Go on, admit you were wrong

[Daggers]

Had to be consistent in the beginning to develop the mindset, and the results came thick and fast. Moreover, Plan A was all that was required. 
 

The problem has been where teams are immune to the possession based approach. His inflexibility at making change pre or in game is the killer. Whether this is a limitation due to lack of experience or bloody mindedness is irrelevant, it’s a critical weakness. None of us could’ve seen it at the start of the season, but it’s clear now. 
 

So, yes, I was optimistic and supportive of him - to the point when it became clear he needs to go off and get more experience somewhere else. 
 

I don’t think this thread is the ‘gotcha’ it was aimed to be. 

[OriginalRobboFOX]

The football is not great… I get that. Others in this league are playing far more entertaining football (some with squads as good as ours) but don’t have the number of wins or points we have amassed - the table today does not lie. At the start of the season I wasn’t filled with hope based on the Brendan slow collapse and honestly thought play offs at best. If he gets us promoted playing this style of football and we edge it by a point it would be fickle of me to not consider that a huge success… can’t speak for others though… all aboard the HMS-Get-Over-The-Line 🫡🫡🫡

Edited 10 April by OriginalRobboFOX

[filbertway]

21 minutes ago, Trev3939 said:

I’m not saying performances are how they should be, but Enzo is an inexperienced coach and his tactical vision is brilliant. If we hold out and allow him to gain that experience I still believe it could become something special 

Fair play if that's your opinion. Personally I think it's anything but brilliant, but that's what makes the game interesting  

[Dan LCFC]

13 wins from 14 and still on course to break the points record from mid February and you always felt the performances had other gears to go up. In truth though it's just not the case, he's ended up underperforming. 5 losses in 10 is a disgrace with this squad at this level.

[ARM1968]

Enzoball is fine in and of itself, at times, but games are fluid things. If you put yourself in a rigid box you cannot react to the dynamics of a game. We are not here to win the possession stat competition. Possession is well and good but we proved it matters little. 
 

The rigidity of the system is quite obviously something that is now hampering us. We cannot play with any freedom or passion, and you need passion in spades to get out of this league. 
 

Quite bizarrely it’s all still in our hands, but for how long?  I feel we are going to need others to keep stumbling. 
 

As for Enzo, I still maintain that ANY competent manager would have done as well or better with this squad. I don’t think he’s the messiah, I do think he is becoming his own worst enemy. 

[Viva]

I enjoy watching us win games, so was very happy with the style of football that kept winning matches, especially up until the new year. I don’t pay my money and just want entertaining matches. I prefer seeing wins. 
I loved the fact that we could grind teams down and it always felt like we would win the game late on. We scored so many goals in the last half an hour and hardly let one in during the first few months. 
Things have obviously gone downhill since and I would prefer Enzo to be able to mix things up a bit more and not be so predictable. Also be more creative with substitutions. 
Promotion by any means was what was needed this season and we are still top of the table with a game in hand on Leeds. We need to get over the line and can worry about next season then. 
 

[VintageFox73]

Lets be honest about 1 thing.... if he wasn't Peps number 2 he wouldn't even of got an interview. Top has seen what Arteta has done at the Arse and fancied a bit of that !....Yeah its boring to watch but for 90% of the season it worked . Do i rate him , no not really , thought it was a very odd and i would of stuck with Deano as he had proven experience at this level . Kind of feel as though Top and the board wasn't entirely truthful  re the finances going  into the season as surely they would of known about the FFP that has hit us ? .....promotion or not he wont be here next season, hes already thrown his toys out of his pram with the rant !

[James_lcfc]

Always been of the opinion that most manager's would be doing very well with our squad at this level.

 

Still feel the same.

 

 

[Les-TA-Jon]

We might yet win the title and/or get the Autos. 

 

But the appointment in the first instance is symptomatic of the way the club's ran. 

 

If the financial situation made promotion at the first opportunity a vital thing to achieve, why did we appoint a 'trendy' and 'experimental' manager with no real experience? Why not get Farke, who was available? 

[john ridley]

You can see now why he didn't last long in his first  managerial job ,he had no credit in the bank whereas he's  got half a seasons  or so here .He's  too stubborn  to be successful,needs some advice and be abit more humble to change .He won't though  and hopefully  gone I the summer .

[Leicester_Loyal]

Our football has been boring for years now, I'm genuinely bored of watching us week after week.

 

This football is terrible, 77% possession but 1 shot on target 80 mins into a game, what's the point?

[An Away Move]

1 hour ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

I was a fan boy, less of a fan boy now though. Still think he has time to sort it out, but I’m not holding my breath.

 

For some reason I can’t help but draw comparisons to Peter Taylor - which may sound ridiculous (and probably is). But we had an unbelievable start with both, but then a sharp decline. Taylor was clearly out of his depth, and I hope Enzo drags us over the line - but if he doesn’t you could argue he’s out of his depth given our lead a few months ago.

The comparison with Pater Taylor should be with Brendan Rodgers - not Enzo!

[An Away Move]

This thread would have looked ludicrous if it was posted on Saturday night and it will look ludicrous if we win the league or get promoted. 

[adam]

1 hour ago, Otis said:

Hated this style of play from day one.

 

I too wonder if those who called others too thick to appreciate Enzoball still feel the same way.

Exactly this. How many times did I read "but, everyone plays like this now"

No they ****ing don't.

[Langston]

Happy to concede he's not quite as good as I might've hoped. The football has never been all guns blazing but 9 out of 10 weekends I was watching my team win with some likeable fresh faces, and, to be honest, that was more than enough for me after last season. I think a lot of people (including the "told you!" brigade) are seemingly forgetting that a large consensus of fans expected us to start slowly after a shambolic pre-season. The squad is too good for this level but Maresca deserves a lot of credit for us not starting like Leeds or Southampton.

