Marti Cifuentes appointed new manager

[FoxesTalker]

The encouraging aspect for me is that Marti seems to be on the same page in terms of what the issues have been within the opening 8 games, relating to both the players and his own management. So he still retains my support at this stage and the problems at this club go far beyond the manager in charge. Tuesday's performance was another example of this.

[cityfanlee23]

3 hours ago, FrankieADZ said:

The Leicester legal battle that could derail their Championship season
@moore_94 posted in the Nelson thread too

 

after reading it through, I'm more than willing to give MC time to try and get this shitshow sorted

feels like hes trying to do it with one hand tied behind his back a lil bit though

 

suspect some of the "fanbase" wont see it that way tho.....

I think we all know he's got 1 hand tied behind his back, the issue is he seems to be voluntarily tying the other behind his back too. 

[cityfanlee23]

20 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

And yet we are 5th.

 

Am I the only person who thinks we're doing better than expected at the moment?

 

Many were saying we would be relegated again, most pundits said we'd finish outside the play-offs, practically no one has predicted automatical promotion.

 

I myself was resigned to at least another season in this league, thinking it would take a while to turn us around.

 

But no, so many think it should be done in 7-8 games.

I think many expected us to be somewhere around 6th at this stage a few months ago, but that's because they expected Ipswich, Southmapton and Sheffield United to be running away with it. So I think when you considr all 3 of those teams are struggling badly, this entire thing feels like a huge opportunity wasted especially given the manner in which our results have come. 

Personally I thought Top 2 (before any deduction) should be the goal given we have 5 players that you could put into a list of the greatest players this league has ever seen. We are 5th because everyone else is playing poorly, if we had capitalised on our matches by playing the way we all expected to play we could easily be top 2, instead we seem to be playing this boring and predictable football that many of us feared and it's costing us. 

[cityfanlee23]

6 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

I think it's a bit weird. We've been awful. But somehow still 5th. I think it's just a really, really poor division this year. A decent striker and number 10 away from a promotion push. Though at the same time we could easily go on a run of losses if performances don't improve.

I don't think it matters if we have a striker or not, we don't utilise them. All we do is push it to the wingers and tell them to either whip a cross in to nobody, recycle it back and pass sideways another 20 times, or the winger cuts in and blazes it wide. 

Ayew is not the goalscorer we need, but he's perfectly capable of 10+ goals in this division if he's allowed to enter the box. The way our system plays, every time Ayew receives the ball he has his back to goal and is 30+ yards out, we don't have goalscoring strikers because Marti is stopping them being goalscoring strikers, he doesn't play a system that allows them to play on the shoulder or burst into the box, he instructs the team to pass it around as a snails pace and allow the opposition to put 5 players in the box. 

I feel sorry for Ayew at the moment, he's a scapegoat for an awful tactical system. 

[CornwallFox]

7 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I don't think it matters if we have a striker or not, we don't utilise them. All we do is push it to the wingers and tell them to either whip a cross in to nobody, recycle it back and pass sideways another 20 times, or the winger cuts in and blazes it wide. 

Ayew is not the goalscorer we need, but he's perfectly capable of 10+ goals in this division if he's allowed to enter the box. The way our system plays, every time Ayew receives the ball he has his back to goal and is 30+ yards out, we don't have goalscoring strikers because Marti is stopping them being goalscoring strikers, he doesn't play a system that allows them to play on the shoulder or burst into the box, he instructs the team to pass it around as a snails pace and allow the opposition to put 5 players in the box. 

I feel sorry for Ayew at the moment, he's a scapegoat for an awful tactical system. 

We've had about five managers in a row where this same thing has been the issue. Other than I suppose the first half of the championship season under Enzo. But since Rodgers' last season, we've been utterly toothless for most of the time, playing different styles with different coaches. I'm not sure it's just down to the manager. 

[Dahnsouff]

I cannot accept it’s the manager, it is such a predictable lazy response, when too much has happened and still we look the same.

Definitely feels a stick not twist moment for me, else we will again be back here next year, saying we need the next guy.

 

Better to be crap with Marti than with Cooper or Ruud, weirdly.

[cityfanlee23]

I think anyone who frequents this place enough knows I absolutely hate modern possession football, and I think it's killing the sport from a raw entertainment perspective. I can appreciate the tactical principles and why coaches do it, but I watch football to be excited for 90 minutes, not 10 minutes. 

