Tactics Under Maresca

[splinterdream]

we look fitter. vardy coming off at 80 looking like he could have played another half

[Finnegan]

29 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Will Norwich play us set up in the same way?

 

No, they'll look to do to us what Sunderland did to Soton.

 

In a game of rock, paper, scissors we'll definitely be at a disadvantage. The onus is on us to beat the press and find opportunities that way.

 

Tonight I think we really saw the value in our recruitment. Ourselves and Southampton want to achieve similar things but, differences in coaching aside, the most stark contrast is that in Hermansen and Winks we have recruited extremely well and in Vestergaard and Pereira we also have quality on the ball that far exceeds this division.

 

The comfort those four have, in particular, being in possession and beating the Southampton press was like men vs. boys. Contrast that to their absolute clown of a goalkeeper and the bombscares they have in their defence and midfield trying to play out from the back? I don't think Soton need "more time to learn Martin's system", they need a LOT more time to recruit properly. They don't have anything like the personnel they need to pull off this approach where as what we learned tonight, I feel, is that we do. We have quality that's far too good for this level.

 

Obviously what we need to do, and we've known this for weeks, is avoid losses like Hull by getting better at connecting the dots in the final third and being a bit more efficient. I think Stephy deserved his MOTM today, he created an absolute mountain of chances, probably should have had a hattrick of both assists and goals. But he didn't, largely because of his own quality in the final third and he's just one of many that needs to sharpen up. The KDH to McAteer was maybe my favourite moment of the match because even though it came from a turnover again, it still took a phenomenal bit of skill for the pass AND a brilliant bit of movement and a smart finish from Kasey. THAT is the quality we'll need if we want to keep breaking teams down and grinding out the wins against the bus parkers.

[StriderHiryu]

 

I'll do some actual analysis over the weekend (a GREAT game to watch back again), but here are some of my ramblings today on the Beyond the 90 Post Match.

[Simonb]

Just refreshing to seemingly change the formation without having players looking like they don't know what they're doing.

 

I was really worried when I saw the team tonight.. especially the centre back pairing, and for 20 mins I thought I was right.

 

I was wrong, Enzo smashed it again

[jayfox26]

18 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

No, they'll look to do to us what Sunderland did to Soton.

 

In a game of rock, paper, scissors we'll definitely be at a disadvantage. The onus is on us to beat the press and find opportunities that way.

 

Tonight I think we really saw the value in our recruitment. Ourselves and Southampton want to achieve similar things but, differences in coaching aside, the most stark contrast is that in Hermansen and Winks we have recruited extremely well and in Vestergaard and Pereira we also have quality on the ball that far exceeds this division.

 

The comfort those four have, in particular, being in possession and beating the Southampton press was like men vs. boys. Contrast that to their absolute clown of a goalkeeper and the bombscares they have in their defence and midfield trying to play out from the back? I don't think Soton need "more time to learn Martin's system", they need a LOT more time to recruit properly. They don't have anything like the personnel they need to pull off this approach where as what we learned tonight, I feel, is that we do. We have quality that's far too good for this level.

 

Obviously what we need to do, and we've known this for weeks, is avoid losses like Hull by getting better at connecting the dots in the final third and being a bit more efficient. I think Stephy deserved his MOTM today, he created an absolute mountain of chances, probably should have had a hattrick of both assists and goals. But he didn't, largely because of his own quality in the final third and he's just one of many that needs to sharpen up. The KDH to McAteer was maybe my favourite moment of the match because even though it came from a turnover again, it still took a phenomenal bit of skill for the pass AND a brilliant bit of movement and a smart finish from Kasey. THAT is the quality we'll need if we want to keep breaking teams down and grinding out the wins against the bus parkers.

Great Post and bang on. After all the doom and gloom of the past 2 years and the mistakes at every level of the club, our signings this summer both in management and players show that we've hopefully turned a corner and are back on the up again. 

