Thracian Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Your joking right? Loving the style of football. The players should be encouraged to shoot more often, thats where the goals come from. For me, I thought we were trying to work the ball into the goal, rather than having a crack inside the box, and having a go. Oakley was quality, for them idiots on the radio to say he played bad. I'll admit, I'm not a fan of Oakleys, but he played very well. Neilson was class again. As was DJ. I don't think we need another striker. Just encourage them to shoot. We have 3 quality strikers, Dany can play upfront, so can Gally, and if we're desperate Crncic. That's a valid point about the shooting and one I mentioned to my son on the way out. With the pitch being so wet there was always a chance of a deflection, or that the skiddin ball would make it hard or impossible for the goalkeeper to hold. Reminded me of Arsenal when they started going off the rails by playing wonderful football but passes too many around the box.
Guest ttfn Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 The more I think about the game yesterday the more I think there's been a massive, massive over-reaction on here. We've just played a Middlesbrough side who were there for the taking. Beaten 3-1 at home by an average Ipswich side on the opening day, and they lost 2-0 to us at the Walkers at the back end of last season. And yet over 90 minutes we carved out one, maybe two clear cut opportunities. Sure, we played some nice football. At times. It seems like I am in a minority of about 10% who saw a lot of long balls hit either over the top or to Howard's head in the first half. The reason Howard was left on as long as he was was not that he was playing well. Rather it was that Fryatt was never going to have the aerial threat required to continue to play the way we were. The fawning over DJ Campbell is absolutely absurd. As I stated earlier, he will be an asset in this league, of that much I'm now convinced. That, however, is exclusively due to his pace. Over 90 minutes we carved out significantly less chances than we tend to in games when Fryatt plays, whilst Campbell's finishing proved no better, wasting an excellent opportunity by contriving to head wide with the goal gaping after absolutely superb work by Neilson and Dyer on the right. And the reaction of some of the crowd? 'DEEEJAY'! Ridiculous. Some people have rated DJ 9.5/10 or our man of the match. I'd like to know on what criteria that was based. A free kick I would have saved? An admittedly wonderful first touch to keep the ball in play? Pace that scared the notoriously sluggish David Wheater? I can only presume that it wasn't the countless times he passed the ball to a red shirt or wasted our best opportunities. I'm not saying he played badly, but to say he was our best player is virtually indefensible. Sousa's substitutions were also odd. We had one of the best strikers on the league sitting on the bench and didn't bring him on until there was 10 mins to go. Bringing Gallagher on was the right decision but Lamey? Neilson was playing just fine. All in all I left feeling considerably less entertained than I was when Pearson was manager. But that probably makes me a neanderthal. I think yesterday was a pretty massive case of the emperor's new clothes. I'm not convinced he was wearing any.
marbelladave Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 The more I think about the game yesterday the more I think there's been a massive, massive over-reaction on here. We've just played a Middlesbrough side who were there for the taking. Beaten 3-1 at home by an average Ipswich side on the opening day, and they lost 2-0 to us at the Walkers at the back end of last season. And yet over 90 minutes we carved out one, maybe two clear cut opportunities. Sure, we played some nice football. At times. It seems like I am in a minority of about 10% who saw a lot of long balls hit either over the top or to Howard's head in the first half. The reason Howard was left on as long as he was was not that he was playing well. Rather it was that Fryatt was never going to have the aerial threat required to continue to play the way we were. The fawning over DJ Campbell is absolutely absurd. As I stated earlier, he will be an asset in this league, of that much I'm now convinced. That, however, is exclusively due to his pace. Over 90 minutes we carved out significantly less chances than we tend to in games when Fryatt plays, whilst Campbell's finishing proved no better, wasting an excellent opportunity by contriving to head wide with the goal gaping after absolutely superb work by Neilson and Dyer on the right. And the reaction of some of the crowd? 'DEEEJAY'! Ridiculous. Some people have rated DJ 9.5/10 or our man of the match. I'd like to know on what criteria that was based. A free kick I would have saved? An admittedly wonderful first touch to keep the ball in play? Pace that scared the notoriously sluggish David Wheater? I can only presume that it wasn't the countless times he passed the ball to a red shirt or wasted our best opportunities. I'm not saying he played badly, but to say he was our best player is virtually indefensible. Sousa's substitutions were also odd. We had one of the best strikers on the league sitting on the bench and didn't bring him on until there was 10 mins to go. Bringing Gallagher on was the right decision but Lamey? Neilson was playing just fine. All in all I left feeling considerably less entertained than I was when Pearson was manager. But that probably makes me a neanderthal. I think yesterday was a pretty massive case of the emperor's new clothes. I'm not convinced he was wearing any. Whoaaa! And I thought I was disapointed!... Overall I have issues with our setup rather than individual players, all of whom played ok and did what was expected of them. It was what they were asked to do that was the issue for me. I thought giving Oakley the holding role worked fine but pushing King forward into the 'hole' did not. 'Boro found him easier to pick up and we missed his usual contribution in midfield, more importantly this gave Wellens the playmaker role, a mistake in my view. He takes far too long on the ball and is always looking for the outstanding pass, most of which do not come off. King is much more suited to this role, his quick passing gives our counter attacks pace, something they were missing yesterday as several posters have pointed out. With King providing the main support for Howard, I feel that both Dyer and DJ played too wide and failed to get into the box enough, Howard is never going to trouble defences without support and yesterday he did not get enough. Quite a lot of long ball were played up to him, mostly in the first half hour when we struggled to really get into the game (after a bright start) but nothing game of them, after that we started to pass the ball better and were dominant both before and just after the half. Around the hour mark 'boro were coming back into the game but the substitutions, from both sides, broke up the pattern of the game and things became scrappy. The introduction of Fryatt was both too late and for the wrong player and Lamey's introduction did nothing but confirm that Neilson's time as a starter is very limited. All in all I think our play is developing nicely, but some things did not really work and as I said earlier, this is most definitely a 'work in progress'.