I was fully on board with Danny Rohl coming in, he represents much of what i wanted as a fan, but when that fell through and Marti arrived, many of our fans who are more knowledgable tactically than me started deep diving into MC and what he would likely bring to us, and with good faith these people spent countless hours researching, the general consensus that us fans came to is that Marti would bring the following to the club:

- Possession football with an emphasis on attack
- High aggressive press when we lose the ball
- An overlapping fullback and an inverted fullback that would likely swap roles mid-game
- A team that will try to score another goal even if we are winning comfortably, we always want another goal (paraphrasing MC's own words)
- An adaptable coach who will adapt the tactics to suit the players we have 
- An adaptable coach who will adapt the tactics to defeat the opponent 
- A coach who will put faith in one of the most promising crops of young players we've ever produced with one of the best training facilities on earth.
- A coach who doesn't seem to have "favourites" and will pick players based on merit (paraphrasing MC's own words) 

So far, we have an xG of less than 1 with a team that has 5 cheat codes in this division, we don't aggressively press to win the ball back, our fullbacks overlap maybe a couple of times per game, we do not try to attack heavily until the last minute, we recycle and pass sideways even when chasing because 100% possession and a draw seems more valuable than 50% and a win, Marti doesn't adapt the tctics to suit the players, he forces the players to follow the system and simply swaps out players mid game into the same role, often leading to players like Skipp getting completely lost, we play the same system regardless of opponent, and attack in the same predictable way, Nelson, Aluko, Paige all dropped in favour of the players who got us into this mess, and players like Ayew (who i don't actually believe has done much wrong, he's just being woefully misused) picked week in week out. 

I didn't want this style of football, but I was sold on the idea (and believed) that this one would be different. I keep reading "once it clicks", "he's building something", "he needs time". To do what? Why does he need "time" to realise that Skipp and Soumare weren't working, that playing Ayew 30 yards from goal will result in a lack of goals? to realise that attacking from the wing with no overlap and no central midfield bombing forward would result in a lack of clear-cut chances? 

I'm not a coach, i'm an idiot, but how can so many fans see this but the manager never can?

[cityfanlee23]

8 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

We've had about five managers in a row where this same thing has been the issue. Other than I suppose the first half of the championship season under Enzo. But since Rodgers' last season, we've been utterly toothless for most of the time, playing different styles with different coaches. I'm not sure it's just down to the manager. 

Oh it's not solely down to the manager, absolutely not, the players we are still stuck with needed to be moved on years ago, but the system is a large part of it, we have been toothless I completely agree, but since Rodgers left, we had Enzo who proved we could score goals at this level (even if I wasn't a fan of the style), and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thought that Ruud or Coopers tactics were any good. 
The issue is, we have massively dropped down in class, yet our goalscoring chances are still woeful. 

The players are a huge issue, but Winks, Mavididi, Monga, Fatawu, Ricardo, even Ayew are all good enough to produce goals at this level, the system is currently massively holding these players back, and the players take the rest of the responsibility. 

[CornwallFox]

38 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

Oh it's not solely down to the manager, absolutely not, the players we are still stuck with needed to be moved on years ago, but the system is a large part of it, we have been toothless I completely agree, but since Rodgers left, we had Enzo who proved we could score goals at this level (even if I wasn't a fan of the style), and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thought that Ruud or Coopers tactics were any good. 
The issue is, we have massively dropped down in class, yet our goalscoring chances are still woeful. 

The players are a huge issue, but Winks, Mavididi, Monga, Fatawu, Ricardo, even Ayew are all good enough to produce goals at this level, the system is currently massively holding these players back, and the players take the rest of the responsibility. 

I am so looking forward to the day - which is possibly just starting to arrive - that 4-4-2 attacking football comes back into fashion!

[Mickyblueeyes]

If he isn’t playing the young lads over guys like Skipp, Vestegaard and Faes, he risks  creating a business like relationship with the fanbase - which means either win and win many or leave. 
 

He could’ve been the guy who bought himself some time by engaging/using the Nelsons the pages etc. he hasn’t. Fine. You got me top 2. That’s what I need to see of his team come November or out he goes. Anyone can play Vestegaard and Faes and win a decent amount in this league. But decent isn’t good enough if that is the way you go. 
 