[Simonb]

1 minute ago, jayfox26 said:

Great Post and bang on. After all the doom and gloom of the past 2 years and the mistakes at every level of the club, our signings this summer both in management and players show that we've hopefully turned a corner and are back on the up again. 

We've signed a really solid spine in hermansen, coady and Winks who are all vocal and leaders. Then couple it with players that can beat a player or two, which when we play against teams that sit back will be extremely valuable in making space.. its just refreshing after 2 years of rubbish ain't it

[foxes_rule1978]

No Todd Boehly; Enzo isn’t available for 200m

[jayfox26]

Be interesting how Maresca picks the defence once Coady is fully fit. He seems to really like Doyle but I personally think he's been poor so far for us and is a weak link. I know he's young and and is learning but for me, Justin, Faes, Coady, Ricardo are our strongest defenders. Slightly harsh on Vestergaard (cannot believe I'm saying that) as he's been pretty good this season and had a really good game tonight, and I feel Doyle is currently the weakest of the options based on performances but then feel that Doyle can play the lcb/lb role that others can't. 

Edited 15 September 2023 by jayfox26

[Simonb]

4 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

Be interesting how Maresca picks the defence once Coady is fully fit. He seems to really like Doyle but I personally think he's been poor so far for us and is a weak link. I know he's young and and is learning but for me, Justin, Faes, Coady, Ricardo are our strongest defenders. Slightly harsh on Vestergaard (cannot believe I'm saying that) as he's been pretty good this season and had a really good game tonight, and I feel Doyle is currently the weakest of the options based on performances but then feel that Doyle can play the lcb/lb role that others can't. 

Beauty of it is, we've got the squad for 4 at the back and this 3/4 at the back

 

For me it's jj coady faes and Ricky in the 4

 

But coady faes Doyle in the 3 with riccy doing the rb and cm role.

 

Like yourself I feel for vesty as he's done well, but even so, he doesn't make the final cut for me .. but it's still 40 games to go, Injuries, suspensions, tiredness.. he's still going to make 15 to 20 more starts 

[jayfox26]

4 minutes ago, Simonb said:

Beauty of it is, we've got the squad for 4 at the back and this 3/4 at the back

 

For me it's jj coady faes and Ricky in the 4

 

But coady faes Doyle in the 3 with riccy doing the rb and cm role.

 

Like yourself I feel for vesty as he's done well, but even so, he doesn't make the final cut for me .. but it's still 40 games to go, Injuries, suspensions, tiredness.. he's still going to make 15 to 20 more starts 

Stop reading my mind 🤣. Literally everything you've said tonight I've thought myself. I'm happy I've finally found someone who agrees with me on things 🤣

[StriderHiryu]

Southampton 1 - 4 Leicester City Notes

 

• JJ came into the team, Riccy played as left-back / inverted fullback instead of his usual RB position.
  • This was done because Southampton on occasion go for the diagonal to Ryan Christie / whoever plays in that position to try and isolate him 1v1 versus a fullback. JJ throughout his Leicester career has proved to be the best fullback at pocketing wingers, e.g. previous performances against Son in the Covid season.
     
• Southampton had some injuries and didn't want to risk Mason Holgate after his disaster-class so moved Shea Charles back to CB.
  • I felt this backfired spectacularly. Maybe it was because of coaching instructions, maybe it was naivety, but he kept stepping up to make a challenge, leaving Vardy 1 on 1 with Harwood-Bellis. It was a debut to forget for him, who was left exposed time and time again. Vardy might be getting old, but this is a guy that has scored over 100 Premier League goals. What Russel Martin was thinking I don't know.
     
• Evident from the first second of the game was this was the game we pressed the most aggressive in for the entire 90.
  • Southampton build with two inverted fullbacks (2-6-2). The problem with this is that if you lose possession, you are even more exposed than our system. So we targetted their fullbacks (Manning and Walker-Peters) and this led to the first goal.
  • We have a way better structure than Southampton. We lose the ball we have 5 back, they lose the ball... sometimes they had 1 back. Look at the Mavididi chances. For our 4th goal he runs 60+yards with no one to challenge him.
     
