Wymsey Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Didn't go but its certainly sounds like we were poor in all departments and the formation with four CMs in the middle was not the way the team should have played. Was it true Ben Mee told Ricardo to f**k off at fulltime? I'm getting concerned about the morale within the team and unhappiness with certain players playing with others they don't perform will with and this needs to be addressed urgently before our rather poor form at the moment continues.
m00nie Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Lambert motivated his team at halftime. Sven clearly didn't do likewise with his. The Gareth Southgate quote from the 2002 World Cup "We needed Churchill. Instead we got Iain Duncan Smith" came to mind.. we dont know what was said at half time to be fair.. also the penalty 3 minutes into the 2nd half didnt help things
m00nie Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Didn't go but its certainly sounds like we were poor in all departments and the formation with four CMs in the middle was not the way the team should have played. Was it true Ben Mee told Ricardo to f**k off at fulltime? I'm getting concerned about the morale within the team and unhappiness with certain players playing with others they don't perform will with and this needs to be addressed urgently before our rather poor form at the moment continues. mee was involved in the penalty and his block deflected the ball in the goal for the 3rd which led t ricardo getting a lot of abuse so could understand tensions between them may have been high as both would have been totaly fed up...
Thracian Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 I'm beginning to wonder if Sven, for all his charm, is so sold on his own Press that he simply won't stop picking his favourites whatever is in front of his eyes. Leicester stopped being a meritocracy when Weale was dropped after a couple of heroic performances for a guy who has never shown himself to be worthy of our shirt in all the time I've watched him. I'm not sure whether we've won since but it hasn't been very often. Then I look at Yakuba,the guy I'm told is a Premiership class player and therefore "must be good". Well the Yak I was watching looked ready for the Knak as in Knacker's Yard. I'm not sure how Fatbloke will frame his explanation and justification for tonight's disgrace while continuing to emphasise that I know sod all. But, for me, it is hard even to precis the criticism because everthing you ever need from a football team was missisng from ours. Let's start with the goalkeeper. For the umpteeenth time tonight City fans took the unusual step of turning on one of their own and pleading for the return of Weale. Is Sven really so blind that he cannot see why? Riccardo is about as reassuring as a condom full of pinpricks. In fact he's the first goalkeeper I've ever seen who doesn't look like he doesn't even belong in a penalty area. Minnie Mouse would have more authority dealing with crosses than this fellow. The other thing I particularly want to mention is Yakubu. Even in scoring and making one or two goals Yakubu's yet to impress me for his overall performance and the more he's picked the worse he seems to get. Since Yakubu arrived everything we do has become progressively slower til tonight when it all but stopped. He won sod-all in the air, chased nothing down, showed no urgency, had unreliable close control, couldn't deliver the most simple pass, never once accomplished a give and go, failed to hold the ball up for re-distribution and must have left his team-mates utterly frustrated. Nothing flowed through him at all and that has mostly been the case for ages now. Once we had a fluid attack with Dyer, King, Vassell, Gallagher plus decent close support which passed, moved and created all sorts of problems for opponents. We had most of that (minus Vassell) for the last five minutes tonight and there was no logical explanation why we didn't have all of it for much longer together with the pleasure of seeing Yakubu's back disappearing down the tunnel for being of no consequence. For that last few minutes Gallagher instilled some urgency and positiveness into procedures, King warmed to the seemingly forgotten basic principle of passing an and moving, the ball travelled from player to player accurately if without great penetration but Norwich were irritated into conceding a free-kick from which Gallagher scored. Not an unfamiliar effect for the guy to have. Why, I ask, have we abandoned this approach simply to accomodate people who can't seem to fit in with it? I said we would need to press high and fast and certainly expected us to do that second half. But whatever Sven and friends might have said it had the effect of persuading us to completely concede ground and initiative at the start of the second half so that Norwich could advance threequarters of the way to goal unchecked and virtually camp there. It really