At Last.....

[Babylon]

Boss Craig Levein believes it is the way forward now and said: "It is important we take the game to other teams. That is the way we are going to play. I think it is our best chance of winning matches, I don't think there is any doubt about that.

"We have been playing well recently and were confident. The last thing I want to do is stifle that confidence. The players I have, I feel I really need to let them have their head a little bit. To play as we did I thought was a fantastic performance by the boys. On another day, we could have won it."

[Dr The Singh]

Boss Craig Levein believes it is the way forward now and said: "It is important we take the game to other teams. That is the way we are going to play. I think it is our best chance of winning matches, I don't think there is any doubt about that.

"We have been playing well recently and were confident. The last thing I want to do is stifle that confidence. The players I have, I feel I really need to let them have their head a little bit. To play as we did I thought was a fantastic performance by the boys. On another day, we could have won it."

Let's hope he sticks to this new attacking philosophy!!!! I can see Cl turning back to his defensive self though, especially as we are beginning to let in goals!!!

[Babylon]

Let's hope he sticks to this new attacking philosophy!!!! I can see Cl turning back to his defensive self though, especially as we are beginning to let in goals!!!

The defending was fine on Saturday though, except for the two free kicks.

Being defensive would have made no difference to the score... except we may have lost 2-0 and not 2-1.

[Dr The Singh]

The defending was fine on Saturday though, except for the two free kicks.

Being defensive would have made no difference to the score... except we may have lost 2-0 and not 2-1.

Agreed!!! Maybe it's just my opinion of CL, I just keep thinking he is going to go back to his old bad defensive self!!!

[Babylon]

Agreed!!! Maybe it's just my opinion of CL, I just keep thinking he is going to go back to his old bad defensive self!!!

No I agree... my first thought was the same as yours.

[Ric Flair]

The problem is, now that we've started to attack we have started shipping goals again. 8 goals in the past 4 games which means we've got to be clinical infront of goal. At present we are getting better at attacking but we still obviously can't rely on our attackers to score us more goals than we concede as we have only won one of our past 4 games.

I am keen to see attacking football but if we can't score enough goals to warrant us to attack then i'd rather us stay tight at the back otherwise we'll rarely win!

[Milky]

good to see an attacking philosophy, but it's all about putting the ball in the net. we need to convert some of these many chances.

p.s. where is the link? i get chastised for not putting them on.

[Dr The Singh]

The problem is, now that we've started to attack we have started shipping goals again. 8 goals in the past 4 games which means we've got to be clinical infront of goal. At present we are getting better at attacking but we still obviously can't rely on our attackers to score us more goals than we concede as we have only won one of our past 4 games.

I am keen to see attacking football but if we can't score enough goals to warrant us to attack then i'd rather us stay tight at the back otherwise we'll rarely win!

There has to be balance between the two, IMO i think we have deficiencies in our team, we don't get enough goals or have midfielders (centre mid)with attacking flair, our strikers are abit hit and miss and against leeds we had enough set pieces but failed to capitilize from them. Your right we have to be more clinical as we are always going to let in goals. CL has got to go out in the january sales and plug those deficiencies!!!

[Babylon]

i'd rather us stay tight at the back otherwise we'll rarely win!

We were hardly winning much before though!!!

People were screaming for attacking football saying they would rather lose 3-2 than 1-0... well they are getting it now.

Don't forget this has been against 3 of the top 4 plus bolton and we have more than held our own.

[Ric Flair]

We were hardly winning much before though!!!

People were screaming for attacking football saying they would rather lose 3-2 than 1-0... well they are getting it now.

Don't forget this has been against 3 of the top 4 plus bolton and we have more than held our own.

They won't be saying that for long though if we get back to a scenario like we did under Adams in the premiership. It's all well and good with attacking football but i'd rather see us have a system that gets us results irrespective of what style we play. Obviously it's nice to see some goals and i'd rather see goals at the minute than boring 0-0 draws but shipping alot of goals eventually pisses fans off aswell.

[Babylon]

They won't be saying that for long though if we get back to a scenario like we did under Adams in the premiership. It's all well and good with attacking football but i'd rather see us have a system that gets us results irrespective of what style we play. Obviously it's nice to see some goals and i'd rather see goals at the minute than boring 0-0 draws but shipping alot of goals eventually pisses fans off aswell.

Which is pretty much what I said when they were all screaming for it. The acid test is against the poorer teams, if we are still losing 2 or 3 goals a game then he'll have to look again.

[Ric Flair]

Which is pretty much what I said when they were all screaming for it. The acid test is against the poorer teams, if we are still losing 2 or 3 goals a game then he'll have to look again.

