artursteppe Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 OK, pre season friendlies are what they are. Usually just an opportunity to evaluate new players and get a little bit into the feel of a new season. Little can be taken from such matches to be able to truly evaluate optimism or pessimism for a new campaign. However, I came away from the Sunderland game with a true sense of optimism. Not so much from the performances of the players - Morgan looks an excellent choice as captain, Vardy may be what we all hope for, Knockaert looks exciting, Moore looks ready for the first team squad, James and De Laet look to be good acquisitions, Marshall, Drinkwater, Beckford, Konchesky and Schmeichel looked quality, and we know Danns and Nugent will be good and we still have King, Dyer, Schlupp, Gallagher and Futacs as back up with St Ledger and Whitehead still to arrive. All this said, the main reason for my optimism is for the approach in midfield. For the first time in a Leicester City side since Lennon and Savage, there was a desire and determination from all our midfield players to commit to tackles and win the ball from the opposition. Drinkwater was superb, James was not far behind. They both won possession from Sunderland, so too there were successes in ball winning from Marshall and Knockaert as well as Danns in the second half. Even King was aggressive in the challange, though perhaps not quite as effective, but that's OK, it was the desire and determination which are new. No more pussy footing and tracking the opposition back and forth across the pitch - we challenged at every opportunity from the front end of the team to the back. This change in our approach will give us control in matches. The best ball to attack with is ball taken from the opposition. That is a fact. If we adopt this attitude in Championship matches we can all look forward to an immense season, bring it on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carter The Boss Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 I like this post. The team looks good, some of the team and individual reports from pre-season are positive and it sounds like there is a desire there that we didn't have a lot of the time last season. We showed it in glimpses, but we need to show it a lot more to win games, and get the fans on side. I cannot bloody wait til Saturday!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenny_fox Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 Good post, there is no denying the fact last year we were torrid in midfield, not just in the center, but on the wings aswel. Although the defence and attack are partly to blame for conceding and scoring respectively, the midfield (in my opinion) was the main culprit on both ends of the pitch. the wingers didnt track back well enough to help the defence out and nor did they assist with a massive amount of goals. The center mids last year just seemed like nobody knew their role in the team, and like you said, there was no determination. Hopefully this year all that will be sorted and we can play like a TEAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marty78 Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 Nice post but having not gone to Sunderland match I can't really comment on that. What I will say though is that I am excited and optimistic every single season despite not always having good reason to be. Football is supposed to be fun, at least to me, and I always look forward to the new season and the new players on show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Weasel Fox Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 Nice post but having not gone to Sunderland match I can't really comment on that. What I will say though is that I am excited and optimistic every single season despite not always having good reason to be. Football is supposed to be fun, at least to me, and I always look forward to the new season and the new players on show. This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox92 Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 +1, good post. I didn't go to the Sunderland friendly, but after hearing people's views and now your post, it's got me even more excited for Saturday. I've got to say, ahead of the season, I have quiet optimism, something I haven't had since the start of the 2009/10 Championship season. Hopefully we'll put a decent team out tonight. I want to win every game, and tonight's game gives us a platform to gel even more as a team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 Agreed about the desire from the midfield, we worked hard and got stuck in. Drinkwater in particular was putting himself about without being reckless. We'll see how we do on Saturday (that will be the main team, unlike tonight's) and we need to be up for the battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cc_star Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 I didn't go so not a comment on the match or performance itself. I'm just glad it was someone like Sunderland & not some pipe dream of an opposition. Don't get me wrong its brilliant seeing some of Europe's big guns stretching their legs at our ground, but in Sunderland there's a sense of reality & hardwork about it & much less of we've already made the big time with our big pay cheques, with Ronaldo & co running around. Sunderland will play in a similar style to how most of our division will play & its good we had a challenging game, the win will be a confidence boosting bonus too. I was concerned about creativity but with players like Marshall, Knockaert around with Vardy looking more than useful & hopefully Beckford can find it in himself to play to his ability more often, the little flicks, touches & passes that can undo a tight game should be there. Roll on Saturday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGEROUS TIGER Posted 14 August 2012 Share Posted 14 August 2012 Never ever read anything into a friendly, win or lose. :nono: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artursteppe Posted 15 August 2012 Author Share Posted 15 August 2012 Never ever read anything into a friendly, win or lose. :nono: That's probably because you are not capable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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