (love his engine, will develop but lacks in key areas).

 

I see a creativity crisis in the middle at the end of the year, with no obvious no.10 and a big quality drop at no.8. KDH and Praet are both good options but only alongside someone with quality and that touch of genius that can turn a match.

 

Our passing, ball progression, ball-winning, set pieces, long-range threat and movement in the middle of the field will take a massive hit.

 

How worried are you?

I agree. I think we have gone from CM being an undoubted strength 2/3 years back to now being a problem position for us.

 

We have the same players who performed admirably a couple of seasons back but Ndidi has regressed worryingly. Youri is still class but not committed to us and on his way out. And Maddison has got even better but will be leaving soon.

 

KDH has come into the fold but he's bang average and Soumaré bought in so far not up to it based on what he's shown.

 

Mendy still reliable but not a starter and Praet likewise (also wants out).

 

Worrying times if we don't start working on courting new faces asap.

 

[JimJams]

4 hours ago, dylanlegend said:

So Rodgers has no say on player recruitment?

 

Is it just a coincidence that In all the years Rodgers has been here we haven’t signed 1 player who has improved the quality of any position (1-11) compared with the team he inherited. Not including any of the Jan signings as it’s too early to tell.

The one who shall not be named that fxxked off to Chelsea definitely improved the 11.

Just sayin'.

[dylanlegend]

10 minutes ago, JimJams said:

The one who shall not be named that fxxked off to Chelsea definitely improved the 11.

Just sayin'.

Potential yes but legs made of twigs. Also when Rodgers took over we had Evans, Maguire, Soyuncu and Morgan as CB options… look at the shambles now 

[Guest Col city fan]

1 hour ago, dylanlegend said:

Congerton was Rodgers guy as much as Steve Walsh was Pearsons guy. he’s also the highest paid manager in our history and under his ‘tenure’ we are much weakened than the day he was appointed.

 

Just reminds me of the Peter Taylor days signing ‘squad’ players who simply aren’t good enough. The great Nigel Pearson once said he’d never sign a player that doesn’t improve the first 11 and that’s the philosophy we should have kept. 

Any squad will always need ‘squad players’. Those players who don’t kick up a fuss and who are content to sit out plenty of games before they are called on to come in and play.

But two things: 

- in the Premiership even the ‘squad players’ have to be good enough to compete effectively at this level. Personally I see Praet as a good example. I wouldn’t start him, given what we now have, but I’m happy enough when he needs to play.

- squad players have to be squad players. There has to be a depth of squad, with the right signings, to ensure that these players DONT have to play too much. I know I bang on about Big  Dan, but I think he’s the perfect example at Leicester. Due to an over-reliance on Evans (who’s days as a top flight pro are clearly numbered), and the ridiculous signing of Vestergaard, Amartey has had to play in the first team ‘too much’. Same as the likes of Perez, you can’t rely on them for too long in the first team if you want success. 
Soumare in my opinion is now a great example. Personally I don’t yet see a first team, Premiership standard player in Soumare. IF he can stay a squad player, and he plays when others are injured or need resting, then I accept that, with a view to him taking his chances when they come up, doing well in training and competing for a first team spot. In my opinion, we’ve again had to rely too heavily on ‘a squad player’.

We need to reach a situation where the first team basically picks itself. And I think the side we put out at the start v Villa is probably just that. Minus a fit and healthy Ricardo at RB and a competing Justin at LB.

[dylanlegend]

23 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Any squad will always need ‘squad players’. Those players who don’t kick up a fuss and who are content to sit out plenty of games before they are called on to come in and play.

But two things: 

- in the Premiership even the ‘squad players’ have to be good enough to compete effectively at this level. Personally I see Praet as a good example. I wouldn’t start him, given what we now have, but I’m happy enough when he needs to play.

