WBA (a) 1-1 Leicester Post Match thread

[Pliskin]

20 minutes ago, Heart-Shaped Fox said:

What did please me is seeing all the players celebrate when the goal went in, least it shows that they do seem to care and Cifuentes has made that atmosphere. 

I think they care, and they’re trying. 
 

If you looked at it as a neutral, you’d probably say we were the better footballing side, but clearly lack a cutting edge at the top of the pitch. 
 

But that’s the frustration, at the moment it’s hard to defend Marti when he’s continually playing a player in the 9 who isn’t a goal scorer, and a midfielder who offers as much as a car with no engine. 
 

I understand that he wants to make us more solid, which you could argue he has done, he’s got to try something different at the top end of the pitch, when he makes the changes they’re wrong, James coming off was just ridiculous, he would have complemented Carranza by running beyond the ten, but Ayew stays on and just continue to hamper our attack. We need to leave Ayew out all together and just see what happens. I’d rather see Page in the ten than Ayew. 

Edited 27 September 2025 by Pliskin

[The Guvnor]

9 hours ago, foxile5 said:

"I thought Soumare was okay except for being shit and causing loads of problems" 

Get rid of the hate and buy some rose tinted glasses FFS.

[CrazyKopCorner]

14 minutes ago, foxinsox said:

We have been a Championship team for some time. That's why we had such a rotten season last year. 

 

The team and back office both need a major rebuild before we get back to the Premiership. We have some distance to go, and aren't going to attract the right sort of player until the points deduction etc is sorted.

 

I am enjoying the games being more even, no VAR, and seeing some of the youngsters come through.

 

I don't anticipate promotion for a few years, so am just enjoying it. I like Marti's style of football, though some work needed on the finishing.

 

 

From February 2024 our form has been no better than a mid table Championship team 

 

We have to be realistic and Marti needs to start selecting a team for the future rather than the same old crap of Vestergaard, Faes, Ayew, Soumare and Mavi 

 

We need Nelson, Monga, Okoli, James and a new striker or Caranza (give him a go) in the first 11 

[funkyrobot]

9 hours ago, CloudFox said:

I think Soumaré had an okay game, aside from the error that lead to the goal...and a few misplaced passes. But he doesn't offer a lot of drive or energy in midfield (at least not until the last 15), and we really needed a player grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck. I think JJ can do that. Soumaré cannot.

Harsh to blame Soumare from that goal and a harsh review of his performance. I get it, he’s been poor for us but in the last two games alongside Winks he’s been good. He probably will eventually be replaced by JJ though Marti prefers two number 6’s and a 10 whereas I think JJ is a 8 and best suited to an Enzo sytem. So it will probably happen if the manager tweaks his system to a single pivot. That being said Soumare was good yesterday. Lots of positive forward passes and drive. 

[adejo92]

What an abysmal performance and result.

 

Players shooting from 40 yards out and players diving to try and win free kicks shows just how clueless these bunch of clowns are.

 

Every time we play, its like they've never played with each other before.

 

Rancid.

Edited 27 September 2025 by adejo92

[fox_up_north]

A friend is an Albion fan. Apparently they did well to get a result against us. 

 

 

Mind boggles. 

[LiliansLeftPeg]

Feel like I can copy/paste most of my reaction to the Cov game in here. Yes, we were incoherent, crap in places and looked blunt up front but that's exactly what we are and this is exceeding where most thought we'd be at this point, including myself. I didn't see us playing as a team, fighting and getting results like this. We're 3rd - I thought we'd be lower half by now. 

 

We'll likely drop off and wallow in mid table and I still expect us to finish the season outside the playoffs. The squad has a rotten core. Has done for 3+ years. Marti was given frees and loans in the summer to address it. He needs time. Overall, I'd say he's earning my patience. 

[StanSP]

Just watched highlights on Sky. 

 

We should have done better even with the half chances we had in first half. 

 

Faes defending for their goal was amateur. Why go to ground?! Why back off so much? Vestergaard shouldn't really be getting dragged up the field so easily either. 

 

How they weren't 2 or 3 up by the time we scraped our equaliser I do not know. 

 

 

[SemperEadem]

Second half we were miles off it. Had zero control or plan.

