Leicester Vs Blackpool - Player Ratings

[shearfox]

Lcfc lalalLacfc lalallLalcfc lalallLalcfc....

[Dan LCFC]

Schmeichel - 8. Impressed me a lot today actually following Tuesday's poor display. He made quite a few decent saves.

St Ledger - 6. He didn't look fit to me, he wasn't too bad.

Morgan - 8. Pisses all over Mills & Bamba. The bloke's a superb defender.

Moore - 8. Solid. He seems very comfortable in home games, he handled a very tough challenge very well. He needs to step it up away from home though.

Konchesky - 6. Didn't notice him so much today but when you keep a clean sheet, I think being noticed isn't vital.

Marshall - 8. The lad's quality. His technique is insanely good for a young lad and scored a penalty on top of that (which was nearly saved in truth).

King - 8. Ran the show. He's becoming one of my favourite players, he seems to have lost his invisible man tag completely, he's involved, playing decent longer passes too, did a lot of defensive work. Quality.

Drinkwater - 7. Not as obvious but again impressed me. These two are our partnership for a while me thinks, seem to work well together.

Dyer - 6. Started quiet but got better the longer it went on. I have no idea how he didn't score.

Nugent - 6. Quiet but impressed me still, always offers something even on an off-day, and that's vital.

Vardy - 7. Won the penalty (although went down like an absolute sack of shite ) and was involved in most of our attacking play again, needs to improve his decision making but on the whole he's appearing a good buy.

Subs;

Knockaert - 5. Quiet but made a decent tackle.

Schlupp - 7. I was actually really impressed, for a young forward at left back he seemed to deal with their danger very well. I wouldn't loan him out. I think he can make a contribution already.

Beckford - 4. Not good enough and I'm not saying it to be anti-Beckford but anyone who tells me he was any use today is blind, or blindly biased. To be fair one of his biggest problems for everyone is his first touch and he controlled a ball fantastically, only for the finish to completely undo all. He's so complacent it's untrue.

[Mack]

Dyer 8 (Quite why Lloyd is such a fall-guy with some fanss beats me. Created a buzz almost every time he got the ball until his simply ran himself into the ground and the first stages of cramp. Attacked his marker on the inside and outside. Foiled twice by last ditch blocks from fierce on target shots and should probably have had a penalty when impeded on the point of shooting. Altogether a real pain for Blackpool's defence).

This x 100

Dyer was superb today, my MOTM.

OK a couple of times he lost the ball / pass was not perfect.

But so did King etc but only Dyer gets criticized.

He absolutely roasted them last night, had a penalty against him not given that was, was so unlucky not to score and created lots of chances.

Superb from Lloyd.

[loAf]

Schmeichel - 7 Didnt have alot to do, made 2 very good saves.

St Ledger - 6. Looked a bit off the pace, although did well pushing on on occation. Struggled against Ince at times.

Morgan - 9. brickwall.

Moore - 8. Did very well, couple of silly errors, but Morgan had his back. Looks dangerous from corners as well, seems to attack the ball.

Konchesky - 7. Started poorly, misjudged a few and left himself with alot to do, got better as game went on though, and vastly improved when pushed to CB.

Marshall - 9. Busy all the time, good touch, first half particularly was constantly looking to push their full backs.

King - 9. Always loved King, great to see him back to his best. Often sat back to tidy up while DD stepped up to dictate, yet also managed to put in his signature late runs. My MOM.

Drinkwater - 8, Solid performance, good to see partnership and understanding with King. Dictated the play for long periods.

Dyer - 7. First half he was a terrorising their FB, lost his momentum 2nd half. Still struggles to deliver a ball.

Nugent - 7. Worked hard but without really creating himself many clean cut chances.

Vardy - 8. All over the park, chasing down, pressuring from the front, could/should have had a couple.

Subs;

Knockaert - 6. Was a bit dissapointed, didnt really manage too much whilst he was on, although did alot of chasing.

Schlupp -8. Did very well when he came on, threw in some great tackles and has pace to burn. Very useful sub as we seem to be able to play him anywhere.

Beckford - 6. didnt really have long enough to make much of an impression, and blackpools change in formation meant we were a bit on the backfoot. Lots of energy, even chasing back, couple of good touches, couple of poor ones. Still think he will come good for us though.

[reynard]

Schmeichel 6.5 A couple of very good saves but his distribution was very poor. A couple of clearances went no further than just before the half way line and opened up dangerous situations. His propensity to kick it long and quick more often than not just ended up gifitng back possession to Blackpool.

St Ledger 6 He did ok but he was pretty much turned inside out several times. He's not a right back though so I will allow him some latitude. There was one occassion in the second half where somehow he contrived to concede a corner which sums him up for me I'm afraid.

Morgan 8 A very solid display.

Moore 8 Ditto. Looked promising for someone with only 10 first team appearances.

Konchesky 6.5 Not anywhere near as bad as people are making out. Did well when moved to centre back.

Marshall 8 He's growing in confidence and the penalty was well struck. At times he was our only attacking outlet and did well. His corners were poor though.

King 8 For 25 minutes he was absolutely brilliant. Then as usual he faded away but on this occassion this was only temporary and he came back well in the second half especially defensively.

Drinkwater 7 He did a lot of good things and at times used his skill to get out of difficult situations. He does give the ball away too cheaply though and needs to be more patient.

Dyer 6.5 A typical Dyer performance. Lots of good things but too often there is no end product. his pace is great but he basically has no right footand this limits his options. I thought he was largely anonymous for a lot of the second half.

Nugent 6.5 A lot of hard work but never looked like scoring. The service to him was too much in the air.