 

However, parallels with the worst of Rodgers are starting to show and I think that's where a lot of personal frustration lies with me personally. Late (or no) changes when we need to make them. A defence that concedes nigh on every game, one clean sheet in 2024, and a starter in that defence wildly out of their depth but continuing to play despite more than adequate options in the squad. For Ward last season, see Faes this season. A lack of urgency when we do inevitably concede. Acres between the midfield and defence. No fight, no bottle. A stubborn manager who seemingly can't proactively change a game. It's been like holding a mirror up to 22/23 recently, albeit with slightly better results.

 

Recent form has been inexcusable given the sides we've played and I'm now at a point where I wouldn't celebrate if he left, but I certainly wouldn't be wearing black all week. We have the best squad in the division but we are absolutely not the best side, and that lies with the manager.

[MalletFox]

1 hour ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Still think we will go up but even if we do, absolutely should be judging the whole playing staff. We were 20 odd points clear at the start of year? The standard of football in this league is dreadful, it's basically amateur. We are surrounded by woefully inadequate teams. We should be confirmed as promoted by now

Completely agree, and this is part of Enzo’s development too. I know he’s insistent in playing this way, but unless we bring in a lot more quality in the summer, he’s going to have to be adaptable in terms of style to pick up points in the Prem! 

[Collibosher70]

I've still got one foot on the Enzo bus , but his refusal and stubbornness to change things when needed is losing him supporters.

He doesn't use the squad enough...he sees something in daka that many others don't.

After rendon bodgers he was a breath of fresh air , but he needs to mix it up.

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

12 minutes ago, An Away Move said:

The comparison with Pater Taylor should be with Brendan Rodgers - not Enzo!

Don’t you worry - I did.

 

Its only really the comparison being invincible at the top of the league to looking like clowns in a short period. 

[lcfcbluearmy]

I like Enzo and I like the style if football he is trying to implement as when it works well as we have seen on multiple occasions this season it really works and looks good at the same time.

 

However I am fed up with managers only having Plan A and Plan B just being do Plan A better or Plan A with different personal. This isn't only an Enzo thing but seems to be the trend with a lot of managers at the moment they have there Plan A and when it works it is really good but when it dosent work for whatever reason in a match they don't know how to change it.

 

I have nothing against having your style and even starting each game planning to play that way. 

 

What I can't stand is when after 20, 30 minutes or after the first half when your plan A isn't working just sticking to it rigidly. Managers need to have tactical flexibility otherwise you come really easy to play against. 

 

Whilst Enzo dosen't seem to have this at the moment I think this is partly down to him being inexperienced and it will come with time. I don't think he is a "fraud" as another of people seem to be claiming but he does have his flaws.

 

This does seem to be a prominent problem in modern football that managers believe in there style and won't go away from it even when it isn't working and I'm not quite sure why this seems to have set in. Because in my opinion what makes a great manager is to spot when things aren't working and change them during a match.

[Grebfromgrebland]

It might be frustrating but he has still done well especially considering he is a novice.

 

So far the season is a success and there's still a few games to go. 

 

Enzo is still learning so let's see what happens and enjoy the ride.

[funkyrobot]

There are moments when Enzoball has been sublime. They are when our confidence is up and we play the game with pace and movement. The problem has been a reluctance to try any plan B in terms of tactics and players as teams have got wise to us and strengthened their teams in January. 
 

Enzo’s style needs a squad of outstanding footballers whereas we have a select few great players and a majority who are being asked to do something that realistically they aren’t quite able to do. None of our strikers have the skillset to both be a lone striker AND play some complex football deeper and under pressure, one of our number 8’s is actually a CDM destroyer, our left back is either a centre back or a right back who hates his left foot, our inverted right fullback is either a wingback or a back up DM. Our 1st choice wingers are with us because they haven’t shown the consistency needed at the highest level to back up their technique. We’ve become increasingly reliant on an hot headed impetuous central defender. Our bench is full of players even less suitable for Enzoball.
 

I guess Enzo was expecting a January window to correct many of these compromises but that soon became only 1 player and then that disastrously went to -1 players when PSR stopped the Sensi deal and Chelsea shithoused the Butch Casadei loan. It’s been a painful decline since this disappointment. Enzo’s game needs a squad of outstanding specifically skilled talent like at Man City and because of past transfer mistakes and a clampdown on PSR Enzo hasn’t been able to build this. 

[Dr The Singh]

1 hour ago, bmt said:

He has turned Vestergaard into a good player though and that deserves plaudits

Good championship player.

[jonthefox]

Still rate him and feel with better players he could do a decent job for us. I understand I’m in the minority here.

[Mythyaar]

Not ever really been a fan. That slow build up r from defence reduces space and throttles the life out of our more creative players. You could sense it in the Norwich game. The crowd were baying for Fatawu in particular to disobey orders and take players on/ do what comes naturally. 

 

But it was/ still is a "needs must" situation whereby points on the board mean more than entertaining the fans. 

 

Unfortunately, teams have worked out our style of play now and are quite content for vestergaard/faes/winks to complete 90+% triangles in our own half, and then use their 30% of possession more positively and decisively.

 

It's been said many times on here, but is there a tactical plan B? If not, the mostly dull torture will continue for the remaining games.

[SpacedX]

1 hour ago, bmt said:

He has turned Vestergaard into a good player though and that deserves plaudits

I think he would have responded at this level anyway irrespective of the system and coaching, where others haven't been so convincing. This is very much a credit to him and his ability as a defender in this league.