The Relegation Rats Best XI

[FosseSpark]

Pick your best XI from those that have left or (having not signed a contract) rumoured to be leaving soon; abandoning the ship they helped sink to go to (in a fair few cases) equally leaky vessels.....on paper it looks a pretty strong squad!

 

This lot have gone to (variously) Fulham, Man Utd, Fenerbahce, Atl. Madrid, Bologna, Forest, Betis, Spurs, Newcastle, Wolves (rumoured). 

 

my best XI 

 

Ward

Castagne Evans Amartey Soyuncu  Kristiansen

Ndidi Tielemans

Maddison Iheanacho Barnes

Subs: Iversen, Mendy, Daka, Hirst, Souttar, Thomas

[Spudulike]

4 minutes ago, FosseSpark said:

Pick your best XI from those that have left or (having not signed a contract) rumoured to be leaving soon; abandoning the ship they helped sink to go to (in a fair few cases) equally leaky vessels.....on paper it looks a pretty strong squad!

 

This lot have gone to (variously) Fulham, Man Utd, Fenerbahce, Atl. Madrid, Bologna, Forest, Betis, Spurs, Newcastle, Wolves (rumoured). 

 

my best XI 

 

Ward

Castagne Evans Amartey Soyuncu  Kristiansen

Ndidi Tielemans

Maddison Iheanacho Barnes

Subs: Iversen, Mendy, Daka, Hirst, Souttar, Thomas

Manager: Brendan F Rodgers 

[davieG]

21 minutes ago, FosseSpark said:

Pick your best XI from those that have left or (having not signed a contract) rumoured to be leaving soon; abandoning the ship they helped sink to go to (in a fair few cases) equally leaky vessels.....on paper it looks a pretty strong squad!

 

This lot have gone to (variously) Fulham, Man Utd, Fenerbahce, Atl. Madrid, Bologna, Forest, Betis, Spurs, Newcastle, Wolves (rumoured). 

 

my best XI 

 

Ward

Castagne Evans Amartey Soyuncu  Kristiansen

Ndidi Tielemans

Maddison Iheanacho Barnes

Subs: Iversen, Mendy, Daka, Hirst, Souttar, Thomas

I think Rats is a misplaced description for most of those players. 

 

Besides we have enough  new Rodgers' threads, enjoy the memory of his good times, the Cup win but surely now is the time to move on.

 

[StanSP]

It's just name the squad from last season then

 

[Aus Fox]

😂 move on - we’re top of the league, won 5 out of 5 this season and bringing in and through, some bright young prospects!

Let go of the past and enjoy what’s happening now.

[ftfagos]

2 hours ago, FosseSpark said:

Pick your best XI from those that have left or (having not signed a contract) rumoured to be leaving soon; abandoning the ship they helped sink to go to (in a fair few cases) equally leaky vessels.....on paper it looks a pretty strong squad!

 

This lot have gone to (variously) Fulham, Man Utd, Fenerbahce, Atl. Madrid, Bologna, Forest, Betis, Spurs, Newcastle, Wolves (rumoured). 

 

my best XI 

 

Ward

Castagne Evans Amartey Soyuncu  Kristiansen

Ndidi Tielemans

Maddison Iheanacho Barnes

Subs: Iversen, Mendy, Daka, Hirst, Souttar, Thomas

Is it any wonder we were relegated with that defence.

[SkidsFox]

1 minute ago, ftfagos said:

Is it any wonder we were relegated with that defence.

It's the midfield that let us down. Wilf and Youri were both excellent players once, but now sadly in decline. 

[sharpylcfc]

Wouldn't really call Soyuncu a rat, not his fault that the manager for the majority of last season was well out of his depth and didn't want to play his best defender. By the time Soyuncu came back into the side once Smith came in the damage was already done and we was all but down anyway. 

[KFS]

This is more interesting to me:

 

 

                         Wales no1

 

Fulham- Besiktas- Man U- Atletico- Leeds?