• We did make mistakes / were a bit careless at the back which could have cost us.
  • Southampton pressed us more than any other team, so to be expected.
  • It was a big game regardless of the result. Few teams have squads as good as Southampton this season, so responding with a win after a defeat was still a big deal.
  • Still work in progress. Premier League teams will expose us, but we are building familiarity now. This approach is responsible for us making lots of chances, even if it somehow costs us goals. So far we've scored a lot more than conceded, so overall it's net positive.
  • I think this will improve over time.
     
• Our attacking play was mint today, even if we were wasteful:
  • Our ability to sustain attacks was so much better today.
  • The movement was so smooth to watch. Almost had a repeat of the Praet vs Huddersfield chance with Ndidi, opened up Saints so many times.
  • McAteer brilliant with his decision-making.
  • Attacks came from everywhere. Left, Right, Centre, Striker, Wingers, the 8's. Very Pep-esque.
     
• Vestergaard was outstanding. Don't think he made a mistake, controlled the pace of the game, was fearless, waiting for the press attempt on him. His best game so far for Leicester.
  • Doyle made a mistake for the goal which was a bit of a brainfart but was still pretty solid. He gets us up the pitch pretty effectively, though I feel that overall JJ outshone him this game, and not just defensively. 
     
• People asking for Plan B... we got it. We played Counter Attack football in the second half.
  • We deliberately ceded more possession in the second half and let Southampton have the ball. But all it did was make us look more dangerous.
  • Mavididi on the break is lethal. Selfish for both his goal and his miss, but his pace and power is too good for this level.
  • We started the second half really well, even if we were more defensive.
     
• Made Subs quite late on in this game, but everyone had a good game, so no need to make changes.
  • Ndidi hooked but was superb till he went. The move broke down a few times with him, but his goal was superb and IMO shows with his all-round game why he SHOULD be starting.
  • McAteer very unlucky to be hooked given Mavidid's antics! I would have hooked him! But he is still a super dangerous player.
  • Yunus came on and played as an 8. Interesting to see him used there, I think he might be better suited for that position, strikes me as more of a Bernardo type than a Mahrez type, like Fatawu.
  • Fatawu was great, should have had an assist. For someone that has "bad decision-making" he made better decisions than Mavididi!
  • Nacho should have scored!
     
• Summary of the game: Both teams made mistakes, playing out from the back. But Leicester could handle it (I wouldn't say "got away with it" as we were well positioned in general) and Southampton couldn't. Southampton's structure on the transition is absolutely hopeless, if they don't fix that, no way they will go up.

 

Probably more to write up after rewatching the game. As stated before the game, it was going to come down to Southampton's extra man opening us up, or the spaces they leave meaning they were exposed on the transition. In this game, Maresca absolutely schooled Martin. They had more possession and can count themselves lucky to only have conceded 4.

 

 

 

 

Edited 15 September 2023 by StriderHiryu

[Simonb]

10 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

Stop reading my mind 🤣. Literally everything you've said tonight I've thought myself. I'm happy I've finally found someone who agrees with me on things 🤣

Haha, hopefully it's a majority thing or it's just 2 people that are wrong not one 🤣

[BenTheFox]

LOVED seeing him get booked at 4-1 up. You know who would be clapping and writing in his notepad at 4-1 down..

[StriderHiryu]

On Sky they said our xG was a Championship high. No team has had as large an xG that we created tonight. So statistically speaking no one has been as good at chance creation as us so far!