Harsh, perhaps. But I think that is fair. 

[LCFCCKEANO]

28 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

If he isn’t playing the young lads over guys like Skipp, Vestegaard and Faes, he risks  creating a business like relationship with the fanbase - which means either win and win many or leave. 
 

He could’ve been the guy who bought himself some time by engaging/using the Nelsons the pages etc. he hasn’t. Fine. You got me top 2. That’s what I need to see of his team come November or out he goes. Anyone can play Vestegaard and Faes and win a decent amount in this league. But decent isn’t good enough if that is the way you go. 
 

Harsh, perhaps. But I think that is fair. 

He has started Page/Monga multiple times and brought them off of the bench, and we are in October. As the dust cloud continues to settle and he finds an eleven, more opportunities will become available, I wouldn’t be throwing a 17 year old into the atmosphere around the place at the moment unless I knew they were more than good enough

[cityfanlee23]

24 minutes ago, LCFCCKEANO said:

He has started Page/Monga multiple times and brought them off of the bench, and we are in October. As the dust cloud continues to settle and he finds an eleven, more opportunities will become available, I wouldn’t be throwing a 17 year old into the atmosphere around the place at the moment unless I knew they were more than good enough

Playing Monga is inevitable he doesn’t really need to be in this discussion because he’s miles clear of most players in the squad.

 

Nelson has been dropped for “tactical reasons” 

Aluko hasn’t made a championship appearances, he was on the bench for 2 games and didn’t get any minutes, and Paige played 55 mins in 2 games, then hasn’t even been selected for the last 4. 
 

It starting to look very clear to me that MC doesn’t rate Aluko, Paige or Nelson. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, cityfanlee23 said:

we have 5 players that you could put into a list of the greatest players this league has ever seen.

Seriously? Serious seriously? 

 

I could name a couple of teams worth of Leicester players better than our current team, who have played for us at this level.

 

In fact, I'm going to...

 

Kasper Schmeichal 

Tim Flowers 

Mark Wallington 

 

Bruno Berner

Matt Elliot 

Marcin Wasilewski

Wes Morgan

Alexsander Tunchev

Miguel Victor

Gerry Taggert

Steve Walsh

Pontus Kaamark 

 

Muzzy Izzet

Neil Lennon

Danny Drinkwater

Riyad Mahrez

Andy King

Yuki Abe

Garry Parker

Gary McAllister 

 

Jamie Vardy

David Nugent

Yakubu

Emile Healey

Iwan Roberts

Gary Lineker

Alan Smith

Steve Claridge

 

All of the above played for us in the 2nd tier & would walk into our current team at the expense of any player except Ricky P, Fatawu and possibly Monga (still early days).

 

And that's not even counting players from other teams such as Gareth Bale, Ian Harte, Wilfried Zaha and Alexsander Mitrovic, to name but a few.

 

So how you can say that our current squad contains 5 of the greatest players to play in this league is mind-blowing! Our squad is bang average and on par with many of the teams in this league.

[Mickyblueeyes]

25 minutes ago, LCFCCKEANO said:

He has started Page/Monga multiple times and brought them off of the bench, and we are in October. As the dust cloud continues to settle and he finds an eleven, more opportunities will become available, I wouldn’t be throwing a 17 year old into the atmosphere around the place at the moment unless I knew they were more than good enough

Yes and he has gone back to the likes of Skipp and Faes. Like I said, a ok/poor start, I could live with if I saw more of that development - him trying to progress that side of the club. He has gone back to experienced pros. People like Skipp who hasn’t deserved any time. Which is ok but I want to see his side now tearing up the league. Not the playoffs or midtable. Going for the league. 
 

And if I don’t see that come end of Nov, he can go. Like I said, it’s now purely business.  I don’t care how he wins but he has to win.

[cityfanlee23]

9 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Seriously? Serious seriously? 

 

I could name a couple of teams worth of Leicester players better than our current team, who have played for us at this level.

 

In fact, I'm going to...