Yeah your right. I forget who we have just played, but one thing is for sure we need to sort our away form out it's disgusting. Playing attacking football at home is fine and most teams will struggle to cope with it, but away from home we need to do something as it scares me. 1 win in about 22 away games, horrific.

[moseeds]

but i'd rather see us have a system that gets us results irrespective of what style we play

Completely disagree. I don't want to see us losing but if we are going to storm the league playing the beautiful game up in the sky then forget it. It's boring and passionless. There is no skill involved except the ability to muscle others on to the floor. We have to watch our slice of skill and ability on match of the day when Arsenal or Chelsea or Spurs play. I'd rather see even a tiny bit of that on our pitch instead.

[Babylon]

Completely disagree. I don't want to see us losing but if we are going to storm the league playing the beautiful game up in the sky then forget it. It's boring and passionless. There is no skill involved except the ability to muscle others on to the floor. We have to watch our slice of skill and ability on match of the day when Arsenal or Chelsea or Spurs play. I'd rather see even a tiny bit of that on our pitch instead.

That's what forest fans always say.... what division they in again?

[Manwell Pablo]

That's what forest fans always say.... what division they in again?

I herd they played beatiful football against Chester at the weekend as well

[Thracian]

The problem is, now that we've started to attack we have started shipping goals again. 8 goals in the past 4 games which means we've got to be clinical infront of goal. At present we are getting better at attacking but we still obviously can't rely on our attackers to score us more goals than we concede as we have only won one of our past 4 games.

I am keen to see attacking football but if we can't score enough goals to warrant us to attack then i'd rather us stay tight at the back otherwise we'll rarely win!

We rarely won playing defensive Ric...not these last 12 months.

There are three things we desperately need and one of em isn't more defenders:

a) A creative midfield player (the few we've got are always injured)

b) A free-kick taker. God knows how many chances we've thrown away. We are no threat at all.

c) Someone to score regularly.

I also think we need an imaginative coach. We'd soon score more than the opposition with the above taken care of.

Statisticians could tell us how many goals have been conceded by City from direct open play this season - but I bet it isn't many whatever system we've used.

It's the other end our problems lie. You just can't have something like 20-25 attacking dead ball kicks in a game, miss em all and hope to win.

Basically goals come from four sources:

Open play, corners, free-kicks, penalties... with corners and free-kicks producing a significant portion.

We don't score anything from two out of the four categories. It's like we're running the outside lane of an athletics track without a stagger. How the organisers can let it continue I've no idea.

[Ric Flair]

We rarely won playing defensive Ric...not these last 12 months.

There are three things we desperately need and one of em isn't more defenders:

a) A creative midfield player (the few we've got are always injured)

b) A free-kick taker. God knows how many chances we've thrown away. We are no threat at all.

c) Someone to score regularly.

I also think we need an imaginative coach. We'd soon score more than the opposition with the above taken care of.

Statisticians could tell us how many goals have been conceded by City from direct open play this season - but I bet it isn't many whatever system we've used.

It's the other end our problems lie. You just can't have something like 20-25 attacking dead ball kicks in a game, miss em all and hope to win.

Basically goals come from four sources:

Open play, corners, free-kicks, penalties... with corners and free-kicks producing a significant portion.

We don't score anything from two out of the four categories. It's like we're running the outside lane of an athletics track without a stagger. How the organisers can let it continue I've no idea.

I agree with what your saying, but my point is that people have been saying that attacking football is the only way we will become successful yet now we are scoring more we are also conceding alot more and we are still no nearer to winning matches. Obviously it's alot easier on the eye watching us score goals but it's also hard to stomach when we throw away goals. It's a vicious circle and we need to sort it out. The fact is as you say we need a few alternatives to make us more potent in attack but as we don't have them at the minute when we do attack we seem to leave ourselves wide open to concede goals.

For the time being I would keep attacking and see if we can string a few wins together but if we can't then we need to re-address things and change the formation/system I reckon.

[Thracian]

Which is pretty much what I said when they were all screaming for it. The acid test is against the poorer teams, if we are still losing 2 or 3 goals a game then he'll have to look again.

Why don't you give attacking football a real and fair chance? You've put up with defensive dross for over a year now and where has that got us?

Didn't you enjoy the Sheffield United game?. Cos I did and so did everyone around me from the noise they made.

We didn't lose at Leeds cos we were attacking too much. We lost cos we didn't convert free-kicks and they did (be nice if Levein gave me the rest of what I want wouldn't it) and because the officials gave a goal to them that they shouldn't have had.

However the three points taken from two attacking league games is still a better average than previously this season so why so fickle?