[demon_dog]

Just shows once again how poor this division is. They were poor, we were poor, yet both teams sit in the top 6 at the moment!

I can justify not renewing my season ticket after seeing games like this.

Can see us ending the season mid table as we have no one who seems to know how to score.

[Philkeavo]

17 minutes ago, CrazyKopCorner said:

From February 2024 our form has been no better than a mid table Championship team 

 

We have to be realistic and Marti needs to start selecting a team for the future rather than the same old crap of Vestergaard, Faes, Ayew, Soumare and Mavi 

 

We need Nelson, Monga, Okoli, James and a new striker or Caranza (give him a go) in the first 11 

I thought Cifuentes would be different but at the moment his actions don’t match his rhetoric. Playing the same players that have failed miserably in the past doesn’t scream progression. It’s abundantly clear to me that playing with Vestergaard (who ironically has been one of our better players) means we have to sit deep because his lack of pace leaves us exposed when we press and try to compact the play. This is having a knock on effect that there are lots of gaps in the midfield and we’re not getting enough attacking players in the box.
 

He said his philosophy was the 3 P’s but he is currently compromising his principles so that we remain hard to beat. I don’t think we have the players to optimise his philosophy meaning currently the 3 P’s stand for Piss Poor Performances.

[Claudio Fannieri]

10 hours ago, jim5000 said:

We’re looking at a few years in the wilderness here.

 

The squad is garbage, unbalanced, and lacks quality.

 

It will need a Pearson character to come in and sort everything out, but we’ll not reach the heights we have in the last decade again.

And I think Marti is that type of manager, you can only move on players if someone is prepared to pay the fee our higher ups are expecting and to cover the wage demands of players who may have a higher expectation because of what we have been paying or don’t fancy taking a drop. 
 

it wasn’t pretty in the early months when Pearson returned and it took time to shift out the players he knew weren’t right fit for the club, he still played some of them to try and keep things ticking along and generate interest, it seems a very similar situation to now. This is not Marti’s mess so let’s back him, he has made us difficult to beat and got some fight and togetherness, pattens of play are improving but over the next few games hopefully we start to see our attacking play come to the fore. Rome was not built in a day and certainly not after 7 games. 

[Ricey]

A performance that would have fitted right in last season. Soft, slow and weak. The whinging and diving summed it all up.

 

It’s 2025 and I’m still watching Faes, Vestergaard and Soumare repeatedly let us down. All three were petulant and pathetic last night. Six managers along and somehow they are still deemed to be our best options.

 

Marti isn’t blameless, he’s picking them (and persisting with Ayew up front) but a proper football club would have shifted them out long ago.

 

Give the likes of Nelson, Okoli, James and Carranza a run. Let them adapt, let them learn from their mistakes rather than shipping them out after one shaky display.

[jayfox26]

10 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

Don't understand your 'on paper' comment.

We've got a squad full of crap that got relegated with a pitiful number of points. 

'on paper' we're not very good. 

Most of these players were in the squad when we walked the championship 2 years ago. Not good enough for the prem doesn't make you not good enough for the championship 

[Nolucklcfc]

The standard of the league is horrific. The fact we got a point out of that yesterday is ridiculous. Thought we were good first half without threatening a great deal but second half was crap. Just don’t feel like we’ve genuinely been brilliant at any point this season. 

[Spanner73]

40 minutes ago, Ricey said:

A performance that would have fitted right in last season. Soft, slow and weak. The whinging and diving summed it all up.

 

It’s 2025 and I’m still watching Faes, Vestergaard and Soumare repeatedly let us down. All three were petulant and pathetic last night. Six managers along and somehow they are still deemed to be our best options.

 

Marti isn’t blameless, he’s picking them (and persisting with Ayew up front) but a proper football club would have shifted them out long ago.

 

Give the likes of Nelson, Okoli, James and Carranza a run. Let them adapt, let them learn from their mistakes rather than shipping them out after one shaky display.

6 managers in , Rinse repeat, rinse repeat 

Stale as f***

[dayday]

What will be evident in the coming months is that we will need to find away of breaking down low block sides, and where we’re lacking is the no 10 role , would like to see Ramsey in there when he’s back next weekend or even Monga , unless Cifuentes does this we will carry on struggling to create chances 

[Richmondfox]

1 hour ago, adejo92 said:

What an abysmal performance and result.

 

Players shooting from 40 yards out and players diving to try and win free kicks shows just how clueless these bunch of clowns are.

 

Every time we play, its like they've never played with each other before.

 

Rancid.

Monga picking up bad habits from Ayew and Mavadidi. We need senior players who don’t mind saying it how it is. I remember when Madison dived and got sent off, he said he got hammered by the seniors.  Our senior leads by example and dives as a style of play. 

[Richmondfox]

3 minutes ago, dayday said:

What will be evident in the coming months is that we will need to find away of breaking down low block sides, and where we’re lacking is the no 10 role , would like to see Ramsey in there when he’s back next weekend or even Monga , unless Cifuentes does this we will carry on struggling to create chances 

The low blocks happen because JV lets them drop deep by taking too long to pass the ball from the back.  He gives the opposition time to double up on the wingers and ignores them when they are calling for the ball unmarked. More poor tactics the manager is oblivious to or thinks is working. 

 

The same with Jakob being too scared to throw the ball to start a counter attack quickly. 

[adejo92]

1 minute ago, Richmondfox said:

Monga picking up bad habits from Ayew and Mavadidi. We need senior players who don’t mind saying it how it is. I remember when Madison dived and got sent off, he said he got hammered by the seniors.  Our senior leads by example and dives as a style of play. 

Can you imagine doing that with the likes of Schmeichel & Wes Morgan in the dressing room.

 

Back when the team had some passion, self respect and identity. 

[Legend_in_blue]

If the expectation is for us to finish mid-table, then why do people complain on here?

 

The league is the pits and if we're sitting in the top 6 places without having played what we consider to be well enough, then I think people on here will completely lose it if our form drops to what is expected for a mid-table finish.

 

Genuinely do not know what the expectation is right now.

 

Yes, the league is rubbish and yes, our form is rubbish, but here we are in the top 6 positions.  Don't think we need the striker issue to be resolved to maintain it either, the league is that bad.

 

We should be looking at where we are in relation to a run in the Premier League and right now, that's miles off, regardless of whether we're in the promotion places or not.

[Blueman1967]

Being positive with this, you got a point against a side up there with us, but there needs to be more of a goal threat.

Edited 27 September 2025 by Blueman1967

[Richmondfox]

Just now, adejo92 said:

Can you imagine doing that with the likes of Schmeichel & Wes Morgan in the dressing room.

 

Back when the team had some passion, self respect and identity. 

Monga needs and deserves a strong role model. I think Ricardo is great and happy he is the captain but we need someone who isn’t afraid to say the obvious hard truths   We need someone like Jordan Henderson who makes sure others are working hard doing their job while protecting the team. 

[adejo92]

1 minute ago, Legend_in_blue said:

If the expectation is for us to finish mid-table, then why do people complain on here?

 

The league is the pits and if we're sitting in the top 6 places without having played what we consider to be well enough, then I think people on here will completely lose it if our form drops to what is expected for a mid-table finish.

 

Genuinely do not know what the expectation is right now.

 

Yes, the league is rubbish and yes, our form is rubbish, but here we are in the top 6 positions.  Don't think we need the striker issue to be resolved to maintain it either, the league is that bad.

 

We should be looking at where we are in relation to a run in the Premier League and right now, that's miles off, regardless of whether we're in the promotion places or not.

I totally disagree about any expectation of mid table, we should be getting out of this league.

 

But I do totally agree about a run in the Premier league. It's pointless getting promoted because we literally would need atleast 9 new first team players of prem quality.

 

No way this club could assemble a Premier league worthy team.

 

We'll be the laughing stock.

[sm1]

9 minutes ago, Richmondfox said:

Monga needs and deserves a strong role model. I think Ricardo is great and happy he is the captain but we need someone who isn’t afraid to say the obvious hard truths   We need someone like Jordan Henderson who makes sure others are working hard doing their job while protecting the team. 

It's become obvious that Ayew has too much say in the team. His set pieces are atrocious, yet any corner or free kick, he pushes other people away and insists on being the one who takes them. Ricky is fantastic, but he doesn't come across as an assertive character like Kasper, Vardy or Huth. Marti has to take control and stop this diving nonsense and tell Ayew to stop hogging the set pieces.