 

Kasper Schmeichal 

Tim Flowers 

Mark Wallington 

 

Bruno Berner

Matt Elliot 

Marcin Wasilewski

Wes Morgan

Alexsander Tunchev

Miguel Victor

Gerry Taggert

Steve Walsh

Pontus Kaamark 

 

Muzzy Izzet

Neil Lennon

Danny Drinkwater

Riyad Mahrez

Andy King

Yuki Abe

Garry Parker

Gary McAllister 

 

Jamie Vardy

David Nugent

Yakubu

Emile Healey

Iwan Roberts

Gary Lineker

Alan Smith

Steve Claridge

 

All of the above played for us in the 2nd tier & would walk into our current team at the expense of any player except Ricky P, Fatawu and possibly Monga (still early days).

 

And that's not even counting players from other teams such as Gareth Bale, Ian Harte, Wilfried Zaha and Alexsander Mitrovic, to name but a few.

 

So how you can say that our current squad contains 5 of the greatest players to play in this league is mind-blowing! Our squad is bang average and on par with many of the teams in this league.

Maybe there's a bit of hyperbole, but it's worth noting I'm talking about the championship in general, not going back to the 90s/early 2000's. 
23/24, Fatawu, Mavididi and Ricardo would have been good enough to get in many of our squads. 

You've covered strikers when i didn't once mention a striker we have being one of the best, but imo, Mavididi and Fatawu have proven they are 2 of the best wingers this division has seen, especially since we returned there from league 1. 
I'm not saying they go into a 10 man shortlist for best player ever, but in the thousands that have played at this level, Mavididi/Winks/Fatawu/Ricardo/Monga (still early days) would be in the top 40 imo. 

We can argue semantics now about what defines the "top 40" etc etc, but it's probably easier to just say that with Mavididi, Winks, Monga, Fatawu, Ayew and Ricardo, this team should not be struggling to create clear cut chances, and I'm of the opinion that whilst these players have flaws, the system is the biggest thing holding them back right now. 

Edited 2 October 2025 by cityfanlee23

[PaulW]

3 hours ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I think anyone who frequents this place enough knows I absolutely hate modern possession football, and I think it's killing the sport from a raw entertainment perspective. I can appreciate the tactical principles and why coaches do it, but I watch football to be excited for 90 minutes, not 10 minutes. 

I was fully on board with Danny Rohl coming in, he represents much of what i wanted as a fan, but when that fell through and Marti arrived, many of our fans who are more knowledgable tactically than me started deep diving into MC and what he would likely bring to us, and with good faith these people spent countless hours researching, the general consensus that us fans came to is that Marti would bring the following to the club:

- Possession football with an emphasis on attack
- High aggressive press when we lose the ball
- An overlapping fullback and an inverted fullback that would likely swap roles mid-game
- A team that will try to score another goal even if we are winning comfortably, we always want another goal (paraphrasing MC's own words)
- An adaptable coach who will adapt the tactics to suit the players we have 
- An adaptable coach who will adapt the tactics to defeat the opponent 
- A coach who will put faith in one of the most promising crops of young players we've ever produced with one of the best training facilities on earth.
- A coach who doesn't seem to have "favourites" and will pick players based on merit (paraphrasing MC's own words) 

So far, we have an xG of less than 1 with a team that has 5 cheat codes in this division, we don't aggressively press to win the ball back, our fullbacks overlap maybe a couple of times per game, we do not try to attack heavily until the last minute, we recycle and pass sideways even when chasing because 100% possession and a draw seems more valuable than 50% and a win, Marti doesn't adapt the tctics to suit the players, he forces the players to follow the system and simply swaps out players mid game into the same role, often leading to players like Skipp getting completely lost, we play the same system regardless of opponent, and attack in the same predictable way, Nelson, Aluko, Paige all dropped in favour of the players who got us into this mess, and players like Ayew (who i don't actually believe has done much wrong, he's just being woefully misused) picked week in week out. 

I didn't want this style of football, but I was sold on the idea (and believed) that this one would be different. I keep reading "once it clicks", "he's building something", "he needs time". To do what? Why does he need "time" to realise that Skipp and Soumare weren't working, that playing Ayew 30 yards from goal will result in a lack of goals? to realise that attacking from the wing with no overlap and no central midfield bombing forward would result in a lack of clear-cut chances? 

I'm not a coach, i'm an idiot, but how can so many fans see this but the manager never can?

xG means nothing...it's a computer program.  If it worked, the bookies would be out of business in five minutes.  There were clear signs of improvement in the first half v. Wrexham, but the players then ballsed it up in the the second half.  Do you really believe that a manager should be able to come into a dispirited Club, with fans abusing the players from the stands and in forums like this one, and turn everything round in less than a dozen matches!?  Be a bit realistic!

