Player ratings vs Ipswich

[Dan]

anyone who slags beckford off today needs to look at doing something else instead of pretending to know anything about football or be a fan of football and go and spend sometime with the missus shopping instead of gracing the football match. both nugent and beckford got NO service today whatsoever . if anything nugent was poor holding the ball up today and both looked frustrated to say the least.

we have gone from looking quite dangerous and building a good team under sven to a clueless outfit who cant even create chances at home.

can you honestly say that team today could beat Southampton ???? i hope pearson has some good signings lined up or we will be lamenting another wasted season.

Oh, so because I didn't rate that complete shower of shite of a display, I should go shopping and know nothing about football. Another game where our big money forward, who's been brought in to specifically score goals, has failed to score. Another.

Good day to you.

[Foxes1]

What's all this about Abe having a poor game out of all the midfield players he was the best of the lot. Today he did a lot of defensive work which can't be said about the rest of them.

As for Beckford he had a decent second half but first half was poor, still we could have had Chopra in the team now he was S H I T E.

[Guest Col city fan]

Kasper 6 - great penalty save. At fault for the goal. He clearly shouted Bamba to leave the ball and then hesitated and stood on his line. Why else would Bamba leave it when he was about to clear it?

Pelts 5 - not at his best, but battled on regardless.

Konch 6 - gave away the penalty but didn't let it affect an otherwise solid performance.

Mills 7 - Solid, not much got by him.

Bamba 6 - Should've cleared leading up to their goal but poor communication stopped that.

Dyer 4 - Crap

Gallagher 6 - Decent game today, most of our danger came from him.

Wellens 6 - Huffed and puffed. Won the penalty, but needs a rest.

Abe 8 - Our standout player.

Nugent 4 - his worst game for us.

Beckford 7 - apart from one poor touch early in I thought he did well today. Made space, fed balls into people, decent movement.

King 3 - What was he for?

Howard and Schlupp not on long enough.

What have Danns and Fernandes got to do to get a game?

Beckford 7!

lol

He didn't have a shot!

[accessory]

Schmeichel - 7. Excellent penalty save and another solid performance.

Peltier - 6. Decent in defence but produced little of note in attack.

Mills - 6. Commanding in the air but cannot pass a ball to save his life. Looked uncomfortable throughout the game.

Bamba - 5. Wowed the crowd with second half showboating (even though it was unproductive) but lapses cost us a goal and could have led to more. Let him go to the Cup of Nations.

Konchesky - 6. Dreadful start, was better second half but still made too many basic errors.

Gallagher - 7. Our only source of creativity - produced some tricky crosses which forwards failed to read. Took penalty well, though wasted several promising free-kicks.

Bellend - 5. Less inept than in previous games, but still well short of the standard needed for this league. Should have stayed in Manchester for some more quality time with his kids.

Abe - 8*. A performance of class and composure, though occasionally looked rusty after his long absence from starting line-up. Would improve midfield further with Danns and/or Fernandes alongside him.

Dyer - 2. Contributed nothing to the game and made Josh Low look like Cristiano Ronaldo. Deserved to be subbed earlier than he was.

Nugent - 5. Frustrated by the dross around him and lucky to escape punishment after off-the ball clash with Delaney. Apart from one shot against keeper's legs, never threatened to add to goals tally.

Beckford - 4. No interaction with Nugent or indeed (Schmeichel apart) the rest of the side. Looked a square peg in a round hole and has finally exhausted the patience of fans.

King - 4. The very opposite of an impact sub. May as well have stayed on the bench as contribution was minimal.

Howard - N/A

Schlupp - N/A

[ithuriel]

Just have to say since peeps forgot or missed it that Pelts put a great ground skimming cross across their box late in the first half with three of our players in the box and no one reacted, think it was Nugent, Wellens and Beckford.

Delaney was very lucky not to be sent off, Nugent was chest barging him a little and Delaney raised his hand and it looked like a slap to me at which point Gallagher got involved. The linesman saw it since he flagged but the ref did not do anything apart from do a drop ball near the centre circle :xmasunsure:

[Thracian]

Schmeichel 6 - Good penalty save but culpable in their goal. Distribution was erratic.