Bryn Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 You can only post what's available to you... Feel free to post some yourself if you feel you can do better.... Not DavieG's ffs, why would I criticise his efforts? I meant the Football League Show.
Guest ttfn Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Whoaaa! And I thought I was disapointed!... Overall I have issues with our setup rather than individual players, all of whom played ok and did what was expected of them. It was what they were asked to do that was the issue for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't think we were awful or anything. I just think that some of the comments suggesting we'll batter teams if we play like that are way over the top. We created barely anything. And I certainly don't have any issues with the performance of individual players - the right team was selected yesterday but as you go on to say, the wrong roles were handed out. I'm not sure we're playing the 'passing style' everyone seems to think we are either.
breadandcheese Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 I remember during the world cup reading Tim Vickery's blog on the bbc website about Brazil's evolution in playing style and he provided this quote. "In this new, more athletic football, the statistics seemed to indicate that a move's chances of ending in a goal were reduced if it contained more than seven passes." http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/timvickery/2010/07/netherlands_v_brazil_1974.html We've never been a great team on the counter and I worry that we don't break with enough speed. If we can improve on that, then I think we could be a force.
Foxblogger Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Don't get me wrong, I don't think we were awful or anything. I just think that some of the comments suggesting we'll batter teams if we play like that are way over the top. We created barely anything. I'm not sure that last statement is fair. City had 13 attempts on goal yesterday, more than in 33 league matches last season. 10 attempts were on target too, a feat we only bettered in one game last year. For what it's worth Leicester also won more corners than in any match last season (16). Admittedly I wasn't there, but those numbers don't suggest to me that City were a side lacking attacking impetus yesterday.
Bryn Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 I'm not sure that last statement is fair. City had 13 attempts on goal yesterday, more than in 33 league matches last season. 10 attempts were on target too, a feat we only bettered in one game last year. For what it's worth Leicester also won more corners than in any match last season (16). Admittedly I wasn't there, but those number don't suggest to me that City were a side lacking attacking impetus yesterday. We were definitely a bit too "pass to death" but this starts bear out my thoughts on the game, we were very offensive and looked threatening, but just lacked that final edge. Still, we won 1-0 if the lino hadn't got King's goal wrong (which the Football League Show suggested he did).
lildave3 Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Moreno is basically the exact opposite of Wayne Brown. And Bilo, were you at the game?
Corky Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Moreno is basically the exact opposite of Wayne Brown. And Bilo, were you at the game? Loved it when a long ball was played forward by Boro and he calmly chested it down to Oakley.
Ozwin Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Moreno has got some engine on him too. There was this one point when his man had about 5 yards on him and he Usain Bolted it to catch him up and make the tackle. I like him already.
martyn Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 A fit Tunchev back alongside Hobbs, with Moreno sitting in front of those 2. Pretty impregnable should that ever come to fruition.
Fox92 Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 An exciting 0-0 draw for once. We played well and the score flattered them a bit. Lovely football, Wellens and Oakley were great. DJ and Howard constant threats all game.
Guest Bilo Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Moreno is basically the exact opposite of Wayne Brown. And Bilo, were you at the game? I wasn't mate, watched it on a stream at home. I'm not back in Leicester till September.