[AKCJ]

22 hours ago, Dan said:

The xG numbers over a longer period of time are rarely wrong. Like I'd been telling everyone over the weekend - we've been absolutely mediocre at best. Chances created at both ends are all that truly matters in terms of performance, and then finishing them off in terms of getting results. Passing it around with zero threat is precisely that - zero threat.

 

Our chance creation is bad. Our finishing is often bad. We won't get near the top 6 on this performance level, let alone top 2.

Yep. People that don't like it are the same that think it's useful to work out what team played better.

 

Over the course of the season it's very likely that we'll fall into line when it comes to xG.

[cityfanlee23]

1 hour ago, PaulW said:

xG means nothing...it's a computer program.  If it worked, the bookies would be out of business in five minutes.  There were clear signs of improvement in the first half v. Wrexham, but the players then ballsed it up in the the second half.  Do you really believe that a manager should be able to come into a dispirited Club, with fans abusing the players from the stands and in forums like this one, and turn everything round in less than a dozen matches!?  Be a bit realistic!

If xG and other related stats don't matter, clubs all over the world wouldn't be using it. In reality, pretty much every modern football club in the top 2 divisions in Europe deeply analyses these statistics and use it for player recruitment, tactical analysis and post-match reviews.

 

Also I really don’t understand the bookmakers comment, bookmakers use xG and other statistics in their algorithms when creating their initial price. Bookmakers in part rely on these stats to keep themselves in business. 

I'd be more than open to you giving me an in-depth analysis as to why clubs all over the planet are wrong for following these statistics. 
I'm not expecting MC to come in and revolutionise us instantly. What I did expect was for us not just to attack in the same manner 99/100. Even Enzo realised that in order to get Monga/Fatawu working well on the wings, you needed Ndidi to provide an overlap. Ndidi wasn't even very good at that role more often than not, but his sheer movement and presence often unlocked a huge gap in midfield for the winger to drive into.  

We don't have Ndidi anymore, but Marti doesn't seem to be instructing the players around the ball carrier to open these spaces, all we do is pass it to the wing, then A) Fatawu beats his man and crosses it into nobody, B) Gets crowded out and has to pass it back to the defence who then recycle it to Mavididi on the other side, C) Fatawu is forced to beat 3 players and shoot by cutting in and we pray for magic.
He doesn't have any support, seemingly isn't trusted enough to allow the CM or RB to overlap, so we end up in this cycle of predictable play. 

I don't expect miracles at all. I expect Marti has considered all of this, but I'm just too stupid to realise that the solution to these problems is far too complex, and the solution would cause more problems than it fixes, but that is what he is paid to fix. 

Edited 2 October 2025 by cityfanlee23

[Tommy G]

1 hour ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

If he isn’t playing the young lads over guys like Skipp, Vestegaard and Faes, he risks  creating a business like relationship with the fanbase - which means either win and win many or leave. 
 

He could’ve been the guy who bought himself some time by engaging/using the Nelsons the pages etc. he hasn’t. Fine. You got me top 2. That’s what I need to see of his team come November or out he goes. Anyone can play Vestegaard and Faes and win a decent amount in this league. But decent isn’t good enough if that is the way you go. 
 

Harsh, perhaps. But I think that is fair. 

So if we're 3rd come November you'd sack him?

[dooflip]

I’ve thought long and hard about what could be done formation/lineup wise, and whilst I am not a huge fan of a 442 diamond, I think a switch to it, with mavididi and Fatawu up top with monga at the top of the diamond, would give us the best chance of causing opposition defences problems by getting our wingers involved centrally. Those 3 players playing high and central is the way forward, it needs to happen.

[The Doctor]

2 hours ago, PaulW said:

xG means nothing...it's a computer program.  If it worked, the bookies would be out of business in five minutes.  There were clear signs of improvement in the first half v. Wrexham, but the players then ballsed it up in the the second half.  Do you really believe that a manager should be able to come into a dispirited Club, with fans abusing the players from the stands and in forums like this one, and turn everything round in less than a dozen matches!?  Be a bit realistic!

what do you think bookies set the odds on? like, there's some adjustments to cover what people will bet (there's a reason they're not throwing out 5000-1 odds any more) but a big part of odds setting is data driven. The house always wins and it does so by not doing things based on vibes 

[l444ry]

2 hours ago, cityfanlee23 said:

If xG and other related stats don't matter, clubs all over the world wouldn't be using it. In reality, pretty much every modern football club in the top 2 divisions in Europe deeply analyses these statistics and use it for player recruitment, tactical analysis and post-match reviews.

