We must do better......

[davieG]

......... says Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson

Merc

Nigel Pearson says his Leicester City side must "raise the bar" if they are to compete for promotion this season.

David Nugent scored a stunning equaliser to give City a share of the spoils in the 1-1 draw against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday.

But City needed goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to produce two stunning saves to keep them in the game.

He produced an excellent reaction save at the start of the second half to deny Dave Kitson and then produced another great stop from Hayden Mullins.

Overall, Pearson said his players must do better.

"Ultimately, we need to raise the bar somewhat and strive to win tight games like this," said Pearson.

"We need to have higher expectations of ourselves.

"I know this is a difficult place to come to and we were probably the architects of most of our problems, in terms of not building on a good start we made to the game and getting caught up in an end-to-end game without really asserting ourselves.

"The fact we have been waiting for back-to-back wins for a considerable time shows why we have not really asserted ourselves on the league yet.

"If we are serious about doing well in this league this season, we have to start getting back-to-back wins.

"When we conceded the goal, we were fairly comfortable, so that was disappointing.

"But the players showed really good courage and application to get back into it.

"We didn't start the second half very well because we could have conceded, but the encouraging thing is we finished the game very well.

"The players showed a determination to get back into the game and I am always going to look at the positives.

"We will address what we need to address and then move on."

Pearson praised his keeper, Schmeichel, and goalscorer Nugent, but said it was more about the collective rather than individuals, and he is looking for improvements.

"It was a world-class, outstanding save and was very important at that point of the game," said Pearson of Schmeichel's stop from Kitson.

"It was a key moment but, collectively, the players showed a lot of character to get into the game.

"David plays with a smile on his face, but he is also a better player than a lot of people give him credit for.

"But it is about the collective, and we need to control the tempo of the game at times so that, when the opposition have a decent spell, we need to make it more difficult for them.

"But, overall, there were a lot of positives we can take from this."

[Ric Flair]

I am liking the fact that Pearson is not trying to shy away from the situation we are in from the previous regime. He is demanding more from our players and wants and expects a challenge for promotion this season. He'll not accept what's happening and I can see an improvement quickly.

These 7 or 8 games before the year is out are all winnable in my eyes and if Nigel can break that barrier with our players to gain some consistency then 6 wins will put us in the play-offs and in the mixer.

[Izzet is God]

Nice to see Pearson expecting more....as we all have since the start of the season.

Hopefully the players will soon up their game and stop conceding sloppy goals. If we want promotion we can't keep giving other teams chances like we do.

[Corky]

What I like to hear.

[leicesterseddon]

Under Sven that would have been a 'well-earned point'...

[DB11]

Under Sven that would have been a 'well-earned point'...

Under Sven that would have been a loss

[Yojoe36]

Good to hear, to be honest, and I agree with him.

[artursteppe]

Improvement has to come from the midfield. If Pearson is serious about our failings, expect some changes with his 'old guard' in midfield. We will not get the consistency we need for a promotion challenge with a midfield of Wellens, King, Gallagher and Dyer. There is quality at the back and quality up front, the problems we have controlling games is due to our weak midfield! Fact!

[MPH]

Improvement has to come from the midfield. If Pearson is serious about our failings, expect some changes with his 'old guard' in midfield. We will not get the consistency we need for a promotion challenge with a midfield of Wellens, King, Gallagher and Dyer. There is quality at the back and quality up front, the problems we have controlling games is due to our weak midfield! Fact!

I think to take city a step further than he did last time he was he he needs to utilise the funds at his disposal- im sure he knows that too... defence is great, forwards are great we just need the midfield sorting....

The difference between now and back then is if he uncovers a player like Mark Davies again, we actually have the funds to make it a permanent signing instead of just a loan ( player willing, of course!)

[Legend_in_blue]

First things first - don't get yourselves beat.

That will be the message from NP to the squad of players.

I can see us doing just that and it might not be pretty up until January but NP needs to set the stall out early and look for gradual improvements from there.

So far he's on target to achieve just that imo.

[Thracian]

I think to take city a step further than he did last time he was he he needs to utilise the funds at his disposal- im sure he knows that too... defence is great, forwards are great we just need the midfield sorting....

The difference between now and back then is if he uncovers a player like Mark Davies again, we actually have the funds to make it a permanent signing instead of just a loan ( player willing, of course!)

"Defence is great, forwards are great..." how on earth did you come up with that? Pearson talked time and again, not about individuals, but about "the collective". In other words how the team perfoms together as a unit.

It's been mentioned before that, too often, our team doesn't move as one - with everyone supporting attacks and everyone contributing defensively.

Take Peltier and Konshesky. Against Palace they played as genuine wing-backs, offering passing options to the midfield and driving forward and even behind he Palace defence to have significant or potentially significant effect on our attacks.

