Leicester City vs Nottingham Forest Tactical Analysis

[Paninistickers]

7 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

However, after going 3-1 down we started putting in way more crosses and going direct

The bench is absolutely woeful. I doubt the crossing was instructed,.just a lack of ideas. 

 

Compare and contrast with Winks and Abdul coming on v Saints. Both impacted the game hugely. 

 

The (lack of) bench ATM is really harming us. I think if we had Vards, Bilal, Abdul and, injuries to VK aside, Ricky (who can be used in a variety of positions) and again (injury permitting) Vesty.....it gives us real options to positively impact a game. 

 

Ayew can come on and bleed a game out. McAteer can give us legs.

 

Ward, Coady, Soumare, BdcR, Luke Thomas will simply not be able to affect games (well not in our favour anyway) 

 

 

[funkyrobot]

54 minutes ago, Bordersfox said:

I actually thought, given the opponents and the occasion, this probably wasn't the best game to try and re-introduce Enzo’s system. A blood and thunder approach may have been more effective.  

 

I think Skipp has to be in the team but then I wouldn't want to drop Ndidi or Facundo so that leaves Winks - who was really effective first half.  Or I suppose Fatawu out with Facundo on the right but I think Fats needs game time and i want us to develop our own players above loan players.  We actually have some really decent options in midfield I think.  

 

Overall, formation aside the real concern is Justin and Ricardo, both look like they are floundering defensively and can be exposed at will by pacy wingers.  

Skipp was very ineffective against Southampton and was rightly subbed at half time in that game. So I’m not convinced he’s anything other than a back up/alternative to Ndidi. He’s certainly not got the creativity to play instead of Winks who is our one centre mid with a bit of quality on the ball. 

Edited 27 October 2024 by funkyrobot

[Tom12345]

Great analysis.

 

Spot on with everything in my humble view.

 

 

[damolcfc]

Love the analysis, thanks again.I have calmed down now, didn’t sleep much Friday night living with a Forist/Leicester wife and son in the house…. Just don’t……

I went to bed mardy 🤯

Edited 28 October 2024 by damolcfc
Spelling

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-maresca-admission-not-steve-9667524

 

Enzo Maresca admission is not Steve Cooper's 'gotcha' moment – but manager now has big decision
Leicester City midfielder Harry Winks has explained how Jamie Vardy's goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the style of play developed under Maresca last season

ByJordan Blackwell
05:00, 28 OCT 2024

It didn’t need Harry Winks to explain that Leicester City’s goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the work the players did under Enzo Maresca last season.

The quick exchange of passes between Winks and Ricardo Pereira to get City away and into space in the build-up to Jamie Vardy’s finish will have prompted flashes of deja vu for any supporter who regularly watched the team during their Championship title triumph. It was the highlight of the evening as Steve Cooper revived Maresca’s system for the first time.

In his post-match interview on Sky Sports, Winks spoke about how the move was a feature of last year’s play. He said: “We worked on a lot of that last year and it was the way we played out from the back and me and Ricky having that combination play to bring people onto us.

 

“It worked really well because we wanted to invite them onto press us to try to find the space in behind. It worked really well and first half I thought we were excellent at doing that.”

The clip of Winks explaining Maresca’s influence on City’s goal has been treated in parts as some sort of ‘gotcha’ moment for Cooper, as though the team have ignored the boss and taken matters into their own hands. That is the wrong way to view it.

For a start, they won’t have played against instruction. Ricardo was not inverting into the midfield of his own accord. Cooper, perhaps following conversations with the squad, will have decided that was the way to play. He will have chosen to start with the nine available players from last season’s regular 11, with the sold Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replaced by Facundo Buonanotte, and the injured Jannik Vestergaard replaced by Caleb Okoli.

It should be viewed as a positive around Cooper. If he recognises that a system and a style of play under a previous manager can be utilised successfully, that’s good management, not an admission that he can’t coach the team. It should be encouraged that a manager develops on what has gone before, rather than start from scratch with their own ideas, even if they’re not compatible with the squad they’re in charge of.

The issue now is whether they play that way going forward. Because ultimately, City lost by two goals. Despite their control in the first half, they didn’t create a glut of chances, and they had no answer when Forest adjusted to shut them down in the second period.

But the squad do like that way of playing. They said so throughout last term. Particularly for Winks, who excels in a possession-based team, it’s the way he wants to continue.

He said: “First half, we were excellent, we were back to how we were. We controlled the game, we made sure we up the pitch to counter them when we lost the ball and made sure we were there to win the ball again.