- squad players have to be squad players. There has to be a depth of squad, with the right signings, to ensure that these players DONT have to play too much. I know I bang on about Big  Dan, but I think he’s the perfect example at Leicester. Due to an over-reliance on Evans (who’s days as a top flight pro are clearly numbered), and the ridiculous signing of Vestergaard, Amartey has had to play in the first team ‘too much’. Same as the likes of Perez, you can’t rely on them for too long in the first team if you want success. 
Soumare in my opinion is now a great example. Personally I don’t yet see a first team, Premiership standard player in Soumare. IF he can stay a squad player, and he plays when others are injured or need resting, then I accept that, with a view to him taking his chances when they come up, doing well in training and competing for a first team spot. In my opinion, we’ve again had to rely too heavily on ‘a squad player’.

We need to reach a situation where the first team basically picks itself. And I think the side we put out at the start v Villa is probably just that. Minus a fit and healthy Ricardo at RB and a competing Justin at LB.

I just watched an interview from Dyche and he basically said he won’t sign players for the sake of it. The problem we have with these ‘squad’ players is the fact they probably weren’t signed for this reasons and that’s why Vestergaard is on 70+k a week. It’s only when they’ve been with the team for a while Rodgers relapses they aren’t better than what we have.
 

That’s the biggest worry… probably 20% of BR (and his team) signings turn out to be decent whereas in recent years we’ve had 60%+ decent players and for good value too.

 

it wasn’t just Steve Walsh to be fair when Macia and his team was here we made some decent signings as well 

[Guest Col city fan]

8 minutes ago, dylanlegend said:

I just watched an interview from Dyche and he basically said he won’t sign players for the sake of it. The problem we have with these ‘squad’ players is the fact they probably weren’t signed for this reasons and that’s why Vestergaard is on 70+k a week. It’s only when they’ve been with the team for a while Rodgers relapses they aren’t better than what we have.
 

That’s the biggest worry… probably 20% of BR (and his team) signings turn out to be decent whereas in recent years we’ve had 60%+ decent players and for good value too.

 

it wasn’t just Steve Walsh to be fair when Macia and his team was here we made some decent signings as well 

There is no doubt in my mind that if Rodgers and his back room staff had been at any other Premiership club they’d have been sacked by now. Top has stuck by him and we’ll now have to see what happens. If this HAD have happened, Rodgers failure to recruit many clear, first team players would have been his downfall. Players who are clearly bought to replace others from day one. And particularly imo at the centre of defence. We’ve now got Faes and Souttar and I hope these are the ones to cement that spot. 
The next position is at Keeper. We must go out in the summer and sign our first team keeper for the next few years.

Edited 6 February 2023 by Col city fan

[filbertway]

20 hours ago, Nicolo Barella said:

All these people saying Ndidi is just devoid of confidence, I really think his best is past him. He's suffered a lot of injuries and been brutally overplayed, I wouldn't be surprised if he can never achieve his old levels.

 mans 26 and being asked to be ball playing DM. He's not past it, he's been grossly misused. He was never a good footballer. His weight of pass and accuracy have always been horrific for a professional footballer, never mind a top flight footballer.

 

All he should be doing is winning the ball and either smashing it up the pitch or giving it to the nearest player in a Leicester shirt.

 

Of course he looks terrible in a team that plays slow football whilst not pressing the opposition.

[STUHILL]

16 minutes ago, filbertway said:

 mans 26 and being asked to be ball playing DM. He's not past it, he's been grossly misused. He was never a good footballer. His weight of pass and accuracy have always been horrific for a professional footballer, never mind a top flight footballer.

 

All he should be doing is winning the ball and either smashing it up the pitch or giving it to the nearest player in a Leicester shirt.

 

Of course he looks terrible in a team that plays slow football whilst not pressing the opposition.

It has been so long now, that I think people are forgetting just how good N'didi was and maybe still is, as a genuine defensive midfielder. 

He was an absolute beast and his stats backed that up. He was talked about going to Liverpool, Man U and so on. 

I just hope we haven't lost that N'didi forever, and hope we can get him back and playing to those strengths.

[sacreblueits442]

6 hours ago, fuchsntf said:

So .!

Managers will always take the credit..

But the days are long gone when a Rodgers, names names,and gets that one after board ask him..."this one"

 

He suggests, and put forward, positions,not names he needs..Because Leicester have recruit-management. 