It didn't sound as if they had anything like the same effect at Portsmouth.

Then there's our front two. In no way are they even a partnership yet. Looking at the ratings Beckford had an average game - a bit better than some he's played but that means nothing because the standard he's set has been overwhelmingly disappointing.

You mention midfield but Wellens was judged many people's MoM and King had a decent game defensively which sounded pretty important at times.

So why the issue of our underperforming should be just a midfield thing I don't know. Everyone knows we need another quick winger but Pearson mentions our tempo generally and, again, it's been referred to that we don't always lift ourselves out of the comfort zone and drive ourselves when the need or opportunity arises.

This is a massive failing and one of the major differences between The Championship and The Premiership...the way players sprint into counter attack or sprint back to make up for mistakes.

We're much more laid back about it. In fact we seem to favour defending from deep positions rather than defending by exerting pressure high up the pitch, something which will always have an effect on tempo.

Of course Pearson will use the resources available to make improvements but it won't be easy finding players who exert themselves wandering around unwanted by decent clubs. So first and foremost we need to get that attitude into the players who are here...or use people who will show that urgency and determination .

And if that's the case, it won't be just midfielders being asked to improve.

[Wherethefoxhat?]

Improvement has to come from the midfield. If Pearson is serious about our failings, expect some changes with his 'old guard' in midfield. We will not get the consistency we need for a promotion challenge with a midfield of Wellens, King, Gallagher and Dyer. There is quality at the back and quality up front, the problems we have controlling games is due to our weak midfield! Fact!

[Foxtrot Duo]

Don't forget Nigel that it's your job to make them perform better.

[marbelladave]

Don't forget Nigel that it's your job to make them perform better.

Steady on......

He has been in charge for less than two weeks......

I thought his assessment was pretty spot on, he talks about the collective performance of the team and as Thracian points out this is pivotal. In just two games we have seen a noticeable improvement in our commitment and application, a good start.

Getting the team better organised is something I expect from NFP, but getting us playing a more expansive game, a prime requirement for promotion in my view, will be more difficult.

He has a reputation for a somewhat dour, conservative style but there is no reason in my mind for this to continue, against Portsmouth he may have picked an unchanged side but I thought his substitutions and subsequent change to our formation altered the game descisively.

Only two games in and I think NFP is showing considerable promise, progress on the pitch and a more relaxed manner when dealing with the media, more of the same please.....

[Bob Weasel Fox]

We must do better . . . . . .sensible words at this stage, enough said

[MPH]

"Defence is great, forwards are great..." how on earth did you come up with that? Pearson talked time and again, not about individuals, but about "the collective". In other words how the team perfoms together as a unit.

It's been mentioned before that, too often, our team doesn't move as one - with everyone supporting attacks and everyone contributing defensively.

Take Peltier and Konshesky. Against Palace they played as genuine wing-backs, offering passing options to the midfield and driving forward and even behind he Palace defence to have significant or potentially significant effect on our attacks.

It didn't sound as if they had anything like the same effect at Portsmouth.

Then there's our front two. In no way are they even a partnership yet. Looking at the ratings Beckford had an average game - a bit better than some he's played but that means nothing because the standard he's set has been overwhelmingly disappointing.

You mention midfield but Wellens was judged many people's MoM and King had a decent game defensively which sounded pretty important at times.

So why the issue of our underperforming should be just a midfield thing I don't know. Everyone knows we need another quick winger but Pearson mentions our tempo generally and, again, it's been referred to that we don't always lift ourselves out of the comfort zone and drive ourselves when the need or opportunity arises.

This is a massive failing and one of the major differences between The Championship and The Premiership...the way players sprint into counter attack or sprint back to make up for mistakes.

We're much more laid back about it. In fact we seem to favour defending from deep positions rather than defending by exerting pressure high up the pitch, something which will always have an effect on tempo.

Of course Pearson will use the resources available to make improvements but it won't be easy finding players who exert themselves wandering around unwanted by decent clubs. So first and foremost we need to get that attitude into the players who are here...or use people who will show that urgency and determination .

And if that's the case, it won't be just midfielders being asked to improve.

ya see thats where your problem is. You don't have a clue. . You talk as if i don't make sense and then say how great the defenders were against Palace... and shock horror! we were more defensive playing away from home.. Also the wingers are PART of the midfielders.. its called 4-4-2 that Nigel plays. That's the area that needs strengthening. More penetration from the middle of the park is also needed.

Nigel has said himself he wants to play a more expansive game... and for that you need creative midfielders.. and for all our huffing and puffing in midfield we dont create much under the 4-4-2. So you either revert to a different formation or buy players that suite that formation.... and Nigel is a 4-4-2 man. its not rocket science...

You act as if you are in someway superior in your football knowledge than even our current manager. But you're not, and you need to realize that.