“We knew we’d concede a couple of chances on the counter-attack, but that was okay, because we wanted to dominate the ball. The most important thing was that we played positive, we played free, and we enjoyed it.

“If we can try to bring that first half into every match this season and try to play like that throughout the season, I think we’ll be fine. We showed today how much quality we have and how many good players we have in the team. It’s just about trying to find that consistency and keep doing that throughout every match.”

Now Cooper has to decide the direction City go. But whether he opts for Maresca’s plan or reverts to his own tactics, he will deserve credit if it’s ultimately successful.

 

[Tom12345]

11 hours ago, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-maresca-admission-not-steve-9667524

 

Enzo Maresca admission is not Steve Cooper's 'gotcha' moment – but manager now has big decision
Leicester City midfielder Harry Winks has explained how Jamie Vardy's goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the style of play developed under Maresca last season

ByJordan Blackwell
05:00, 28 OCT 2024

It didn’t need Harry Winks to explain that Leicester City’s goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the work the players did under Enzo Maresca last season.

The quick exchange of passes between Winks and Ricardo Pereira to get City away and into space in the build-up to Jamie Vardy’s finish will have prompted flashes of deja vu for any supporter who regularly watched the team during their Championship title triumph. It was the highlight of the evening as Steve Cooper revived Maresca’s system for the first time.

In his post-match interview on Sky Sports, Winks spoke about how the move was a feature of last year’s play. He said: “We worked on a lot of that last year and it was the way we played out from the back and me and Ricky having that combination play to bring people onto us.

 

“It worked really well because we wanted to invite them onto press us to try to find the space in behind. It worked really well and first half I thought we were excellent at doing that.”

The clip of Winks explaining Maresca’s influence on City’s goal has been treated in parts as some sort of ‘gotcha’ moment for Cooper, as though the team have ignored the boss and taken matters into their own hands. That is the wrong way to view it.

For a start, they won’t have played against instruction. Ricardo was not inverting into the midfield of his own accord. Cooper, perhaps following conversations with the squad, will have decided that was the way to play. He will have chosen to start with the nine available players from last season’s regular 11, with the sold Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replaced by Facundo Buonanotte, and the injured Jannik Vestergaard replaced by Caleb Okoli.

It should be viewed as a positive around Cooper. If he recognises that a system and a style of play under a previous manager can be utilised successfully, that’s good management, not an admission that he can’t coach the team. It should be encouraged that a manager develops on what has gone before, rather than start from scratch with their own ideas, even if they’re not compatible with the squad they’re in charge of.

The issue now is whether they play that way going forward. Because ultimately, City lost by two goals. Despite their control in the first half, they didn’t create a glut of chances, and they had no answer when Forest adjusted to shut them down in the second period.

But the squad do like that way of playing. They said so throughout last term. Particularly for Winks, who excels in a possession-based team, it’s the way he wants to continue.

He said: “First half, we were excellent, we were back to how we were. We controlled the game, we made sure we up the pitch to counter them when we lost the ball and made sure we were there to win the ball again.

“We knew we’d concede a couple of chances on the counter-attack, but that was okay, because we wanted to dominate the ball. The most important thing was that we played positive, we played free, and we enjoyed it.

“If we can try to bring that first half into every match this season and try to play like that throughout the season, I think we’ll be fine. We showed today how much quality we have and how many good players we have in the team. It’s just about trying to find that consistency and keep doing that throughout every match.”

Now Cooper has to decide the direction City go. But whether he opts for Maresca’s plan or reverts to his own tactics, he will deserve credit if it’s ultimately successful.

 

Winks is living dangerously here. It is like talking about how your ex is better in front of your current partner and wishing to do it the old way. No wonder he was dropped earlier. But you have to give it to Cooper that he listened.

[Pliskin]

11 hours ago, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-maresca-admission-not-steve-9667524

 

Enzo Maresca admission is not Steve Cooper's 'gotcha' moment – but manager now has big decision
Leicester City midfielder Harry Winks has explained how Jamie Vardy's goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the style of play developed under Maresca last season

ByJordan Blackwell
05:00, 28 OCT 2024

It didn’t need Harry Winks to explain that Leicester City’s goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the work the players did under Enzo Maresca last season.

The quick exchange of passes between Winks and Ricardo Pereira to get City away and into space in the build-up to Jamie Vardy’s finish will have prompted flashes of deja vu for any supporter who regularly watched the team during their Championship title triumph. It was the highlight of the evening as Steve Cooper revived Maresca’s system for the first time.