 

 

 

Something Vardy says in this clip is striking:
 

"We're doing it in training every day and the amount of chances even when we're playing against each other... because of the way we're playing there's nothing you can do about it. That's how good it is"

 

 

Also Vardy is absolutely hilarious in this one

 

 

 

 

Edited 16 September 2023 by StriderHiryu

[SafewayFox]

6 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Southampton 1 - 4 Leicester City Notes

 

• JJ came into the team, Riccy played as left-back / inverted fullback instead of his usual RB position.
  • This was done because Southampton on occasion go for the diagonal to Ryan Christie / whoever plays in that position to try and isolate him 1v1 versus a fullback. JJ throughout his Leicester career has proved to be the best fullback at pocketing wingers, e.g. previous performances against Son in the Covid season.
     
• Southampton had some injuries and didn't want to risk Mason Holgate after his disaster-class so moved Shea Charles back to CB.
  • I felt this backfired spectacularly. Maybe it was because of coaching instructions, maybe it was naivety, but he kept stepping up to make a challenge, leaving Vardy 1 on 1 with Harwood-Bellis. It was a debut to forget for him, who was left exposed time and time again. Vardy might be getting old, but this is a guy that has scored over 100 Premier League goals. What Russel Martin was thinking I don't know.
     
• Evident from the first second of the game was this was the game we pressed the most aggressive in for the entire 90.
  • Southampton build with two inverted fullbacks (2-6-2). The problem with this is that if you lose possession, you are even more exposed than our system. So we targetted their fullbacks (Manning and Walker-Peters) and this led to the first goal.
  • We have a way better structure than Southampton. We lose the ball we have 5 back, they lose the ball... sometimes they had 1 back. Look at the Mavididi chances. For our 4th goal he runs 60+yards with no one to challenge him.
     
• We did make mistakes / were a bit careless at the back which could have cost us.
  • Southampton pressed us more than any other team, so to be expected.
  • It was a big game regardless of the result. Few teams have squads as good as Southampton this season, so responding with a win after a defeat was still a big deal.
  • Still work in progress. Premier League teams will expose us, but we are building familiarity now. This approach is responsible for us making lots of chances, even if it somehow costs us goals. So far we've scored a lot more than conceded, so overall it's net positive.
  • I think this will improve over time.
     
• Our attacking play was mint today, even if we were wasteful:
  • Our ability to sustain attacks was so much better today.
  • The movement was so smooth to watch. Almost had a repeat of the Praet vs Huddersfield chance with Ndidi, opened up Saints so many times.
  • McAteer brilliant with his decision-making.
  • Attacks came from everywhere. Left, Right, Centre, Striker, Wingers, the 8's. Very Pep-esque.
     
• Vestergaard was outstanding. Don't think he made a mistake, controlled the pace of the game, was fearless, waiting for the press attempt on him. His best game so far for Leicester.
  • Doyle made a mistake for the goal which was a bit of a brainfart but was still pretty solid. He gets us up the pitch pretty effectively, though I feel that overall JJ outshone him this game, and not just defensively. 
     
• People asking for Plan B... we got it. We played Counter Attack football in the second half.
  • We deliberately ceded more possession in the second half and let Southampton have the ball. But all it did was make us look more dangerous.
  • Mavididi on the break is lethal. Selfish for both his goal and his miss, but his pace and power is too good for this level.
  • We started the second half really well, even if we were more defensive.
     
• Made Subs quite late on in this game, but everyone had a good game, so no need to make changes.
  • Ndidi hooked but was superb till he went. The move broke down a few times with him, but his goal was superb and IMO shows with his all-round game why he SHOULD be starting.
  • McAteer very unlucky to be hooked given Mavidid's antics! I would have hooked him! But he is still a super dangerous player.
  • Yunus came on and played as an 8. Interesting to see him used there, I think he might be better suited for that position, strikes me as more of a Bernardo type than a Mahrez type, like Fatawu.
  • Fatawu was great, should have had an assist. For someone that has "bad decision-making" he made better decisions than Mavididi!
  • Nacho should have scored!
     
• Summary of the game: Both teams made mistakes, playing out from the back. But Leicester could handle it (I wouldn't say "got away with it" as we were well positioned in general) and Southampton couldn't. Southampton's structure on the transition is absolutely hopeless, if they don't fix that, no way they will go up.