 

Also I really don’t understand the bookmakers comment, bookmakers use xG and other statistics in their algorithms when creating their initial price. Bookmakers in part rely on these stats to keep themselves in business. 

I'd be more than open to you giving me an in-depth analysis as to why clubs all over the planet are wrong for following these statistics. 
I'm not expecting MC to come in and revolutionise us instantly. What I did expect was for us not just to attack in the same manner 99/100. Even Enzo realised that in order to get Monga/Fatawu working well on the wings, you needed Ndidi to provide an overlap. Ndidi wasn't even very good at that role more often than not, but his sheer movement and presence often unlocked a huge gap in midfield for the winger to drive into.  

We don't have Ndidi anymore, but Marti doesn't seem to be instructing the players around the ball carrier to open these spaces, all we do is pass it to the wing, then A) Fatawu beats his man and crosses it into nobody, B) Gets crowded out and has to pass it back to the defence who then recycle it to Mavididi on the other side, C) Fatawu is forced to beat 3 players and shoot by cutting in and we pray for magic.
He doesn't have any support, seemingly isn't trusted enough to allow the CM or RB to overlap, so we end up in this cycle of predictable play. 

I don't expect miracles at all. I expect Marti has considered all of this, but I'm just too stupid to realise that the solution to these problems is far too complex, and the solution would cause more problems than it fixes, but that is what he is paid to fix. 

You sum up modern football very well. However, Alex Ferguson, Shankly, Jose, Jock Stein, Cloughy and even Martin O'Neill and most of the greatest of all time would probably laugh into their pints of beer at xG being a substitute for the actually understanding how to win football games.  

[Mickyblueeyes]

5 hours ago, Tommy G said:

So if we're 3rd come November you'd sack him?

Top 2 has to be the aim and towards the end of Nov if we are not looking well in the race for it - IF we are playing the senior lot, than it’s fair to look at it and say, what exactly are we building with Marti - with Faes, Vestegaard, Skipp. 
 

My point is, if we go down the route of the senior players, many of who I think we’d happily see go tomorrow. Many who are out of contract come the summer, what exactly are we building by them being prominent parts of our team if we are not flying to auto promotion ?

 

It’s a lot harder to “buy in” if we are doing the same things any other manager could potentially do and not bossing this league. 

 

I can understand how it can confuse people on mentioning just the “top 2” but hope that explanation makes it easier to understand my thoughts. 

Edited 2 October 2025 by Mickyblueeyes

[Stormfox]

4 hours ago, cityfanlee23 said:

Playing Monga is inevitable he doesn’t really need to be in this discussion because he’s miles clear of most players in the squad.

 

Nelson has been dropped for “tactical reasons” 

Aluko hasn’t made a championship appearances, he was on the bench for 2 games and didn’t get any minutes, and Paige played 55 mins in 2 games, then hasn’t even been selected for the last 4. 
 

It starting to look very clear to me that MC doesn’t rate Aluko, Paige or Nelson. 

The he should have them go out on loan or be sold but bids for Nelson were turned down, probably the same for the others. 

[cityfanlee23]

1 hour ago, l444ry said:

You sum up modern football very well. However, Alex Ferguson, Shankly, Jose, Jock Stein, Cloughy and even Martin O'Neill and most of the greatest of all time would probably laugh into their pints of beer at xG being a substitute for the actually understanding how to win football games.  

I agree, football is won on the pitch and statistics and data are what drive it off of the pitch, the point I was making though is generally speaking, xG and a whole host of other stats have a strong correlation to where teams end up at the end of the season, if you have an xG of less than 1 throughout the season, you are very likely going to end up in the bottom half unless you’re incredibly clinical with your chances. 
 

The only reason we are where we are in the league is because everyone around us and the strongest teams are losing, not because of our performances across 90 minutes. 
 

Our low xG perfectly aligns with what we are watching on the pitch.