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Lesta2014

Pre Season 2025/26

By Lesta2014, in Leicester City Forum

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coolhandfox

coolhandfox

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, Noahfence said:

Monga is the only one I’d say is ready but still so young so will have to be managed. 
 

Will be a long hard season so they’ll all get plenty of opportunities in the league & cups.  

100% 

 

With 46 league games and the opportunities that a 9 man bench provides they will get minutes.

 

Chuck in a few LC and FA Cup games as well.

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honeybradger

honeybradger

Posted
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Posted
2 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

I think some people are getting a little to carried away with our young players I've seen people suggesting league starring line up with 4 or 5 of them in.

 

People forget a team including Aluko, JJ junior, Page, Monga, Evan where beaten by Northampton reserves in the Johnston Paint last season.

 

We need to blood them in around a core of experience pros.

Personally think we should evaluate players based on how they play in pre season rather than how they played in the Johnston paint trophy a year ago. If youre using one off cup matches then you could argue the likes of Maddison and Jonny Evans werent ready for the PL in 2019 when we went out in the league cup to Newport County or Mahrez and Vardy weren't ready for the Pl when we went out in the league cup to Hull City in 15/16. It feels like our fanbase are coming up with reasons to not trust our young players despite the obvious quality in their performances.

 

Based on the eye test Page, Evans, Aluko, Alves etc are among our better players despite their age. Not only are they gaining hype for being young and already being in the mix, but they are actually backing it up on the pitch as well. If we are going to do well in the division next season we need to be playing the best players available, based on the first half the other day we are going to have a very rough time if we start the season with Winks and Skipp, who are bypassed easily and do not progress the ball well. Mcateer as well can't seem to get past a player yet is somehow considered more ready than Evans and Alves who excited multiple times in their brief cameos the other day.

 

Aluko's ability to quickly carry the ball out from the defence is also a highly valuable trait that should not be overlooked and we saw it unlock the opposition's defence a couple times this pre season. How are players like Coady and Faes (Vestergaard did well the other day i will begrudgingly admit) considered more ready to start for us next season despite lacking the qualities required to progress the ball from the back and who are also too shaky in defence to justify this lack of quality.

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Holly B

Holly B

Posted
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Posted

The one downside regarding pretty much all the youngsters is their general lack of height. In possession that obviously isn’t an issue but away on a cold Tuesday night at Millwall etc it would certainly get tested to the full. The days of Wimbledon are clearly long gone but in return we are up against set piece coaches who will pick up on our lack of height in a heartbeat. If you throw in Winks and / or Skipp to the youngsters that compounds the problem. With Wilf and Soumare likely to leave it seems quite important that at least one of their replacements has some sort of dominance in the air.

  • Like 6
coolhandfox

coolhandfox

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, honeybradger said:

Personally think we should evaluate players based on how they play in pre season rather than how they played in the Johnston paint trophy a year ago. If youre using one off cup matches then you could argue the likes of Maddison and Jonny Evans werent ready for the PL in 2019 when we went out in the league cup to Newport County or Mahrez and Vardy weren't ready for the Pl when we went out in the league cup to Hull City in 15/16. It feels like our fanbase are coming up with reasons to not trust our young players despite the obvious quality in their performances.

 

Based on the eye test Page, Evans, Aluko, Alves etc are among our better players despite their age. Not only are they gaining hype for being young and already being in the mix, but they are actually backing it up on the pitch as well. If we are going to do well in the division next season we need to be playing the best players available, based on the first half the other day we are going to have a very rough time if we start the season with Winks and Skipp, who are bypassed easily and do not progress the ball well. Mcateer as well can't seem to get past a player yet is somehow considered more ready than Evans and Alves who excited multiple times in their brief cameos the other day.

 

Aluko's ability to quickly carry the ball out from the defence is also a highly valuable trait that should not be overlooked and we saw it unlock the opposition's defence a couple times this pre season. How are players like Coady and Faes (Vestergaard did well the other day i will begrudgingly admit) considered more ready to start for us next season despite lacking the qualities required to progress the ball from the back and who are also too shaky in defence to justify this lack of quality.

So you are picking and choosing what games you can evaluate players on, interesting take.

 

My point isn't about not trusting them or believing in them, it's about giving them a platform to thrive and develop and for the club to be successful at the same time.

 

To do that we need a balance of youth and experience, exposuring players to the right level of challenge at the right time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

honeybradger

honeybradger

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, coolhandfox said:

So you are picking and choosing what games you can evaluate players on, interesting take.

Not true, just focusing on the most recent sample size and individual performances that i have watched recently rather than basing it off a scoresheet from a game that i dont think i watched. With the players being so young a year of development can make a significant difference as well.