 

Probably more to write up after rewatching the game. As stated before the game, it was going to come down to Southampton's extra man opening us up, or the spaces they leave meaning they were exposed on the transition. In this game, Maresca absolutely schooled Martin. They had more possession and can count themselves lucky to only have conceded 4.

 

 

 

 

Great analysis as always mate.

 

Another nod for Ndidi to start is how it creates that extra fluidity in our tactics.

 

I’m surprised Martin took off Edozie as he was their best player in my eyes but Ndidi slotting into a double pivot with Winks made it a lot harder for Southampton to break us down, I loved how quickly this seemed to happen mid game too.

[Lesta2014]

21 minutes ago, SafewayFox said:

Great analysis as always mate.

 

Another nod for Ndidi to start is how it creates that extra fluidity in our tactics.

 

I’m surprised Martin took off Edozie as he was their best player in my eyes but Ndidi slotting into a double pivot with Winks made it a lot harder for Southampton to break us down, I loved how quickly this seemed to happen mid game too.

Sky said he’d picked up a knock in the first half. 

[beepee1984]

7 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Southampton 1 - 4 Leicester City Notes

 

• JJ came into the team, Riccy played as left-back / inverted fullback instead of his usual RB position.
  • This was done because Southampton on occasion go for the diagonal to Ryan Christie / whoever plays in that position to try and isolate him 1v1 versus a fullback. JJ throughout his Leicester career has proved to be the best fullback at pocketing wingers, e.g. previous performances against Son in the Covid season.
     
• Southampton had some injuries and didn't want to risk Mason Holgate after his disaster-class so moved Shea Charles back to CB.
  • I felt this backfired spectacularly. Maybe it was because of coaching instructions, maybe it was naivety, but he kept stepping up to make a challenge, leaving Vardy 1 on 1 with Harwood-Bellis. It was a debut to forget for him, who was left exposed time and time again. Vardy might be getting old, but this is a guy that has scored over 100 Premier League goals. What Russel Martin was thinking I don't know.
     
• Evident from the first second of the game was this was the game we pressed the most aggressive in for the entire 90.
  • Southampton build with two inverted fullbacks (2-6-2). The problem with this is that if you lose possession, you are even more exposed than our system. So we targetted their fullbacks (Manning and Walker-Peters) and this led to the first goal.
  • We have a way better structure than Southampton. We lose the ball we have 5 back, they lose the ball... sometimes they had 1 back. Look at the Mavididi chances. For our 4th goal he runs 60+yards with no one to challenge him.
     
• We did make mistakes / were a bit careless at the back which could have cost us.
  • Southampton pressed us more than any other team, so to be expected.
  • It was a big game regardless of the result. Few teams have squads as good as Southampton this season, so responding with a win after a defeat was still a big deal.
  • Still work in progress. Premier League teams will expose us, but we are building familiarity now. This approach is responsible for us making lots of chances, even if it somehow costs us goals. So far we've scored a lot more than conceded, so overall it's net positive.
  • I think this will improve over time.
     
• Our attacking play was mint today, even if we were wasteful:
  • Our ability to sustain attacks was so much better today.
  • The movement was so smooth to watch. Almost had a repeat of the Praet vs Huddersfield chance with Ndidi, opened up Saints so many times.
  • McAteer brilliant with his decision-making.
  • Attacks came from everywhere. Left, Right, Centre, Striker, Wingers, the 8's. Very Pep-esque.
     
• Vestergaard was outstanding. Don't think he made a mistake, controlled the pace of the game, was fearless, waiting for the press attempt on him. His best game so far for Leicester.
  • Doyle made a mistake for the goal which was a bit of a brainfart but was still pretty solid. He gets us up the pitch pretty effectively, though I feel that overall JJ outshone him this game, and not just defensively. 
     