In his post-match interview on Sky Sports, Winks spoke about how the move was a feature of last year’s play. He said: “We worked on a lot of that last year and it was the way we played out from the back and me and Ricky having that combination play to bring people onto us.

 

“It worked really well because we wanted to invite them onto press us to try to find the space in behind. It worked really well and first half I thought we were excellent at doing that.”

The clip of Winks explaining Maresca’s influence on City’s goal has been treated in parts as some sort of ‘gotcha’ moment for Cooper, as though the team have ignored the boss and taken matters into their own hands. That is the wrong way to view it.

For a start, they won’t have played against instruction. Ricardo was not inverting into the midfield of his own accord. Cooper, perhaps following conversations with the squad, will have decided that was the way to play. He will have chosen to start with the nine available players from last season’s regular 11, with the sold Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replaced by Facundo Buonanotte, and the injured Jannik Vestergaard replaced by Caleb Okoli.

It should be viewed as a positive around Cooper. If he recognises that a system and a style of play under a previous manager can be utilised successfully, that’s good management, not an admission that he can’t coach the team. It should be encouraged that a manager develops on what has gone before, rather than start from scratch with their own ideas, even if they’re not compatible with the squad they’re in charge of.

The issue now is whether they play that way going forward. Because ultimately, City lost by two goals. Despite their control in the first half, they didn’t create a glut of chances, and they had no answer when Forest adjusted to shut them down in the second period.

But the squad do like that way of playing. They said so throughout last term. Particularly for Winks, who excels in a possession-based team, it’s the way he wants to continue.

He said: “First half, we were excellent, we were back to how we were. We controlled the game, we made sure we up the pitch to counter them when we lost the ball and made sure we were there to win the ball again.

“We knew we’d concede a couple of chances on the counter-attack, but that was okay, because we wanted to dominate the ball. The most important thing was that we played positive, we played free, and we enjoyed it.

“If we can try to bring that first half into every match this season and try to play like that throughout the season, I think we’ll be fine. We showed today how much quality we have and how many good players we have in the team. It’s just about trying to find that consistency and keep doing that throughout every match.”

Now Cooper has to decide the direction City go. But whether he opts for Maresca’s plan or reverts to his own tactics, he will deserve credit if it’s ultimately successful.

 

I think Cooper is stuck between what he wants to do and what the players want to do, and rather than make a decision he’s going with the flow rather than taking control. 
 

I’ve heard from a pretty good source that this is the case, Cooper is very much allowing the players to have a say on how they play, which is fine, but if he doesn’t truly believe it’s the way to go himself it’s not going to work….. once Forest went 3-1 up, he literally had no clue what to do, and chucked Soumare on, which still to this moment baffles me, how he’s choosing to play a player who we’ve been desperately trying to offload for two seasons, over someone we’ve just paid £20m of the kings for. 
 

So Winks suggests that Cooper has reverted to this system from last season and has gone with it, but has he paid the same meticulous details to it as Enzo did, or has training been a hybrid of what he wants and what the players want, and when we play those who were here last season look to execute that plan, almost like muscle memory, playing the patterns they drilled last season. 
 

But when it goes wrong and Cooper has to change it, it all falls apart, after the first goals it turned back into Buonanotte v Forest again, when he just tried to do it all himself. 
 

There’s an argument to be had about individual errors, no Cooper isn’t controlling them like a PlayStation, and the players make these mistakes themselves, but part of me believes that the uncertainty within the team also contributes towards this. It’s definitely a team stuck between two style of play…. It’s like a mum has introduced her new boyfriend to her kids, they tolerate him, and listen to him to some degree, but then push the boundaries a little going rogue when they can leading to a somewhat unharmonious relationship. 
 

I just feel Cooper will indefinitely be stuck in this position and eventually we will just stagnate and the players will just fall out with his ideology. What they need and crave is a manager with a strong personality, more pragmatic than Enzo was and coaches them and develops a system and a style of play. 

[Fox92]

On 28/10/2024 at 08:48, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-maresca-admission-not-steve-9667524

 

Enzo Maresca admission is not Steve Cooper's 'gotcha' moment – but manager now has big decision
Leicester City midfielder Harry Winks has explained how Jamie Vardy's goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the style of play developed under Maresca last season

ByJordan Blackwell
05:00, 28 OCT 2024

It didn’t need Harry Winks to explain that Leicester City’s goal against Nottingham Forest was born out of the work the players did under Enzo Maresca last season.