           Galatasaray- Villa- Newcastle

                        Tottenham

                              Betis 

 

Throw in a self centered, agenda driven freak and that’s a recipe for disaster 

[Daggers]

3 minutes ago, KFS said:

 

...Throw in a self centered, agenda driven freak and that’s a recipe for disaster 

Hey! My almost 3yr loathing of Rodgers (and will carry to my grave) is not an agenda.

Edited 29 August 2023 by Daggers

[FosseSpark]

I think rats is appropriate. It's just a metaphor for leaving a sinking ship, but also a big chunk thought they could get a bigger club after the FA Cup win which precipitated our decline afte that. Evans, Schmeichel, Soyuncu, Tielemans didn't renew contracts after the Cup win, Fofana jumped pretty much straight away, and others like Thomas have clearly now thought 'i could get me a prem club' even if he knows deep down he doesn't deserve it based on performances.  

Only Vardy will remain from that starting XI come the end of this week and the rot set in on most of them some time ago. 

If Iheanacho goes to a relegation battle certainty at Wolves (where he will play 50/50 maz) instead of getting us back up on a decent wage, then i wouldn't say that paints him in the best light either.

[Whys it always me]

3 minutes ago, FosseSpark said:

I think rats is appropriate. It's just a metaphor for leaving a sinking ship, but also a big chunk thought they could get a bigger club after the FA Cup win which precipitated our decline afte that. Evans, Schmeichel, Soyuncu, Tielemans didn't renew contracts after the Cup win, Fofana jumped pretty much straight away, and others like Thomas have clearly now thought 'i could get me a prem club' even if he knows deep down he doesn't deserve it based on performances.  

Only Vardy will remain from that starting XI come the end of this week and the rot set in on most of them some time ago. 

If Iheanacho goes to a relegation battle certainty at Wolves (where he will play 50/50 maz) instead of getting us back up on a decent wage, then i wouldn't say that paints him in the best light either.

Thomas has clearly not thought that. He wants to play football. Enzo doesn’t play fullbacks so he has no option but to go to whoever Leicester will allow him to go to.
 

The other option is for him to stay and not make a match day squad and then the fans say he shouldn’t be here. 
 

He can’t win. 

[KFS]

5 minutes ago, Whys it always me said:

Thomas has clearly not thought that. He wants to play football. Enzo doesn’t play fullbacks so he has no option but to go to whoever Leicester will allow him to go to.
 

The other option is for him to stay and not make a match day squad and then the fans say he shouldn’t be here. 
 

He can’t win. 

Anyone actively in for him?

[Whys it always me]

Just now, KFS said:

Anyone actively in for him?

I obviously can’t say but there is enough speculation out there so make of that what you will. 
 

I’ve seen some ridiculous comments from some people on here who have absolutely no understanding of the reality of the situation. 
 

Luke is a Leicester fan playing for his boyhood club and has been back up for 3 years. He wants to play football but it’s clear Enzo doesn’t play fullbacks so his game time is likely to be limited. Now I get he’s not everyone’s cup of tea and from what I've read he’s  a division 2 player at best according to some and that’s fine as people are entitled to their opinion but making assumptions about him I will continue to call out. 

[FosseSpark]

17 minutes ago, Whys it always me said:

Thomas has clearly not thought that. He wants to play football. Enzo doesn’t play fullbacks so he has no option but to go to whoever Leicester will allow him to go to.
 

The other option is for him to stay and not make a match day squad and then the fans say he shouldn’t be here. 
 

He can’t win. 

 

It's not beyond the realms of possiblity that Thomas' agent has said 'you've just been part of a Euro U21's winning squad (even if you only played when Aarons was suspended) - now is the time to get a move'. I would imagine he's definitely said that or it's 50/50 that he ever gets deemed prem standard again. 

Simultaneously Enzo has confirmed what i imagine are Thomas's agents well founded fears, namely that it is highly questionable whether Thomas is good enough either at ball playing or defending to fit into a modern inverted full backs style system (which is becoming the new norm). 