Rodgers /any manager is the man who takes the frontline questions around club..and is mainly responsible for setting up an onfield envireroment and character of the squad..If they get what they want on type of players,then a total other team have first been busy busting their asses in scouting,assesment, profiling a player...

sometimes over yrs/months/ within days...but NO manager does the ground work..their claim for plaudits...is simply

under "my tenure"

 

Leicester type teams over years,have to fight to get players first interest,many times losing out, "not the type of ' set up "I want, or  or looking for..Or they simply don't pay enough..

 

Fans scream & shout about poor investment or lack thereof, and dream of those marvellous transfers..

but will not understand even accept, the difficulties the club have landing their various transfer targets...

More fail requests than  succeed.

Bloomfield was probably our last manager,who came in and have a actual direct choice,building his actions & set up to his desires.

Pearson "unfinished busines" was setting up the various teams and management to procure and open possibilities...Resulting in one of the best B.Room staff we or any club had produced...Ranieri tore it down..!!

 

one can argue/discuss/debate how far

A manager's influence through PL/Championship on transfers stretches that He actually chose that individual...

once the manager has them,they become his charges and faire..

And there starts another story...

 

 

 

 

...he did say he was on the phone, encouraging players to come to us, and he intimated our no show in the summer had caused us to lose those players!!!

   He keeps saying he is involved directly, you must have read the quote.

Edited 6 February 2023 by sacreblueits442
Spelling error.

[Topman]

I love Praet, think he is quality player. Footballing ability I would put him behind Youri and Madders. KHD has the energy but his final ball and touch always let's him down 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TeaMen Tom]

On 05/02/2023 at 07:33, cityfanlee23 said:

Weston Mckennie would have been absolutely perfect for us, Leeds have signed a gem. 

I'm a huge McKennie fan. Personally I think he's the best current US player, period. I also think he'll be available when Leeds goes down. But, to me, his game is similar to KDH's. Given McKennie's price tag, assuming he returns to Juventus, I think using the money he'd cost in other areas might be a better move.

Edited 7 February 2023 by TeaMen Tom
mess up the wording in previous version

[cityfanlee23]

8 hours ago, TeaMen Tom said:

I'm a huge McKennie fan. Personally I think he's the best current US player, period. I also think he'll be available when Leeds goes down. But, to me, his game is similar to KDH's. Given McKennie's price tag, assuming he returns to Juventus, I think using the money he'd cost in other areas might be a better move.

Yeah you could be right, but personally I'd take Mckennie over KDH every day of the week, I like KDH but his game is missing far too many key traits, Mckennie is a much better player across his game I think. Although if KDH can just learn to use two feet it would relieve a lot of my issues with him. I guess it depends on who we end up selling in summer, if we lose Madders alongside Tielemans then we would free up some cash to spend in that area, although if Mckennie does well at Leeds, Juventus will up the price i'd assume.

[fuchsntf]

18 hours ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...he did say he was on the phone, encouraging players to come to us, and he intimated our no show in the summer had caused us to lose those players!!!

   He keeps saying he is involved directly, you must have read the quote.

Yes,but one doesn’t squeeze his his influence of closing deals…

just first look at all those hopefulls,we lost out on through our many years..

[Sambiasso]

Rodgers input on recruitment is now minimal, His and Congerton shoddy recruitment didn't go unnoticed with Khun Top.

Glover has already shown he has a better eye for quality than Congerton with the 3 signings we've made in January. I'm very confident he's the man to oversee this summers overhaul.

 

[hackneyfox]

19 hours ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...he did say he was on the phone, encouraging players to come to us, and he intimated our no show in the summer had caused us to lose those players!!!

   He keeps saying he is involved directly, you must have read the quote.

No he doesn't, he recently said something along the lines of 'if the club buy some players they'll let us know'.

Seemed clear that he's been somewhat sidelined.

[Stadt]

Hard to trust the Eredivisie but Veerman's stats have been off the charts for a while now. Plus he seems better cut out physically for the PL than other candidates