matters not whether the penalty was just or not. We shouldn't have been there because we shouldn't have allowed ourselves to be pushed into retreat mode. It was simply asking for trouble. All but one of Sven's changes tonight came far too late. Gallagher and Dyer should have been introduced much earlier and, as far as Yakubu is concerned it could have been as early as the 10th minute he was that bad. I also think Derek Fazackerly should watch the video of that game and ask himself is that really the best he can do with us. Cos I'd have been ashamed if any team had ever played that badly for me. Hell we couldn't even throw simple throw-ins to feet and get an accurate return. For Yakubu to fail to accept responsibility for the near-post runner for their first goal was schoolboy naivity, our dead-ball kicks (Gallagher's goal excepted) were back to being boring and unimaginative, Berner got cramp because he only looked half fit, and our shooting was just so careless and indifferent, when we shot at all. We showed no urgency whatsoever, no willingness to close opponents down quickly, no willingness to just do the simple things quickly and there was so little movement that you'd have thought our team were strangers to each other, it really was that poor. Two passing situations summed the night up. On the first Oakley evaded his marker on the right and had the perfect opportunity to feed a runner and give him a likely one-against-one shot on goal. Totally unhindered he misplaced the pass by 20 yards. On another occasion Yakubu had a 15 yard pass to put us into a similar situation and also missed by a distance. This wasn't all about ability it was about a lack of pride and determination with about four fifths of our supposedly threatening team metaphorically sitting down on the job. If ex-defender Fazackerly cannot get do better than to have us concede three goals in a home game against fairly cautious opposition then he should worry cos he's now showing no signs of ever getting us to look like a goalscoring force. We had no pace, no belief, no drive into the box, no control, no cross-overs, no imagination, no-one trying to disturb defenders and no desire until those last five minutes and by then it was too late. PS: Excuses likely to follow from Fatbloke.
Haydos Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Sven said in an interview in The Fox that his knowledge of this division was zero when he arrived. The players in the squad were incapable of getting us promoted but more importantly they weren't capable of playing in the way Sven wants. He was forced in to bringing in more players than I'm sure he would like. I've enjoyed this season under Sven, we've played some great football, finish in the top 8 and we'll have done well. People are sadly lashing out and anyone and almost everyone, many blaming a goalie who wasn't at fault for any of the goals. And we could still do it, probably, almost certainly not but if Sven is here next season then I'm really looking forward to it. One reason he may not be here could be the way some fans treat players and question his decisions during a game. This is a fantastic point for me. We could have kept the same 'capable' squad and brought in another Pearson but it would have dug us in a hole and I wouldn't have been surprised if we sunk back into obscurity again. We made a positive step in bringing in Sven and the players we have done and it signifies an intention of getting out of this division and bedding down in the Premiership. Half our fickle fans can't seem to hack this reality and (not sure many can) realise we are in a massive transition that potentially gives us a much, much better shot at sustained top flight football.
Haydos Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 We cant win ugly to put it simply. The performance where we have to grind a goal out of nowherr is not in our capabilities! Sheff Utd? Bristol City? Millwall?
Raj Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 This was a shadow of the team that sven built which was steamrollering teams a month ago. He's tinkered too when it was all going good and the wheels have fallen off. The momentum is gone and the players looked mentally dead. when the 3rd goal went in there was no leader to smack a few heads together. the Capt did his best to get sent off as he was well out of his dept. no more than 3 players came out of that game with any credit. Others were either not interested or just not upto it. Norwich played us off the park in the 2nd half. Good luck to em It was men v little boys,we had no clue what to do. I find it strange that 2 wingers who were in form a month or 2 ago now find themselves as subs yet"bigger named' players got in the team. If this is what the owners wanted to sell Leicester City to the foreign market,it has backfired big time. Oh well....
dibbdroid Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Sven's record in the League: P W D L 26 13 5 8 Good enough.