 

Let's be honest between the two of us neither of us know how our talents played in the Johnston paint game, maybe they were good and were let down by the others, maybe they struggled individually. The scoresheet implies that they were generally not up to the task but it's not as valuable of a way to evaluate the players' abilities as actually watching the match.

 

The pre season games however we have all watched recently in full so we reliably see how the young players compare to our established first team players and senior opposition with the level they have right now. Overall they compare favourably to both our established players and opposition.

1 hour ago, coolhandfox said:

My point isn't about not trusting them or believing in them, it's about giving them a platform to thrive and develop and for the club to be successful at the same time.

 

To do that we need a balance of youth and experience, exposuring players to the right level of challenge at the right time.

I do not want us to have experience in the team at the cost of performance. This Skipp and Winks midfield is honking and is a train crash that I can see coming a mile away if we start the season with it, which i suspect we will. The first halves of the OHL game and the game last night were a massive drag mainly because of the clunkiness in the middle (and our inability to attack down the right) and were only saved entertainment wise by Monga's brilliance. 

 

Personally I dont mind Ndidi, Soumare or Pereira adding a bit of experience in the middle and maybe Winks as well as long as he's not partnered with Skipp. This is mainly because Ndidi and Soumare offer physical traits that our younger players dont have but it comes at the drawback of neither of them being good passers.

 

Still I think our best midfield has El Khannouss playing deeper as an 8 and Alves or Page in the 10 role. El Khannous is our best player at progressing the ball up the pitch and also has the physical traits to play deeper and protect the back line. Alves and Page seem more suited to unlocking defenses than El Khannous who doesnt seem like a natural attacking midfielder to me, i dont know why we keep on isolating him by playing him there.

 

Similarly I cant see the reason for playing Coady and Faes for experience if they are not good enough and also lack composure which you don't want to be around as a youngster (Faes).The times we saw Nelson and Aluko this pre season were like a breath of fresh air. Nelson similar to Faes is proactive in defending but unlike Faes he actually comes away with the ball more often than not if he goes for it. Coady is a nothing player who often times doesnt get close enough to attackers to even attempt to defend, compare that to Aluko who has the agility to mop up attackers running behind at one end and crash the box with a piece of skill leading to a goal at the other end and who was generally our most impressive defender this pre season before not getting on the pitch the other day. I dont mind Okoli playing and whilst Vestergaard was decent the other day I always get flashbacks to players running behind him with ease over the years so would rather we phase him out this season.

 

I dont think i have to explain why Mcateer being potentially preferred on the right over Evans or Alves worries me, he has a great mentality but often time feels like a deadweight with him struggling to make anything happen on the right.

 

Im not bothered by Ayew being our starting striker, I would prefer Evans but Ayew may be our best option for now with Evans hopefully taking over by the end of the season.

Edited by honeybradger
coolhandfox

coolhandfox

Posted
Posted
Just now, honeybradger said:

Fair enough you've got me there lol

We all want them to succeed, the academy and recruiting other young players to develop is the only way out of this mess.

cropstonfox

cropstonfox

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

So you are picking and choosing what games you can evaluate players on, interesting take.

 

My point isn't about not trusting them or believing in them, it's about giving them a platform to thrive and develop and for the club to be successful at the same time.

 

To do that we need a balance of youth and experience, exposuring players to the right level of challenge at the right time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

We all want them to succeed, the academy and recruiting other young players to develop is the only way out of this mess.

We do all want them to succeed but lets evaluate as the season progresses.Lets be mindful of the opposition.We've just scraped through a match  against a lower mid table team from the Hungaruan Farmers League

The Championship is a harsh League both Tactically and physically. These lads need nurturing

 

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Jobyfox

Jobyfox

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Holly B said:

The one downside regarding pretty much all the youngsters is their general lack of height. In possession that obviously isn’t an issue but away on a cold Tuesday night at Millwall etc it would certainly get tested to the full. The days of Wimbledon are clearly long gone but in return we are up against set piece coaches who will pick up on our lack of height in a heartbeat. If you throw in Winks and / or Skipp to the youngsters that compounds the problem. With Wilf and Soumare likely to leave it seems quite important that at least one of their replacements has some sort of dominance in the air.

Is Soumare dominant at anything? 🤔

Bluearmyfox28

Bluearmyfox28

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

I think some people are getting a little to carried away with our young players I've seen people suggesting league starring line up with 4 or 5 of them in.

 

People forget a team including Aluko, JJ junior, Page, Monga, Evan where beaten by Northampton reserves in the Johnston Paint last season.

 

We need to blood them in around a core of experience pros.

Agreed. The only one who should be starting week 1 for me is Monga and that’s due to Stephy being poor in pre-season. 
 