I highly doubt Thomas thought, 'i'm going come back and give this a real crack, it's the least i owe after being terrible last season', only to be thwarted by Enzo.

[FosseSpark]

the whole 'Enzo doesn't play full backs' thing is not strictly true. He plays players who defend wide right and left - but does so in a modern way. 

1 side has a more defensive minded player who stays between box and touchline, and still has a license to attack down the flank if there is space (for Doyle read Ake, Guardiol etc). They are still full backs but are supposed to be super useful in defending crosses if a team breaks down the other side. 

The other side has a full back who is well above average on the ball and can join to create easier triangles in the middle of the park rather than riskier straight line passes (for Ricardo, read Stones, Walker, Alexander-Arnold, previously Cancelo off the left for Man City). When the shit hits the fan or when a game needs defending, this player reverts easily into a regular full back position like Ricardo did in the last 3 or 4 mins of injury time against Cardiff. 

Enzo DOES play full backs just not ones that can't do those things or recognise when to do them.

 

 

[Whys it always me]

10 minutes ago, FosseSpark said:

 

It's not beyond the realms of possiblity that Thomas' agent has said 'you've just been part of a Euro U21's winning squad (even if you only played when Aarons was suspended) - now is the time to get a move'. I would imagine he's definitely said that or it's 50/50 that he ever gets deemed prem standard again. 

Simultaneously Enzo has confirmed what i imagine are Thomas's agents well founded fears, namely that it is highly questionable whether Thomas is good enough either at ball playing or defending to fit into a modern inverted full backs style system (which is becoming the new norm). 

I highly doubt Thomas thought, 'i'm going come back and give this a real crack, it's the least i owe after being terrible last season', only to be thwarted by Enzo.

Quite the opposite actually he was looking forward to the battle to cement the LB spot only to be thwarted by enzo who doesn’t play this formation. 

[Finn Claw II]

As players leave for the PL or other top leagues, it’s more evidence of just how badly Rodgers got it wrong.

 

That said, the players also need to take a look at themselves. 

 

The best part of everyone leaving is the fresh start and reset.

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Madders will always do well, as for the others Tielemans on the bench, Barnes on the bench and Castagne gone to Fulham, maybe these players weren’t that good anyway. 

[The Doctor]

4 hours ago, StanSP said:

It's just name the squad from last season then

 

 you could at least make it interesting by best XI of players who got relegated with us:

 

Walker

 

Ricardo

Soyuncu

Elliott

Castagne

 

Izzet

Tielemans

 

Guppy

Maddison

Barnes

 

Vardy

 

Subs: Iversen, Impey, Taggart, Evans, Nalis, Ndidi, Dickov, Iheanacho, Piper 

 

 

 

[coolhandfox]

In a season of positives, let's have a negative thread.....

[Drink Water]

Not rats per say, but ex-players FC

 

Schmeichel

 

Castagne

Fofana

Soyuncu

Fuchs

 

Kante

Tielemans

 

Mahrez

Maddison

Barnes

 

Iheanacho (future unconfirmed)

[Poznan34]

The XI* from the disgrace of Craven Cottage May 2023 surely takes some beating. A Leicester City team should never be 4 down to Fulham. Absolutely spineless display. 

 

* Vardy absolved 

[Drink Water]

34 minutes ago, Poznan34 said:

The XI* from the disgrace of Craven Cottage May 2023 surely takes some beating. A Leicester City team should never be 4 down to Fulham. Absolutely spineless display. 

 

* Vardy absolved 

Losing to a 10 man chelsea that didn't even have a manager at the time after sacking Tuchel, that really did it for me.

[Sly]

I still quite like Soyuncu, Perez and Mendy. 
 

They can’t really be blamed for where we are now. 
 

If we’d have given Smith more time and he maybe had Perez to choose, we might have got out of the mess we were in. 
 

It’s done and dusted now though. 
 

This season is a new adventure.