Nod.E Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 We lost to abetter team who wanted it more. No harm in that. This was a shadow of the team that sven built which was steamrollering teams a month ago. He's tinkered too when it was all going good and the wheels have fallen off. The momentum is gone and the players looked mentally dead. when the 3rd goal went in there was no leader to smack a few heads together. the Capt did his best to get sent off as he was well out of his dept. no more than 3 players came out of that game with any credit. Others were either not interested or just not upto it. Norwich played us off the park in the 2nd half. Good luck to em It was men v little boys,we had no clue what to do. I find it strange that 2 wingers who were in form a month or 2 ago now find themselves as subs yet"bigger named' players got in the team. If this is what the owners wanted to sell Leicester City to the foreign market,it has backfired big time. Oh well.... Did something upset you during the 10 minutes that separate these posts?
Raj Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Did something upset you during the 10 minutes that separate these posts? Coffee kicked in pal!
Bert Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 We were too narrow last night, which left them free to play with width badly stretching us. That formation is a good away performance but not at home.
reynard Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 I thought the first half was quite an even contest and we could perhaps should have gone in 2-1 up. Both sides were wide open and both were playing some good football. The second half though was a different story completely. They simply blew us away, their movement was better, their passing was faster and the looked like a team with a lot of self belief and confidence and I have to say throughly desreved to win. In fact I'd say they were the best team I've seen all season. They may not have the top quality players but they just looked like a proper unit, well managed and their front players never stopped running. As to us well in the second half we never looked interested. Tactics. if we are going to play a diamond at home than we have to have more pace in the team. For most of the match our only attacking option was Naughton and the warning signs were there in the very first minute when he failed to get to a pass and they broke away. I thought he did ok but he was constantly isolated and received very little support in the way of passing options from our front two players. Defensively: what a mess. Bamba was terrible, constantly losing his man and getting the wrong side of him, totally at fault for their third goal,Mee wasn't at his best and "gave away"? the penalty. yet he wasn't helped by a pretty average at best display from Berner who looked leggy and frankly a player at the end of his career at this level. A keeper, though not at fault for the goals,who doesn't seem to inspire confidence. Midfield: Was there one? The first half was ok, King made a couple of good runs and perhaps should have done better, Wellens scored but Oakley and Abe were having to work so hard just to keep them at bay. We were so narrow that Norwich just moved us around from side to side and we didn't have the pace to cope. Oakley simply hasn't got the pace any longer, Abe was simply swamped in the second half but at least tried hard, wellens faded badly in the second and King looks tired. As usual I'm afraid when the going gets tough he just seems to vanish, some of his challenges last night were so feeble our neighbours 6 year old would have been embarrased. Attack: What can you say. I'm sorry but for a professional footballer (whatever he is earning) to apparently put in such little effort is disgraceful. There are times when a team needs to defend from the from but I can't remember Yakuba putting in a single tackle, he made no or very little effort to close players down, unless he scores it is like playing with 10 men. Vassell looks a busted flush. Ok he gets into some good positions but he does nohing with them, the number of times he stops and turns back inside and goes nowhere is too many. There needs to be a long hard look at where we are now. The play offs are still possible but probably unlikely so we really need to be thinking about next season. it was always unlikely we would make them given our terrible start to the season but to get so close and then fall away is a tad disappointing. The question is how many of last night's team will start next season if as looks likely we are still in the championship? Is it time to try some of our own youngsters even in short cameo appearances so Sven can get a proper match scene assessment of them? There's a lot of hard work to do to turn us into a team rather than a collective group of talented players who sometimes click.
Bluefoxtim Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Some perspective... We had an amazing run and then have lost twice to 2 good teams and got a draw in a local derby. With our poor start it was inevitable that any sort of bad patch would spell the end. I see Forest lost again - both defeats to lesser teams than the ones we played. The difference is that they didn't have Sousa in charge at the start of the season and so blips can be compensated for.
clarkeylcfc Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 3-1 down 15 to go y not bring on schlupp? Had nothing to lose
Bluefoxtim Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 3-1 down 15 to go y not bring on schlupp? Had nothing to lose Don't think you want a youngsters first game to be in a team playing poorly and being booed by their own fans.