I would like to see Aluko at left back with the role our fullbacks have under Marti though. Alves should be back up to Bilal and Page as a depth piece in his role.

 

The rest should be sent on loan, 4 being promoted to the first squad is highly impressive even if they aren’t starting.

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Foxes96

Foxes96

Posted
Posted

Would like Martí to try a few different combos in Friday’s game ahead of the new season.
 

Personally think Page is more suited as a box to box 8 rather than a 10. And would also like to see Monga given a run on the right as well. We’re going to have to rotate Fatawu a bit due to his recent injury, so would be good to give Monga exposure on the right, and has played both sides at youth level. 
 

 

                    Stolarczyk 

Ricardo - Okoli - Nelson - Thomas 

                  Winks - Page

    Monga   -    Alves   -   McAteer

                         Daka

 

Subs: Vestergaard, Hamza, Thomas

 

 

                        Bausor 

Coulibaly - Coady - Faes - Aluko 

                    Ndidi - Skipp

     Fatawu    -    Bilal    -    Mavididi 

                           Ayew

   
Subs: Justin , Soumaré, Evans        

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Bluearmyfox28

Bluearmyfox28

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Foxes96 said:

Would like Martí to try a few different combos in Friday’s game ahead of the new season.
 

Personally think Page is more suited as a box to box 8 rather than a 10. And would also like to see Monga given a run on the right as well. We’re going to have to rotate Fatawu a bit due to his recent injury, so would be good to give Monga exposure on the right, and has played both sides at youth level. 
 

 

                    Stolarczyk 

Ricardo - Okoli - Nelson - Thomas 

                  Winks - Page

    Monga   -    Alves   -   McAteer

                         Daka

 

Subs: Vestergaard, Hamza, Thomas

 

 

                        Bausor 

Coulibaly - Coady - Faes - Aluko 

                    Ndidi - Skipp

     Fatawu    -    Bilal    -    Mavididi 

                           Ayew

   
Subs: Justin , Soumaré, Evans        

I would be surprised if Page gets trusted in the box to box role, it appears to be the one role that has a lot of instructions of where to be in each phase. Would be a big expectation to have a 17 year old do it all to a high standard.

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Ric Flair

Ric Flair

Posted
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Posted

Monga will push Mavididi and Fatawu on either wing. If El Khannouss goes then he may well play in the 10 role. I think Alves will get good minutes covering those roles too. More often than not he made a difference coming off the bench for Cardiff vs starting games.

 

Aluko is also ready to start, as is Nelson obviously.

 

Evans and Page will hopefully get a good amount of appearances too.

 

Sheffield Utd and Sunderland both built their teams around a batch of young players/academy players and it has to be number one priority for us.

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Bluearmyfox28

Bluearmyfox28

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Monga will push Mavididi and Fatawu on either wing. If El Khannouss goes then he may well play in the 10 role. I think Alves will get good minutes covering those roles too. More often than not he made a difference coming off the bench for Cardiff vs starting games.

 

Aluko is also ready to start, as is Nelson obviously.

 

Evans and Page will hopefully get a good amount of appearances too.

 

Sheffield Utd and Sunderland both built their teams around a batch of young players/academy players and it has to be number one priority for us.

I’m really hoping Cifuentes has a look at Aluko. He’s in the top 3 best talents with Nelson and Monga imo.

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AjcW

AjcW

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Bluearmyfox28 said:

I’m really hoping Cifuentes has a look at Aluko. He’s in the top 3 best talents with Nelson and Monga imo.

I think the 2 games Friday mean everyone will get a look in. Anyone who doesn't can probably consider themselves done here or going out on loan.

FoxinNotts

FoxinNotts

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

I feel for Coulibaly. Barely seen a sniff in pre-season having played once or twice last year. Such a waste of money and career move 

Did he play on Saturday?

The Guvnor

The Guvnor

Posted
Posted

So the new managers first week, will be getting to know the players now and sort out the wheat from the chaff.

We should be able to field a fairly good six a side team then!

coolhandfox

coolhandfox

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

Monga will push Mavididi and Fatawu on either wing. If El Khannouss goes then he may well play in the 10 role. I think Alves will get good minutes covering those roles too. More often than not he made a difference coming off the bench for Cardiff vs starting games.

 

Aluko is also ready to start, as is Nelson obviously.

 

Evans and Page will hopefully get a good amount of appearances too.

 

Sheffield Utd and Sunderland both built their teams around a batch of young players/academy players and it has to be number one priority for us.

Thought he looked very sharp on Saturday! 

 

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Ric Flair

Ric Flair

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Thought he looked very sharp on Saturday! 

 

Heard good things, shame they couldn't work it for him to get the full 45 mins but hopefully he gets 45+ mins on Friday

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