Peltier 5.5 - OK but not his best game by any means

Mills 5.5 - Looked shaky but got better as the game progressed

Bamba 6 - A couple of times nearly got us in trouble but at least he tried to get the players and the crowd going with his driving runs

Konchesky 6.5 - Pick of the defenders and would have been marked higher had it not been for the penalty error

Dyer 4.5 - Drifted inside far too much meaning we lacked width in the first half

Wellens 4 - Close between him and Beckford for worst player. Created barely anything and gave the ball away too many times. Thought Abe playing alongside him would free him to play his more natural game but didn't happen

Abe 7 - Best player for us, particularly second half where he helped protect the defence well and broke up a number of their attacks. Only criticism would be his final ball where he gave away possession in good areas

Gallagher 6.5 - Worked hard and scored a penalty. Put in some good crosses as well

Nugent 5 - Tireless effort but nothing seemed to come off for him today

Beckford 4.5 - Better in the second half but didn't show much hunger. His movement wasn't great and stuck to the left wing too much in the first half, which betrayed a lack of confidence

Subs:

King 4.5 - Ineffective

Howard N/A A couple of nice flick-ons towards the end

Schlupp N/A His turn of pace nearly won us a penalty and was willing to run at the Ipswich defence. Should start in front of Beckford in our next game

Couldn't believe some of the earlier marks where some players were getting 7 or 8s - wonder whether they were at the game. It was a poor game and we were good enough to get a draw. Don't think Mills and Bamba works as a centre-half pairing as both like to lead and have their rash moments. Think St Ledger or Tunchev would bring more stability alongside either of them.

You've saved me a job. That's a pretty reasonable assessment. People like Mills, Wellens and Beckford seem to be part of our problem rather than anything to do with the solution - it's like a self-imposed handicap...one big weak link in every department.

a) Mills. Wins a good amount of possession, finds himself a yard or two, looks up and gives the ball away with yet another aimlessly chipped floater to nowhere in particular. We need busy midfielders to be moving, finding space and positively demanding the ball from him - and played to feet. Mills makes us forget about football so that now we're neither a passing team nopr route one.

b) Wellens: Just doesn't cog with King or anyone else really. He is a dominant personality who gets noticed for the odd sprayed pass but he just doesn't sustain attacks - let alone quickly. He's a footballing impressionist. He doesn't pose any sort of goal threat and there's no chance of give and goes or fast, one-touch counter attacks.

c) Beckford. Every striker has goal famines and the important thing is what they contribute during those times. And, with Beckford it isn't a lot. His close control - particularly his first touch - seems so bad I wonder if he needs contact lenses or suchlike. He doesn't win and hold the ball up, he's not a creator or goals for others, he doesn't do much when the opposition has the ball so when he's not actually scoring it's like we're a man short.

Put the effect of all three together and you get a performance like yesterday's when we hardly had a shot and mustered one two or three moves all game of any merit.

They weren't the only culprits yesterday - but they are all in key positions and what they do seems to affect everyone else and the performance of our entire side.

Put simply we're not retaining possession from the back, we're not creating/sustaining attacks from midfield and we're desperately short of real, cor-ordinated bite up front. In other words, we're not a team at all.

[marbelladave]

Isn't that his job? To get in tackles and win a fair amount of the ball? He's not the last line of defence, he's there to break up opposition attacks, make interceptions, and lay the ball off to teammates. So other than you saying he gives away the ball a fair amount, it's a pretty positive comment in favour of him really...

What's all this about Abe having a poor game out of all the midfield players he was the best of the lot. Today he did a lot of defensive work which can't be said about the rest of them.

As for Beckford he had a decent second half but first half was poor, still we could have had Chopra in the team now he was S H I T E.

This is what I mean about Abe.....

A good work ethic, gets around the pitch and is very busy, in isolation he had a pretty good game but what did he actualy achieve?

He did not dominate in front of our back 4 and was either inefective or wasteful in possession, despite all his effort we never looked comfortable in midfield. It is strange really despite being busy and involved he seems to contribute very little to our game.

Odd really,.......