The quick exchange of passes between Winks and Ricardo Pereira to get City away and into space in the build-up to Jamie Vardy’s finish will have prompted flashes of deja vu for any supporter who regularly watched the team during their Championship title triumph. It was the highlight of the evening as Steve Cooper revived Maresca’s system for the first time.

In his post-match interview on Sky Sports, Winks spoke about how the move was a feature of last year’s play. He said: “We worked on a lot of that last year and it was the way we played out from the back and me and Ricky having that combination play to bring people onto us.

 

“It worked really well because we wanted to invite them onto press us to try to find the space in behind. It worked really well and first half I thought we were excellent at doing that.”

The clip of Winks explaining Maresca’s influence on City’s goal has been treated in parts as some sort of ‘gotcha’ moment for Cooper, as though the team have ignored the boss and taken matters into their own hands. That is the wrong way to view it.

For a start, they won’t have played against instruction. Ricardo was not inverting into the midfield of his own accord. Cooper, perhaps following conversations with the squad, will have decided that was the way to play. He will have chosen to start with the nine available players from last season’s regular 11, with the sold Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replaced by Facundo Buonanotte, and the injured Jannik Vestergaard replaced by Caleb Okoli.

It should be viewed as a positive around Cooper. If he recognises that a system and a style of play under a previous manager can be utilised successfully, that’s good management, not an admission that he can’t coach the team. It should be encouraged that a manager develops on what has gone before, rather than start from scratch with their own ideas, even if they’re not compatible with the squad they’re in charge of.

The issue now is whether they play that way going forward. Because ultimately, City lost by two goals. Despite their control in the first half, they didn’t create a glut of chances, and they had no answer when Forest adjusted to shut them down in the second period.

But the squad do like that way of playing. They said so throughout last term. Particularly for Winks, who excels in a possession-based team, it’s the way he wants to continue.

He said: “First half, we were excellent, we were back to how we were. We controlled the game, we made sure we up the pitch to counter them when we lost the ball and made sure we were there to win the ball again.

“We knew we’d concede a couple of chances on the counter-attack, but that was okay, because we wanted to dominate the ball. The most important thing was that we played positive, we played free, and we enjoyed it.

“If we can try to bring that first half into every match this season and try to play like that throughout the season, I think we’ll be fine. We showed today how much quality we have and how many good players we have in the team. It’s just about trying to find that consistency and keep doing that throughout every match.”

Now Cooper has to decide the direction City go. But whether he opts for Maresca’s plan or reverts to his own tactics, he will deserve credit if it’s ultimately successful.

 

Have I heard something like that before??

[Simonb]

Got it tactically correct in the first half. Looked dangerous on the ball.

 

As soon as they dropped a man deeper they took control. Everyone could see it apart from Cooper.

 

Either needed to drop facundo deeper yo help out, or switch the play from going central to Winks then out wide to just getting it out wide from the defence. 

 

Seems to me Cooper is willing to make changes for a game.. but it has to last 90mins he can't adapt during a game.

 

We made an average team look very very good. Should've finished 5 or 6

[pmcla26]

On 27/10/2024 at 17:06, funkyrobot said:

Skipp was very ineffective against Southampton and was rightly subbed at half time in that game. So I’m not convinced he’s anything other than a back up/alternative to Ndidi. He’s certainly not got the creativity to play instead of Winks who is our one centre mid with a bit of quality on the ball. 

Yep, Skipp is a good player but really wasn't any need to sign him for so much money when we have Wilf. 

 

Could have spent that on a striker. 

 

I'm assuming something to do with Maddison money was involved (maybe same reason we were linked with Longstaff i.e. Barnes money) 

[Chelmofox]

3 hours ago, pmcla26 said:

Yep, Skipp is a good player but really wasn't any need to sign him for so much money when we have Wilf. 

 

Could have spent that on a striker. 

 

I'm assuming something to do with Maddison money was involved (maybe same reason we were linked with Longstaff i.e. Barnes money) 

Wilf will get injured. No way does he see out the season. 

[Les-TA-Jon]

Just a random comment on the 3rd goal. I actually don't think it's all Wout. 

 

Initially I wondered if the onus is on Mads (since from his GK position he can see the whole pitch and the relative position of all involved) but ultimately the ball is too short for it be his responsibility to deal with and he can see his 2 CBs have it 'covered'

 

Seems to me it's a big balls up between Faes and Okoli. As the ball goes upfield, Faes is tracking Wood and Okoli is tracking the ball - they have it covered. What causes the issue is Okoli just lets the ball bounce, which catches Faes off guard, who then is scrambling to keep tight to Wood as it bounces into the box.