• People asking for Plan B... we got it. We played Counter Attack football in the second half.
  • We deliberately ceded more possession in the second half and let Southampton have the ball. But all it did was make us look more dangerous.
  • Mavididi on the break is lethal. Selfish for both his goal and his miss, but his pace and power is too good for this level.
  • We started the second half really well, even if we were more defensive.
     
• Made Subs quite late on in this game, but everyone had a good game, so no need to make changes.
  • Ndidi hooked but was superb till he went. The move broke down a few times with him, but his goal was superb and IMO shows with his all-round game why he SHOULD be starting.
  • McAteer very unlucky to be hooked given Mavidid's antics! I would have hooked him! But he is still a super dangerous player.
  • Yunus came on and played as an 8. Interesting to see him used there, I think he might be better suited for that position, strikes me as more of a Bernardo type than a Mahrez type, like Fatawu.
  • Fatawu was great, should have had an assist. For someone that has "bad decision-making" he made better decisions than Mavididi!
  • Nacho should have scored!
     
• Summary of the game: Both teams made mistakes, playing out from the back. But Leicester could handle it (I wouldn't say "got away with it" as we were well positioned in general) and Southampton couldn't. Southampton's structure on the transition is absolutely hopeless, if they don't fix that, no way they will go up.

 

Probably more to write up after rewatching the game. As stated before the game, it was going to come down to Southampton's extra man opening us up, or the spaces they leave meaning they were exposed on the transition. In this game, Maresca absolutely schooled Martin. They had more possession and can count themselves lucky to only have conceded 4.

 

 

 

 

Loving you analysis

 

I don't think the Counter Attack is Plan B, we were 2 up at the time and is likely to be Plan A when Plan A works.

My concern remains when Plan A is not working how do we change it, we can't concede possession and counter when 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go. So Far though I think Plan A has come good. Turned it around against Coventry. Only defeat is Hull and I don't think the system/tactics would have made a difference. We had 21 shots and only 1 on target - it was just that kind of night. I doubt we would have hit the target even after Hull went home

 

Subs - I think Ndidi was a pre-planned sub. Maybe because he was on international duty, maybe because Enzo had already decided to give Casadai 30 minutes. But this game was exactly the game where we needed Ndidi winning the ball high up the field.

 

I thought Mavididi was excellent, could he have passed - yes. But he found himself in a position where he could pass or shoot 5 times in the match - twice passed for the Vardy & Ndidi goals and the fact he creates those opportunities so often is the reason he stayed on.

 

Yunus in the No 8, hopefully we see more than 10 minutes against Norwich as I can't make a judgement on last night, but was very interested to see him come on in that position.

 

 

[Bilo]

We are very clearly the most technically able and talented side in the division. We have recruited well, kept players we wanted to keep and Maresca's system has embedded itself remarkably quickly, as have notable improvements in fitness and mentality. He has done a great job in next to no time.

 

My concern is what the Plan B is. Championship managers will have watched last night and worked out very quickly that trying to outpass us or match our style is an absolute fool's errand. Southampton have probably the best technical players in this division besides us and were utterly outclassed before ruthlessly picked off for every mistake.

 

That means that the options for playing us will be going direct, bullying us through physicality and just straight up trying to stop us play. It worked for Hull last week and I suspect that will be the model we end up facing most weeks. It'll be attrition.

 

That said, we have great individuals as well as a strong collective. Ricardo and Winks at this level is an embarrassment of riches. Vestegaard actually looks like a footballer. Hermansen is the heir apparent to Schmeichel at club and international level. KDH can pick a pass and knows this level well. Vardy looks fitter than he has for a couple of years. Our wingers offer many different threats. Doyle will grow into the style. Coady is raring to go. Justin is getting back into the team and looks keen. Best of all, we look like a unit.

 

It looks like the performances against Hull might, just might, be a one-off aberration. Make no mistake, someone will come to the KP under-prepared against us on form and get absolutely slaughtered. But we'll have the odd horror show where we look awful, and it's how we recover from those that will be the marker. Under Rodgers, that 0-1 reverse at home to Hull could have turned into a slump. We recovered under Maresca to absolutely humiliate one of the preseason favourites in their own backyard.