[Jimmy]

Dave not every player in the team is supposed to be a creative force or dominating presence, you need those players that keep things simple and recycle possession, that's Abe's job, stop falling into the Thracian trap of thinking we need 11 goal machines, when we sign some quality wide men Abe simply getting the ball back and giving a simple ball to them will be all he needs to do.

He also won more headers then pretty much any LCFC player yesterday, not bad considering he's about 4'11". Could he shoot more? yes, but the same can and must be said about everyone else we constantly try and walk it in when just having a pop from 20-25 yards will do, if nothing else it keeps defenders guessing as to what you'll do the next time

[Bert]

Abe. 4' 11"? Just brilliant. .

[Thracian]

Dave not every player in the team is supposed to be a creative force or dominating presence, you need those players that keep things simple and recycle possession, that's Abe's job, stop falling into the Thracian trap of thinking we need 11 goal machines, when we sign some quality wide men Abe simply getting the ball back and giving a simple ball to them will be all he needs to do.

He also won more headers then pretty much any LCFC player yesterday, not bad considering he's about 4'11". Could he shoot more? yes, but the same can and must be said about everyone else we constantly try and walk it in when just having a pop from 20-25 yards will do, if nothing else it keeps defenders guessing as to what you'll do the next time

Sadly Jimmy, if we're going to win promotion we've got to score a lot of goals. That said I believe Abe is vastly underutilised as a potential threat. Technically there's no reason at all that he shouldn't score goals either from open play or dead ball situations.

And he's capable of retaining possession and complimenting pass-and-move football far better than Wellens. But so far as Marbella so rightly says - and the stats confirm - he doesn't have nearly enough influence. Just winning the ball and giving it to someone else who is no better placed, is not enough. He has to play more expansively and I see no reason why he shouldn't with the right people around him.

[Jimmy]

Sadly Jimmy, if we're going to win promotion we've got to score a lot of goals. That said I believe Abe is vastly underutilised as a potential threat. Technically there's no reason at all that he shouldn't score goals either from open play or dead ball situations.

And he's capable of retaining possession and complimenting pass-and-move football far better than Wellens. But so far as Marbella so rightly says - and the stats confirm - he doesn't have nearly enough influence. Just winning the ball and giving it to someone else who is no better placed, is not enough. He has to play more expansively and I see no reason why he shouldn't with the right people around him.

yes I agree we need more goals, that much is obvious my point is you need at least 1 midfielder who isn't concerned with scoring himself as his job is to prevent us conceding, with someone like Yuki doing his job well it allows greater freedom to wingers and other cm to attack with more conviction

[GLC]

Kasper - 6 Solid game, good penalty save but might be a fault for the goal and dodgy distribution

Peltier - 6 Seems to be a bit more reserved recently, needs to push on a bit more and support the attack,

Mills - 6 Played ok, but seemed a bit nervous

Bamba - 6 For the goal, he should have just cleared it, got beaten in the air a few times, but his desire and drive created some good chances

Konchesky - 7.5 Got forward well, put good balls in to the box, only problem was he was caught out of position a few times

Dyer - 4 Did he touch the ball?

Abe - 8 - Put tackles in and passed the ball ok, but not the creative player we need

Wellens - First half 3 - Second half 5 - He needs a rest IMO, second half he closed down better BUT he seems to dwell on the ball a bit to often

Gallagher - 6 Tried to create chances, but he doesn't go up for headers and he also seems to moan alot

Nugent - 6 - Tried to get the game going, he needs a partner

Beckford - 3 I was willing to give him a chance, but after yesterdays poor performance he needs to be dropped, Awful shooting, Awful first touch, didn't want to chase the ball, not the player we we're promised

King - 4 No confidence, shouldn't be in the squad

Howard - N/A

Schlupp - N/A Needs more than 3 minutes!

Ref - 5, got the yellow card when Beckford was through wrong, But the penalty was correct, But didn't care about time wasting from Ipswich

Pearson - Got 4 decisions wrong, 1, to start Beckford, 2, Playing Wellens, 3, Not putting Danns & Fernandes in the squad, 4. Bringing Schlupp on with 3 minutes left

[Spiritwalker]

Beckford 7!

lol

He didn't have a shot!

