ozleicester Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Let me start with, "in NP we trust" so there is no need for anyone else to write that as part of the answer. With the Season only 2 weeks away, Im a little concerned at our low key/low stress build up, our friendlies have all been against lesser (lower league) opposition. I thought that friendlies were used to build and gel a team... to expose weaknesses and help plan for what is sure to be a very tough season. (granted we will have Sunderland but thats it for real competition) Playing against 3rd and 4th division and non league teams isnt really going to stretch our playing and coaching staff and expose the gaps is it? Starting this thread is obviously a gamble, if we get away to a flyer and are unbeaten in the first half a dozen games, ill will come back in here and admit that the Manager had it right. BUT... right now.... this is not how i would prepare my team for the season ahead! your thoughts, are you happy with the preparation so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpjfox Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 IMconcerned about the central defence being organised and settled. NP has made it clear Wes will be a starter, but Zak has yet to play even a low key friendly in partnership with him, SSL injured and it appears were bringing in Gerrard who it appears has also had no competitive match fitness. On the positives we now have a winger, he also seems to have a prefferred central midfield of DDanns/Drinkwater and a prefferred striking duo of Nugent/Vardy, personally i would have prefferred his prefferred line-up to play together a few times but i would imagine that the first time will be v Pboro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_Numan Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 I have to admit that I would have prefered it if the games had been getting slightly more difficult and competitive each time but it appears they're being used primarily for fitness and trying different combinations, which is fair enough but i'd hope NP knows who he's going to start with by now and we'll start to see a settled line up before the Peterborough game. I'm a bit more confident now than I was because of the more recent signings but the lack of a specialist defensive midfielder still worries me a bit. I'm upgrading my finishing position from 8th to 6th though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Flair Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Haven't we always played crap teams in pre-season under Pearson? Not saying its right but it's no different to the two promotion chasing seasons. I'm concerned about central defense as well, surely Whitbread is ready for some minutes? Gerrard has worked with Nigel before so he'll slot in quicker than most. I am confident Pearson will bring in 1 or 2 on loan if needs be and a defensive CM will be one of them! Can't wait for it now, Vardy to run amok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 It's Pearson... I'm sure we will be ready fitness wise and motivationally. I don't think it matters who we've played. Pre season games are about getting fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babylon Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Let me start with, "in NP we trust" so there is no need for anyone else to write that as part of the answer. With the Season only 2 weeks away, Im a little concerned at our low key/low stress build up, our friendlies have all been against lesser (lower league) opposition. I thought that friendlies were used to build and gel a team... to expose weaknesses and help plan for what is sure to be a very tough season. (granted we will have Sunderland but thats it for real competition) Playing against 3rd and 4th division and non league teams isnt really going to stretch our playing and coaching staff and expose the gaps is it? Starting this thread is obviously a gamble, if we get away to a flyer and are unbeaten in the first half a dozen games, ill will come back in here and admit that the Manager had it right. BUT... right now.... this is not how i would prepare my team for the season ahead! your thoughts, are you happy with the preparation so far? A lot of teams just play smaller clubs with a larger team thrown in towards the end. Nothing unusual at all. Wolves: Bray Wanderers Walsall Shrewsbury Town Southampton Blackburn: Fleetwood Town Accrington Stanley Rochdale AEK Athens Go Ahead Eagles Cork City Leeds: Farsley AFC Tavistock A Bodmin Town Torquay United Sandefjord Preston Burton Albion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cropwellfox Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Far rather games against 'lower league' English teams than the farcical range of friendlies last year against teams who play completely different style of football. These games are about match fitness and playing teams who will want to do well against us playing a similar type of game are the best way to do so. Only niggle is not having seen Whitbread feature yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_w Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Well it worked when he was last here, don't see why it wouldn't now. We prepared for both of our previous season under him like this and got off to a better start in both seasons than we did under Sven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pookie Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 This is the way Pearson does it 2009/10 season our pre-season friendlies were Loughboro Tamworth Hinckley Mansfield Shrewsbury Chesterfield Oadby Town Real Valladolid Didn't stop us from being in the top 6 most of that season did it? Before the rest of the clan that seem worried about things they can't control, here is the starting squad for Swansea game in the 2009/10 Team Line Ups : Chris Weale Michael Morrison Wayne Brown Jack Hobbs Bruno Berner Matt Oakley Andy King Richie Wellens Lloyd Dyer Matt Fryatt Steve Howard Substitutes : Luke O'Neill Conrad Logan Max Gradel Nicky Adams Paul Dickov Martyn Waghorn Dany N'Guessan I think we have a much stronger squad going into this campaign. I am not sure some of you would have survived the summers under Martin O'Neill, who pulled the rabbit out of the hat and actually sign a player in the final few days before the start of the season. If there are issues like central defence don't you think our management team will know that? We have bought well this summer and I feel we have the right balance in the squad now, we shouldn't put so much attention on pre-season, what matters is when we play for 3 points. Newcastle lost 6-0 against lower league team when they walked the Championship. Pre-season is the time and place to try a few things out, look at different pairings like Vardy/Nugent for example. What's the point in playing Beckford/Nugent together when they played 30 odd games with each other last season Playing lower league is good for me, the strikers get a few goals and confidence, last season our pre-season opponents were too tough, we couldn't even score. The result: 1 win (against a team that went down) in the first 4 leagues games, it pretty much set the tone for the rest of that season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbt_lcfc Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 In all fairness it could help get a winning mentality and help people like vardy playing lesser opposition as he's managed 2 bag a couple, I'd rather play teams like this were we can win a good few rather than valencia Madrid etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webbo Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 The warm up programme has been a bit underwhelming and it's not filling me with excitement for the start of the season. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zingari Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Is it really a good idea to have a pre season friendly such as Real, that's the climax of the season ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueblood88 Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Had a dream last night that we beat Posh 3-1 on the opening day, Marshall scoring a thirty yarder in the first 5 mins. Not had one of those dreams since we beat Watford 2-0 in the 2002/03 season, good omen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozleicester Posted 7 August 2012 Author Share Posted 7 August 2012 Im certainly not having a crack about signings, i think weve had a reasonable summer thus far and if the stories we are told are accurate, then we have the makings of a solid side, in fact better than solid. Im sure that many other teams in the champ have played lower league teams...but im equally sure many have played better quality. But i just think that i would've preferred to see some harder matches to test us out and start that gelling process under something like the pressure we will face in the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynamark Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Some of these are fundraisers for the smaller clubs and surely there must be some conversation between the managers about how they are played e.g pearson 'I wouldnt really want to come to hinckley on a tuesday and find my new million pound striker getting a clattering from your big centre half if you dont mind?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueblood88 Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 In all fairness it could help get a winning mentality and help people like vardy playing lesser opposition as he's managed 2 bag a couple, I'd rather play teams like this were we can win a good few rather than valencia Madrid etc etc I agree with you, Pearson is a winner and tries to get a winning mentality into his sides very early Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jock2612 Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 I am not concerned about the quality of the opposition,its about developing understanding,match sharpness and fitness.We leant nothing last season in Sweden.But I am concerned about the CB position,If AG is coming get it done to give Wes time to get to know him., the same goes for ZW his fitness levels must have been poor not to have featured so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_Numan Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 In all fairness it could help get a winning mentality and help people like vardy playing lesser opposition as he's managed 2 bag a couple, I'd rather play teams like this were we can win a good few rather than valencia Madrid etc etc Yep, they were stupid pre-season friendlies, especially paying a million for Real Madrid to come here which i'm sure the owners would have charged the club for even though it was their idea. What i'm talking about in terms of difficulty is a couple of non league teams, a couple of league 2 teams and then a couple of league 1 teams before the Sunderland game. Getting slightly more difficult but still keeping the objectives of fitness and trying combinations and getting a winning mentality while testing the team a bit more each time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Yep, they were stupid pre-season friendlies, especially paying a million for Real Madrid to come here which i'm sure the owners would have charged the club for even though it was their idea. What i'm talking about in terms of difficulty is a couple of non league teams, a couple of league 2 teams and then a couple of league 1 teams before the Sunderland game. Getting slightly more difficult but still keeping the objectives of fitness and trying combinations and getting a winning mentality while testing the team a bit more each time I agree with you, but again, how many people hand on heart, we're not excited at seeing Real Madrid coming to the KP? A year is a long time in football.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_w Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 I agree with you, but again, how many people hand on heart, we're not excited at seeing Real Madrid coming to the KP? A year is a long time in football.. I was more excited by us going to Cardiff in the Play-Off Semi Final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend_in_blue Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 It doesn't concern me who we have played and you can be absolutely certain that the fitness levels will be right up there regardless. I would be very surprised if NP hadn't sorted out the fitness side of things, one of those areas we lacked in at the start of last season IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 I was more excited by us going to Cardiff in the Play-Off Semi Final. That's a given... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_w Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 That's a given... Well that's what we got last time we had a boring pre-season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 Well that's what we got last time we had a boring pre-season. I know Mark... They were still lots of very excited people and a pretty full KP when we played Real Madrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_Numan Posted 7 August 2012 Share Posted 7 August 2012 It doesn't concern me who we have played and you can be absolutely certain that the fitness levels will be right up there regardless. I would be very surprised if NP hadn't sorted out the fitness side of things, one of those areas we lacked in at the start of last season IMO. Absolutely, that's been one of the biggest problems for the last 2 seasons. One of the main reasons for us reaching the play offs that under Pearson was the level of fitness. We were able to keep going and were generally the stronger side in the later stages of games. Compare that to Sousa when our players were knackered before half time. It was horrible to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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