 

Exciting times. 

 

My own feeling is that we not only get promoted at the first attempt, but make a real go of it in midtable in our first season back. Maresca with a Premier League budget and a freshly promoted team with momentum is a hell of a prospect.

[Corky]

One of my biggest (of many) frustrations with Rodgers was how we rarely pressed high and let the opposition settle. Last night they were careless  at the back but we had players in position to take advantage.

[Scotch]

Our Enzo LOVES JJ doesn't he?. He mentions him any chance he gets and i think it goes back to the first video we ever saw of Enzo going to visit Seagrave during pre-season and JJ being there working and training in his time off. I think that left a lasting impression. 

[Happy Fox]

The real acid test will be our home games this season away from home we will win the majority of our games.

 

At home with opposition teams putting 11 men behind the ball, and trying to counter us that’s where we may come unstuck and I would hope we would try and play 2 upfront or a variation of 3-5-2

[SafewayFox]

1 hour ago, Lesta2014 said:

Sky said he’d picked up a knock in the first half. 

Thanks for clarifying mate.

 

I was at the pub watching it so had no commentary just 90’s RnB, asI go to classy establishments 😎

[filbertway]

8 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

On Sky they said our xG was a Championship high. No team has had as large an xG that we created tonight. So statistically speaking no one has been as good at chance creation as us so far!

 

 

 

Something Vardy says in this clip is striking:
 

"We're doing it in training every day and the amount of chances even when we're playing against each other... because of the way we're playing there's nothing you can do about it. That's how good it is"

 

Also Vardy is absolutely hilarious in this one

 

Is this not something to do with us playing exactly the same way as Southampton so our reserve defenders are jus passing the ball to our strikers in training.

 

I want us playing against a nasty low blocks in defence  

 

Haha love the little digs at Mavididi and Wilf  good to hear Vards sounding more like his old self and enjoying it.

[StriderHiryu]

34 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Is this not something to do with us playing exactly the same way as Southampton so our reserve defenders are jus passing the ball to our strikers in training.

 

I can’t recall the last time I saw a team as open as Southampton. For Mavididi’s goal, he ran 60 yards on a 3 v 0 situation. That typically happens right at the end of matches, not in the 60th odd minute. 
 

Norwich also play a high press so there will be gaps, though they do have a much better structure defensively. They drew 4-4 with Southampton though, so fair to say there will be goals. 
 

Preston are the deep block to compare ourselves too, and they have the best defence so far in the league. That game is coming up soon too. 

[filbertway]

1 minute ago, StriderHiryu said:

I can’t recall the last time I saw a team as open as Southampton. For Mavididi’s goal, he ran 60 yards on a 3 v 0 situation. That typically happens right at the end of matches, not in the 60th odd minute. 
 

Norwich also play a high press so there will be gaps, though they do have a much better structure defensively. They drew 4-4 with Southampton though, so fair to say there will be goals. 
 

Preston are the deep block to compare ourselves too, and they have the best defence so far in the league. That game is coming up soon too. 

Was watching with my dad and we were looking at each other chatting and turned to the screen to see 3 of our players running unopposed at the oppositions goal. When we saw the replay of how it come about we couldn't believe it

 

I doubt I'll ever see a defensive performance like that ever again.

 

I'm just embarrassed that I thought we would be carved open like that, I had absolutely no idea Southampton were so suicidal in their style.

 

Even perennial championship manager Tony Mowbray made absolute mince meat of them with a newly promoted team.

 

If they have genuine promotion hopes they'll swallow their pride and sack Martin asap.

 

Interesting to hear that about Norwich. I find it so hard to keep up with teams in this league as I follow Coalville Town home and away, and there's obviously a lot less coverage.

 

Really good having guys like you who can provide that insight mate.