He did, unfortunately it nearly went out for a throw in.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

It's about time that Beckford is given some service. He must be feeling really frustrated.

[Captain...]

yes I agree we need more goals, that much is obvious my point is you need at least 1 midfielder who isn't concerned with scoring himself as his job is to prevent us conceding, with someone like Yuki doing his job well it allows greater freedom to wingers and other cm to attack with more conviction

Unfortunately with Wellens as his partner in the first half, that is 2 midfielders that aren't concerned with scoring, Abe is a good player, but we need a more attacking force to partner him in the middle.

[Jimmy]

Unfortunately with Wellens as his partner in the first half, that is 2 midfielders that aren't concerned with scoring, Abe is a good player, but we need a more attacking force to partner him in the middle.

I said in another thread, Abe and Danns or King is something I want to see tried out

[Captain...]

I said in another thread, Abe and Danns or King is something I want to see tried out

I don't see King as an attacking midfielder, he plays in a very similar way to Abe but with a knack of scoring goals, Danns has yet to really prove himself, but I would give him a go ahead of Wellens against Portsmouth.

Or go 433 Abe Danns and King in the middle, then Nugent, Gally, Dyer/Beckford/Schlupp up front.

[Jimmy]

he's not a creative player not but he is perfectly capable of playing a more advanced role, especially its its a give & go passing style

[ithuriel]

Maybe try Abe and King in the centre with Gally and Danns swapping wings.

Playing 4-3-3 will leave us exposed down the wings and Kon and Pelts will have to stay back because our current midfielder's will congregate over time in the centre of the pitch again.

[Guest ttfn]

Schmeichel 7.5

Peltier 6

Bamba 7

Mills 6

Konchesky 7

Gallagher 5

Wellens 3

Abe 6

Dyer 4

Nugent 4

Beckford 5

Subs:

King 5

Howard/Schlupp n/a

Yet again Wellens slowed everything down in midfield. I've not seen him have one good game for us this season and I'm sick of paying money to watch him mince about when there are other options available.

Beckford was far from our worst performer yesterday but still brought nothing to the table. I saw him make one decent run across the back 4 all game which wasn't spotted, otherwise his touch remained poor and his positional sense (in the first half when used as an orthodox centre forward) was questionable. Thank goodness some others are starting to see that he was never good enough to fire us to promotion, rather than it being an issue of form. That said, some of the marks/comments are harsh based on yesterday which was depressingly one of his better displays.

Abe had a crap first half but a decent second. Bamba doesn't look as immense as at the start of the season but frankly watching his unique brand of defending is the only exciting thing at the KP at the moment.

Mills depresses me. He is woeful on the ball. Anybody can throw themselves in front of a ball (Mills made one great block) but when it comes to exhibiting even a modicum of skill he has been found wonting.

[okie fox]

Schmeichel -7- Great penalty save, goal not his fault

Peltier -6- Bit subdued

Mills -6- OK defensively, too many hopeful balls forward

Bamba -6- Cost us by not hoofing the ball out of our box. Can't head the ball on goal even when he is climbing over their players.

Koncheskey -7- Good

Gallagher -6- Not a winger, did better when he drifted inside

Abe -7- Few sloppy passes, but thought he read the game well, covered well in front of the back four and made some vital interventions

Wellens -6- Not as bad as people make out. At end, one super long pass to Peltier in penalty area

Dyer -4- Hardly involved while he was on

Beckford -4- Plays like he is scared of injury. No control, dispossessed easily, doesn't fight for the ball

Nugent -5- Gone off the boil recently.

SUBS:

King -6- Stemmed the Ipswich domination of mid field

Howard -6- Slow but did OK

Schlupp -7- Only on for 7 minutes, but won a dangerous free kick with a good run

[Nod.E]

Schmeichel 7 - Great penalty save and some good handling. However, there was some bad communication evidenced by a frustrated Bamba. As well as this, there was the odd moment that, given some thought, the potential was there for a decent attacking opportunity. (Fizzed the ball at Konch at one point, disregarding the zippy surface after the rain, and failed to pick out the top two who were one on one at times.)