MC Prussian Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 My two cents to the piece. I absolutely love the way Sousa has the lads play. Slick one-touch football, the opposition couldn't really cope with that. Shame King got called offside - it wasn't. Then again, it's a very hard decision in the moment and I wouldn't solely blame the linesman. We dominated the game and were unlucky not to score. For about 70, 75 minutes, Middlesbrough had about three chances in total and we were simply all over them. Campbell, Fryatt, King, Howard, Dyer, Wellens all made themselves heard with shots on goal. Although you have to acknowledge that Steele had a great day in goal for them Northerners. MotM for them, on our side I'd give that recognition to DJ Campbell who was a thorn in the Boro defense on many, many occasions. Totally disappointed by Boyd, no impact on the game whatsoever and overall, Boro had little to offer. Why they're labeled promotion contenders I can't tell. I also don't understand why we did not play with a proper left-winger, we had Oakley, Wellens and King all competing in the middle of the park. I don't see what the point is in starting all three of them. Oakley did a solid job in (defensive) midfield, but it's clear he no longer has the legs to act as an offensive threat. Workhorse Wellens appeared a bit too selfish at times, his shots are too weak. Sousa needs to work on the corners - we had another (felt) 15 yesterday, with no positive outcome. Then again, DJ's free-kick was a joy to the eye. Shame Steele had to spoil it. Another rather poor referee (with the away team's shirt on). But in all fairness, he managed to let the game flow for most part and dared not to dish out too many cards in the process. However, the yellow against Moreno in the second was laughable. No way was he going for the opponent. Top day out, lovely weather as well. Quite looking forward to this season - I believe it'll take some time for all pieces to come together in Sousa's masterplan. I'd say the players are still in the process of adapting to the new "Continental Europe" kind of play, but are more and more getting into it. It's that refreshing to see a game with no single hoof ball being played! Oh, and Hull losing 4-0 probably helped, too.
davieG Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Bad luck for Thomson Middlesbrough midfielder Kevin Thomson has been ruled out for two months after fracturing his fibula against Leicester City. The Scotland international was making just his second appearance for Boro on Saturday when he was hurt in the second half of the 0-0 draw. He will not require surgery on the injury, but has been denied the chance to establish himself in the Boro team following his arrival from Rangers. Boro manager Gordon Strachan rued the setback for Thomson, which follows on from the serious injury suffered by Willo Flood in the opening game against Ipswich Town. Strachan told the club's official website: "I was hoping Kevin would be all right, but you can tell when someone's seriously hurt. "It's bad news for the player and a big loss too for the team because he has been our best passer in the first two league games. "That's two stretchers in two weeks because we lost Willo Flood long-term last week too. We've got Rhys Williams missing too of course. We've not had much luck with injuries in my time here."
Leicester_Loyal Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 They shouldn't go out to deliberately foul and injure our players then, which I felt they tried to do on a couple of occasions. Serves themselves right in my opinion.
C-man Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Bad luck for Thomson Shame for the lad. Having said that, I thought our players should have been more aware of his position when he was lying prone in their area and we were breaking. I know Wellens was cynically fouled but DJ should have sprinted into the box earlier and given Wellens a quicker ball. Heartless maybe, but within our rights. Rooney did it last year against Hull and nothing was made of it.
Bert Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 Shame for the lad. Having said that, I thought our players should have been more aware of his position when he was lying prone in their area and we were breaking. I know Wellens was cynically fouled but DJ should have sprinted into the box earlier and given Wellens a quicker ball. Heartless maybe, but within our rights. Rooney did it last year against Hull and nothing was made of it. That is bad, was a fantastic tackle on Neilson what lead to it! I said this to Maybes, that DJ should've probably just gone and stood where their player was laying injured, because he couldn't have been offside. Maybury wasn't happy with 'boro moaning that we then didn't kick the ball out. Words along the line of "Fuck off Gary O'Neil, you had the fucking ball you twat"
Unabomber Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 I guess this is just what happens when you get in the way of a potential Robbie Neilson thunderbolt.
Ozwin Posted 15 August 2010 Posted 15 August 2010 You could hear how hard he kicked him from way back in L1! I can't believe that OUR Robbie Nielson has had 3 top notch games, I really hope he keeps it up, he's been fantastic.
marbelladave Posted 16 August 2010 Posted 16 August 2010 You could hear how hard he kicked him from way back in L1! I can't believe that OUR Robbie Nielson has had 3 top notch games, I really hope he keeps it up, he's been fantastic. Agreed... However his game is limited and I see him being replaced by Lamey in fairly short order. Remember, Lamey is a Sousa signing, Neilson was brought in by NFP, no contest.
Leicester_Loyal Posted 16 August 2010 Posted 16 August 2010 But will Neilson + Lamey have much more to offer after this season or next? There both 30. Do we have any other good right backs in the squad?
marbelladave Posted 16 August 2010 Posted 16 August 2010 But will Neilson + Lamey have much more to offer after this season or next? There both 30. Do we have any other good right backs in the squad? Ermmm....No. These players are to help get us into the Premier League, they might be good enough to do that this season or next. One or the other might get a season in the Prem as backup, but I doubt either will be good/young enough to be regular starters. Sad to say the same is probably true of Berner so we will be buiding a new back 4 around Hobbs. If Vitor doesn't shape up then we may as well start now with a decent (ideally left sided) centerback...
MPH Posted 16 August 2010 Posted 16 August 2010 But will Neilson + Lamey have much more to offer after this season or next? There both 30. Do we have any other good right backs in the squad? Are you seriously saying that at the age of 31 professional footballers are passed it?
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