skinnydipper Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Think we had the better individuals but they had the better team. Built on 18 months of success they were better organised, worked harder and understood their roles better than our team with it's many new additions and constantly changing line up. Although Ricardo not at fault for anyof the goals he was fortunate not to let 2 in during the first half when he minced around coming for the ball We were too ponderous going forward having to break down 2 banks of 4 every time we got near the box. If you're going to play a keeper with quick distribution then surely you've got to get the ball forward quickly before their defence has time to get set, particularly so when we otherwise lacked the guile to open it up.
lestajigs Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Sven's record in the League: P W D L 26 13 5 8 Good enough.
reynard Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 I am not going to express this very well but the difference between the two teams this evening was team spirit and the effect of the half time talk on that group endeavour. In the first half we matched Norwich and at times we had the edge and good chances, without playing particularly well. I thought we could go on to win. What was said at half time? Whatever it was did not inspire our players to raise their game. And even though every game is important, this was an IMPORTANT game. Norwich came out second half and took control of the game and we were second best in all respects until the 93rd minute. What was said at half time? From the evidence on the pitch the Norwich players were reminded very strongly of what was at stake and they were very strongly encouraged to get at us, win the first ball, win the second ball and close us down when we were in possession. Paul Lambert, like Nigel Pearson did with us, has turned reasonably good average players into a well organised and confident side where individual reputations depend upon the success of the team. Having lost the lead, at half time they were re-energised. They worked together as a team and were determined to win. And they did. Easily. In contrast, tonight we were a collection of talented and not so talented individuals and after half time we seemed totally drained of energy. Paul Lambert had given his team a clue. We lost ours. I think the difference may be between a manager who has to weld a team together and foster self belief and then drive the team forward (Lambert and Pearson – and even Holloway with Blackpool) and a manager like Sven, who I love and admire for his positive affect on the club, who is a very astute manager and coach but who relies on the acquisition of technically gifted players who are then expected to win matches through their contribution to good passing football and through individual brilliance. I am not expressing it well I know because it is something of a false distinction. It is the distinction between an emphasis on individual prowess and team ethos and solidarity. I don’t agree with the negative criticism of Ricardo but he is a case in point. Clearly, given his record, he is a world class goalkeeper, so he goes into the team. How could he not. Just like Yacubu up front, who is another case in point. However, he may or may not be the best choice from the point of view of team solidarity and the understanding and confidence of the defence. Eleven individually gifted footballers do not necessarily make a consistently winning team. The difference next season is that Sven will not be fire fighting once the season has started but will be able to build a team from the beginning of the season but in my humble opinion the team building will need to be as important as technical prowess. very well put and I agree completely.
breadandcheese Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 We were too narrow last night, which left them free to play with width badly stretching us. That formation is a good away performance but not at home. This. I said this at Loftus Road. Sadly, it showed heavily last night as we struggled to break them down or retain the ball. Norwich were the best team to play at the Walkers this season. They played positively and passed the ball well. We should aspire to that.
Unit Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Horrible game to tie in with my 21st birthday! The most surprising thing I found was how awful Bamba was
Delia Smith Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 From here : http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/08/norwich-capitulate-to-colchester To here http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city-fc/norwich_city_boss_lambert_that_s_as_good_as_it_has_been_1_824059 In 17 Months Our players are slower than yours and most of them dont have the technical ability like yours but if you get a manager can install belief and suck out every bit of determination from them then you will witness something special. If we get promoted and then relegated we will not ever sack Paul Lambert, stick with one manager and over the years he will build you a team Thanks for last night great stadium miss filbert street though NB
Poakey Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 From here : http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/08/norwich-capitulate-to-colchester To here http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city-fc/norwich_city_boss_lambert_that_s_as_good_as_it_has_been_1_824059 In 17 Months Our players are slower than yours and most of them dont have the technical ability like yours but if you get a manager can install belief and suck out every bit of determination from them then you will witness something special. If we get promoted and then relegated we will not ever sack Paul Lambert, stick with one manager and over the years he will build you a team Thanks for last night great stadium miss filbert street though NB Dont we all
breadandcheese Posted 9 March 2011 Posted 9 March 2011 Did anyone else see Roy Hodgson last night? I saw him walking into the club reception before the game. At least he won't have been particularly impressed with any of our players.
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