Peltier 5 - I think he was beaten a little too easily at times. He showed good promise with some attacking movement, but ultimately failed to provide. I'm a fan of his, but nothing seemed to come off for him today.

Bamba 7- Not a lot got past him and he showed some flashes of good forward thinking play. He shouldn't let the nature of the game frustrate him to the extent that he allows it to pull him out of position. I can understand his frustration with the midfield and thinking he has to take matters in to his own hands, and he does do it well at times, but it is unprofessional and leaves us exposed at the back. He gets a 7 because what he did, he generally did well, but he needs to think more about where he does what he does well.

Mills 8 - The amount of blocks he got in today were countless. Not a lot of people notice the anticipation he possesses that is required to be in the right place to get in the way of shots and through balls the way he does. Others will put it down to just being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Yes his distribution could be better, but I think more people need to realise the fine defensive displays that he is putting in out there.

Konchesky 9 - The guy is an absolute engine. He was solid defensively whilst being our sole attacking threat. His performance made our problems clear to see. When your 30 year old left back is your most potent attacking threat, you know you need a new midfield. All of our attacks bar few came from Konchesky feeding the ball in to our front men. I can't recall one attack that started from a midfielder in the centre of the park. Yes, width is vital in this league but it would be nice to see a Mark Davies-esque run from the middle from time to time.

Gallagher 5 - A good penalty and a couple of good dead ball deliveries were the only highlights of a very, very bad performance. The thing that annoyed me most was his lack of concentration and professionalism. On numerous occasions after losing the ball he would writhe around on the floor for a good 10-15 seconds before realising he ought to track back. Aside from that he succeeded in providing little going forward.

Abe 4 first half 7.5 second - In the first half his passing was atrocious and his tackling was weak. In the second half he simply did what his role requires him to do. He swept up the hole between the defence and the midfield. He won the ball and passed it on. The idea of having an Abe type player in your team is to allow the rest of the midfield to push on, allowing him to do the dirty work. What a shame, then, that his cover work might as well have been aided by the supposed attacking outlets in front of him.

Wellens 3 - I used to like Wellens. The Wellens I remember never let the opposition rest and had the quality to pick out impressive passes that could split open even the most solid of defences. From what I saw yesterday all he did was move around within one small segment of the pitch, almost as if restricted to a 10 yard diameter in which he was allowed to maneuver, and play the ball back to where it came from. No wonder Bamba felt as though he had to continuously serge through the middle of the park with the ball. Wellens was playing like a midfielder on a foosball table!

Dyer ? - Honestly cannot remember a single thing he did. Not sure if that's because of the incompetent performance of the rest of the midfield or his own ability. Probably both.

Nugent 4 - You have to feel for him. He was feeding on scraps. He was trying hard, but never really looked like scoring. Missed a glorious chance, which was well saved by the keeper, but he should have scored. All in all, nothing that he tried worked for him.

Beckford 5 - Some good off the ball movements were not utilised by our midfield. He showed good anticipation in the first half to intercept a pass and he got hacked. (Should have been a sending off as he was through on goal) I'm not sure what all of this talk about his first touch is about. He showed some great touches. (if you ignore when he kicked the ball out of play under little pressure) All of this said, when opportunities came about to run at defenders one on one, he never looked like coming out on top. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that it's a confidence thing but he needs to do something about it and soon.

_____________

King 3- Wants far too long on the ball. Not strong enough. Invisible man. What's happened to his runs in to the box? He's a quality finisher and he should work hard to get himself in to the box to allow himself to do what he does so well when on form.

Howard N/A - Looked up for the challenge as ever and won a few headers, which was a refreshing change to the game.

Schlupp N/A - Looked sharp.

Match Conclusion

I will not have this 'Ipswich played well' chat. They were there for the taking in the second half. Any half decent team on their day would have breezed past them. Having read my player ratings, you won't be surprised to hear me say I, like many others, feel our problems lie in our midfield. I'm not sure how true the rumours of Fernandes being unsettled are, but if there is little truth in this, I would like to see him back in the first VI. He possesses pace which we desperately lack. The best midfield display that I have seen from a Leicester team this season was at Forest. Danns and Fernandes stole the show as their pace simply steamrolled the Forest midfield. Either we try to recapture this or we look for some pace in the January window. Without pace in our midfield, we will not reach the play-offs.