Every thread I've read from City supporters at Elland Road said City played well and they enjoyed the football.

No one said like that that about losing 1-0 to Burnley (twice), drawing 0-0 at Preston, getting out of jail at Plymouth, depressing everyone at Wolves... the list is endless this year and last.

I've criticised Levein for his negativity but I'm damned if I'll discourage him now he seems to have changed.

Just give me that last bit of the jigsaw, (plus a creative midfielder and proper striker cum January) and then see how many we lose.

The manager's big job will be motivation and that won't be any easier if the fans get all nervous and weak spirited. Levein's alredy lost his nerve with the high pressing game once, around the time of the Ipswich match, please don't put him in two minds again.

Attacking football doesn't mix well with uncertainty and lack of conviction.

And we have heaps of that at Leicester cos you've all become acclimatised to it through having such inconsistent teams to support.

Bear with me Babylon. We'll put a smile on your face yet. JUST DON'T LOSE FAITH. Give it until the end of January (a fair test but not so long that we couldn't regroup with a tactical alternative if our status is threatened).

Levein NEEDS support with this cos its against his nature. He also needs that last bit of fine tuning.

[Thracian]

I agree with what your saying, but my point is that people have been saying that attacking football is the only way we will become successful yet now we are scoring more we are also conceding alot more and we are still no nearer to winning matches. Obviously it's alot easier on the eye watching us score goals but it's also hard to stomach when we throw away goals. It's a vicious circle and we need to sort it out. The fact is as you say we need a few alternatives to make us more potent in attack but as we don't have them at the minute when we do attack we seem to leave ourselves wide open to concede goals.

For the time being I would keep attacking and see if we can string a few wins together but if we can't then we need to re-address things and change the formation/system I reckon.

One of our recent problems has been the absence of any midfield creativity with the seemingly endless injuries to Hughes and Williams (plus their possibly connected poor form).

Result: its been policy to play two rottweilers which I've always said is negative. Problem is, unless we experiment with, say, Stearman or Hume we have no-one to make telling passes (especially with Sheehan uninvolved).

This wouldn't be terminal but we have two further weaknesses...Sylla who has no effect and the strikers generally. That ALL points to my original Hume in the hole strategy which would balance defensive/attacking

strength and MIGHT be an alternative away system.

Whatever, we have to neutralise our major weaknesses. We cannot keep playing with a handicap.

[moseeds]

I've criticised Levein for his negativity but I'm damned if I'll discourage him now he seems to have changed. Just give me that last bit of the jigsaw, (plus a creative midfielder and proper striker cum January) and then see how many we lose.

Exactly my view too. I said this over a month ago and said it after the Sheffield game. To have s better than average team Levein has to do something with Kisnorbos position at the minimum. Either Kisnorbo is not showing us everythin he has got or he has..and it aint pretty. Hammond can run at players and take them on but cannot shoot which does not bode well for the future. In the mean time if there are enough chances for him the law of averages says he will score some of them. Therefore Levein has to sort the midfield out ASAP. The team seems to be coming together now moreso than at the end of last season in my opinion. Levein has to swallow his pride and make the changes which it seems he knows are neccessary (such as attacking more, dropping Dublin & De Vries, dropping NEJ etc) but he has to now go the whole way and do the right thing...which is well documented on these forums.

[davieG]

Exactly my view too. I said this over a month ago and said it after the Sheffield game. To have s better than average team Levein has to do something with Kisnorbos position at the minimum. Either Kisnorbo is not showing us everythin he has got or he has..and it aint pretty. Hammond can run at players and take them on but cannot shoot which does not bode well for the future. In the mean time if there are enough chances for him the law of averages says he will score some of them. Therefore Levein has to sort the midfield out ASAP. The team seems to be coming together now moreso than at the end of last season in my opinion. Levein has to swallow his pride and make the changes which it seems he knows are neccessary (such as attacking more, dropping Dublin & De Vries, dropping NEJ etc) but he has to now go the whole way and do the right thing...which is well documented on these forums.

The problem, as Thracian eluded to is he can't simply resolve the midfield situation with Hughes & Williams both out of the picture for fitness/performance reasons or until January. He either plays it relatively safe with Kisnorbo (defending) and Joey (attacking) or he takes the risk in experimenting with the unknown. I don't see Tiatto providing a solution either.

This means putting someone like Hume in the attacking midfield and playing Joey in the defensive role, (which I don't think worked all that well, Joey that is), as Thracian suggest, but will it work? it it worth the risk? should he change the team again at this juncture? Personnally I think he should give the present formation/incumbents some more time to see how it develops.

[The People's Hero]

ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK.