Bristol City 2-2 LCFC - Post Match Thread

[Richmondfox]

4 hours ago, stox259 said:

They changed it at half time and it absolutely did us. They pushed up on our full backs and stepped ten yards up the pitch (hardly a tactical masterstroke) but Marti and the players just couldn't react. There was space all over the pitch in behind their full backs and not once did we look to play there. All we did was retreat, retreat, retreat and never tried to proactively change what we were doing. Typical formulaic manager who does things by his book and if that doesn't work he has nothing else. 

 

Football cannot be fully planned and you will never eliminate all the unknowns no matter how much the textbook says you can. Football will always be chaos and you have to react accordingly. Marti doesn't have the tools or knowledge to react and he certainly doesn't have the players to force his style and we come out as winners. As much as our players are poor (we do not have one genuine premier league quality player imo) Marti is the problem. 

Not only did he not react, he gave them extra help by weakening the midfield and stifling the attack by making Ayew the link.
 

He didn’t change anything to give Bristol something think about, making them retreat 10 yards again.  Wingers and full backs that don’t just stand still would be a great start. 

[Dan]

7 hours ago, Guest said:

Same. I can accept there's a possibility we're not very fit relative to some other teams, but to the extent that we're blowing so badly after 45 minutes that we physically have no choice but to drop off? Not having it

Like I said elsewhere - Bristol City have just played as well (couple of hours less rest if you're being really picky), they made only two changes themselves and they seemed to cope with it OK. This is the sort of thing we should have the upper hand on, not substantially weaker.

[Spudulike]

No excuses for lack of fitness considering the 'world class' facilities we have at Seagrave. 

[Chrysalis]

43 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

No excuses for lack of fitness considering the 'world class' facilities we have at Seagrave. 

Seagrave has very likely caused fitness levels to drop if anything.  I still have Albrighton's verdict of it in my memory.

[The Fosse Way]

3 hours ago, Dan said:

I do enjoy these articles and always have a bit of a smile to myself that James Knight is drafted in for every bad result  

He won’t get out of bed for less than a catastrophe. He’s been busy lately.

[TrentFox]

The idea that “Seagrave” is responsible for fitness levels being higher or lower is absolute  nonsense. It’s down to fitness coaches and leadership managing the load. Good coaches and management teams can do that anywhere. 

[DerbyshireFox]

Frustrating as this whole season is going to be. We looked comfortable first half, but as soon as we conceded so quickly after the break, the writing was on the wall.
 

James coming off may have been necessary, but the sub made was crazy! Gave them even more of the midfield and momentum than they already had. Good that the youngsters are being trusted, but they have no strong senior pros to back them up, and that is a huge concern. 
 

Credit to Bristol City, they came out and were relentless second half. Even in our good moments, I can’t recall seeing energy and desire like that from a Leicester side for a long time now. 

[Sly]

We just lost control of the game.

 

Bristol City went up through the gears and we couldn’t cope.

[filbertway]

2 hours ago, DerbyshireFox said:

Frustrating as this whole season is going to be. We looked comfortable first half, but as soon as we conceded so quickly after the break, the writing was on the wall.
 

James coming off may have been necessary, but the sub made was crazy! Gave them even more of the midfield and momentum than they already had. Good that the youngsters are being trusted, but they have no strong senior pros to back them up, and that is a huge concern. 
 

Credit to Bristol City, they came out and were relentless second half. Even in our good moments, I can’t recall seeing energy and desire like that from a Leicester side for a long time now. 

Disagree, they still had 2 or 3 very good opportunities. It was a pretty equal half really and they would have still fancied their chances, especially as I assume they have somewhat competent staff who know how we react to a half time lead.

 

We had to maintain the first half performance at the very minimum as they were always going to come out fired up.

[Spudulike]

5 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Disagree, they still had 2 or 3 very good opportunities. It was a pretty equal half really and they would have still fancied their chances, especially as I assume they have somewhat competent staff who know how we react to a half time lead.

 

We had to maintain the first half performance at the very minimum as they were always going to come out fired up.

We all knew that and Marti claims to have spoken about it during the break. So it's unfathomable why the players were like rabbits in the headlights when the predictable started. It's happening too often, there's a problem, and it's not just the start of the second 45 either (see Sheff Utd). It's a collective mindset that's been going on for yonks and everyone can see it other than, it seems, the only ones that can do anyyhing about it. So bleedin' frustrating.

[filbertway]

2 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

We all knew that and Marti claims to have spoken about it during the break. So it's unfathomable why the players were like rabbits in the headlights when the predictable started. It's happening too often, there's a problem, and it's not just the start of the second 45 either (see Sheff Utd). It's a collective mindset that's been going on for yonks and everyone can see it other than, it seems, the only ones that can do anyyhing about it. So bleedin' frustrating.

A lot of teams will naturally drop in the 2nd half, especially when you've not been playing convincingly. Unfortunately, we don't really have a squad of physical brutes or players hungry to win their battles, that really excel at the sitting in thing.

 

However, having a midfield 2 of Bobby and Skipp was really not going to help stem the tide

 

I think in our circumstance, you've got to play on the front foot for 90 and just try and outscore the opposition. Either that, or we set up like we have done against Liverpool and Man City in recent years and it's everyone in the box and 5 at the back. Which would be an apalling way for the team with the highest wage spend in the league to approach a game at this level.

 

How many of our players could you slot into 18 of the other teams in this league and they'd improve that team, it must be a handful. I'm not sure how we've got to a point where we're spending so much on this squad. How Rudkin is still in position I'll never understand.

[Chelmofox]

2 hours ago, Sly said:

We just lost control of the game.

 

Bristol City went up through the gears and we couldn’t cope.

It’s the blueprint on how to play us. As soon as we sit deep you can press Vestergaard and Luke like mad and they have no answers. Vestergaards ‘amazing’ passing offers no solutions when we sit deep and him and Luke have enough mistakes in them for you to get chances. 

[deep blue]

31 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

It’s the blueprint on how to play us. As soon as we sit deep you can press Vestergaard and Luke like mad and they have no answers. Vestergaards ‘amazing’ passing offers no solutions when we sit deep and him and Luke have enough mistakes in them for you to get chances. 

I can't help thinking that Vestergaad is now our biggest problem, and the sooner he is replaced the better.

 

He doesn't have the right physicality to cope with balls or players that come on him quickly (why we are so vulnerable to counter-attacks) and I feel sure we wouldn't be so welded to this slow, no-progressive passing style if he weren't at the core of it.

 

Imagine someone more mobile, with quicker feet and mind, and with a more direct clearance (quick pass, or lumping it when necessary) in his place and you can imagine something much better than what we have at the moment.

[Dmitry]

 Cifuentes’ constipated facial expression says it all….he knows that he is way over his head with this squad. Topkin should’ve sacked him weeks ago, but Topkin won’t, until it’s mathematically impossible to make it into the play-offs…or even worse than that, if you know what I mean.

[Dmitry]

5 minutes ago, deep blue said:

I can't help thinking that Vestergaad is now our biggest problem, and the sooner he is replaced the better.

Yes, he sucks, but he’s adequate for this level. Far bigger problem is the manager.

[The Fosse Way]

On 11/12/2025 at 19:05, Dan said:

I do enjoy these articles and always have a bit of a smile to myself that James Knight is drafted in for every bad result  

Lucky you again!