[marbelladave]

Dave not every player in the team is supposed to be a creative force or dominating presence, you need those players that keep things simple and recycle possession, that's Abe's job, stop falling into the Thracian trap of thinking we need 11 goal machines, when we sign some quality wide men Abe simply getting the ball back and giving a simple ball to them will be all he needs to do.

He also won more headers then pretty much any LCFC player yesterday, not bad considering he's about 4'11". Could he shoot more? yes, but the same can and must be said about everyone else we constantly try and walk it in when just having a pop from 20-25 yards will do, if nothing else it keeps defenders guessing as to what you'll do the next time

I understand what you are getting at, nothing wrong with a 'bits and pieces' player but it is my view that Abe simply chases the ball, he gets drawn out of position and makes tackles in areas that are not critical and goes missing in those areas that are, so as a result his contribution to the team's overall performance is negligeble.

Interestingly I though Abe played his best games for us a month or so back when he played on the right in front of Peltier. He had a clearly defined role and, jet lag apart. played it well. there were a couple of games whwn our right side actually looked decent. Abe's contributions were focused and very much to the point, he supported Peltier well and allowed him to overlap and drive forward secure that he had cover, surprised it wasn't tried again......

[Cruss5]

Schmeichel 7 - His kicking was very eratic but didn't really do much wrong, they created little chances as well as us

Peltier 7 - Thought he had a decent game, gets involved and puts his boot in and head in when needed

Bamba - 8 - Only player that really showed passion, was at fault for the goal but every other time he stuck his head on the ball and fought as much as he can. Even though he gets us into problems when he dribbles out it isn't as much as people think. He created more than any other player on the team

Mills 3 - I don't understand why people rate him, his positioning isn't the best but they blame bamba for that!!! I got fed up of him hoofing the ball up everytime he got it. Doesn't pass the ball.

Konchesky 8 - Had a decent game and worked hard as he was the winger and left back due to the fact we can't keep any shape at all

Gallagher 3 - If we could sub him on for free kicks and penalties he would win player of the year. Find him annoying as he doesn't defend and refuses to head the ball. Nugent had a go at him when he messed up a header and he said something back at him. Struts around like he is some star player and is in the team due to Pearsons man love for him. Got me angry when he did a half arsed slide challenge then rolled around the pitch in frustration instead of getting up and defending. PLAY ON THE WING

Wellens 6 - In a strange way i feel sorry for him, the midfield were by passed way too much. When he did get the ball he had very limited options as no wingers and no movement from the strikers

Abe 9 - He did the basics right, got us out of some situations by being there at the right time. You watch when bamba goes on his runs, abe always covers at the back. Passes well even if its only 10 yards.

Dyer 2 - Did he play??? Wanted to play up front and seems scared to play out wide. When he plays well the team plays well

Nugent 6 - Worked hard but must of been annoyed by the constant long balls

Beckford 5 - Had a bad game, control was bad

Subs:

King 4 - Can't remember much about him

Howard/Schlupp n/a

We need to stop hoofing long balls, no wonder the strikers had a bad game due to being so confused. If we are playing with wingers then play them on the wing. Dyer and gally were too much inside. The midfield will be ok if they had options but unfortunately they had nobody to pass too. I believe that beckford will come good, give him some good through balls and he will deliver, he will never play well on long balls. Get the ball out to the wing and fire some low crosses for him and nugent to get on the end of.

We are not that far behind the play off places, a couple of good results then things will be different. Give Gelson a go and let schlupp have a real chance and not spare minutes at the end. Nothing to lose. How about Pantsill instead of gally, got pace and will run his socks off.

[Stig the Lawnmower]

wellens 10

King 10

everyone else 3

I was watching a different game!

seriously couldn't go and didn't listen to radio leicester, but whats happening? is there any improvement from Sven. don't think so, i know theres no new players as yet, but whats happened to ' nigel will sort 'em out'. No.

midfield is a real worry