Vardy 7.5 I thought he played well. he took up some good positions and used his pace well. His finishing needs to be worked on but things look encouraging at the moment.

Knockaert 4.5 Looked almost totally lost. Poor positioning and weak in the tackle. ON that small cameo I can't see any reason why he should start.

Schlupp 7 He did well except for his positional play which perhaps unsurprisingly was a bit shoddy. People are getting a bit carried away on here though.

Beckford 4.5 The efort was there but the first touch was poor. Not really on long enough to condemn him though.

[Guest]

Kasper 7 - Didn't have a great deal to do for much of the time. When he did he was excellent

SSL 5.5 - Filled in at short notice. was beaten a couple of times early and well subbed when the speed was needed in defence

Konch 5 - Again gave the ball away a few too many times seems to be below his fine form of last season.

Morgan 8 - Great

Moore 7.5 - another good game, growing in stature more and more

Marshall 8.5 - Wonderful crosses, great penalty

Dyer 7 - Still no final ball but he's a nightmare for defenders

Drinkwater 7.5 - very good passer a,d gets stuck in. with our midfield set up it's always going to be hard , needs more help

King 6.5 - Played well but not sure he's the right man in midfield with Drinks, I'd like a bigger tackler.

Vardy 8.5 - Really looks dangerous, postioning is fantastic, perhaps too selfless at the moment but looks like being a great partner for nuge

Nuge 6.5 - linked well with Vardy but not quite in season form yet.

Knockaert 5 - wasn't on long, didn't see anything

Schlupp 7.5 - Defended better than anyone could havehoped AND he was a threat going forward. Would rather have him on than Konch or SSL unless there is a height question.

Beckford 5 - Greedy and poor but ran around like a chicken without a head. More disappointingly was not making the tackles when he was in 50:50 situations .

[artursteppe]

Kasper 7 - Didn't have a great deal to do for much of the time. When he did he was excellent

SSL 5.5 - Filled in at short notice. was beaten a couple of times early and well subbed when the speed was needed in defence

Konch 5 - Again gave the ball away a few too many times seems to be below his fine form of last season.

Morgan 8 - Great

Moore 7.5 - another good game, growing in stature more and more

Marshall 8.5 - Wonderful crosses, great penalty

Dyer 7 - Still no final ball but he's a nightmare for defenders

Drinkwater 7.5 - very good passer a,d gets stuck in. with our midfield set up it's always going to be hard , needs more help

King 6.5 - Played well but not sure he's the right man in midfield with Drinks, I'd like a bigger tackler.

Vardy 8.5 - Really looks dangerous, postioning is fantastic, perhaps too selfless at the moment but looks like being a great partner for nuge

Nuge 6.5 - linked well with Vardy but not quite in season form yet.

Knockaert 5 - wasn't on long, didn't see anything

Schlupp 7.5 - Defended better than anyone could havehoped AND he was a threat going forward. Would rather have him on than Konch or SSL unless there is a height question.

Beckford 5 - Greedy and poor but ran around like a chicken without a head. More disappointingly was not making the tackles when he was in 50:50 situations .

Spot on.

The different views on Drinkwater and King from people are interesting. Some see that Drinky works very hard for ninety minutes including the last 15 minutes in the first half whilst King, Dyer and Marshall were having a bit of a rest. Others see Drinky give two or three poor passes whilst King doesn't. Both did have pretty good games. King is much improved and Drinkwater will be massive for us this season.

[Thracian]

Although I've never seen King as the most physical player one of the features of his performances this season is that he's held his own physically and won an increasing number of "scraps".

Yesterday we totally bossed midfield for 70 minutes and King was central to that and very rarely outmuscled.

We had a mammoth tackler in Tiatto once. He wasn't on the winning side once during one season because, unfortunately, he couldn't pass, couldn't shoot, couldn't win headers, couldn't make a final pass, didn't last long without a booking and was forever hurting himself because of his recklessness.

King or the Tiatto types? It's like choosing between a Kashmir Sapphire and a piece of unpolished glass. I'm just pleased to see that Kingy seems to have overcome the injury problem that so clearly destroyed last season for him - and to see him away from the domineering influence of Wellens.

To me the pair never made a partnership whereas with Drinkwater there seems to be a more natural understanding. In fact it stretches beyond Drinkwater. When King goes, others seem to cover now and this was helped yesterday by the back line playing a little higher, therefore pressing the space.

Everyone around King now is comfortable passing and moving the ball quickly whereas Wellens liked to spread the play and seemed to avoid such demanding one-twos. Our off-the-ball movement is better too, the sure sign of a team playing for one another instead of just for themselves.

finally King seems to be increasing his influence as he gets older, stronger and more experienced. He's always been a fast and accurate passer and yesterday he was in his element.

But he's a valuable extra defender at set pieces, he's been freed up again to join the attack and have a few shots and he's tracking back with much more enthusiasm and intent which is a sign that he's more confident in his recovery powers and of being able to last a game.

Based on all I've seen this season I just hope he stays fit and doesn't get overplayed because, at his best, it's not just his own performance that iimpresses but he helps bring the best out of others by seeing situations early and giving his team-mates fast and accurate supply.

[Candidcamera]

This was an important win for Leicester. TV and all.

The team is settling in and I agree about King. When he is playing like this his experience is rubbing off on the others. Similarly Morgan has the same effect on Moore who looks like a great find. Most of our good play featured Marshall and his call up for the U' 21s looks well deserved. Drinkwater had a very solid game. The front for me still isn't quite right Knockaert will add to our final pass more than Dyer but Dyer has to be commended because he is terrific at the moment. Vardy looks good too.

[Happy Fox]

We are playing better football, but aerially we are shocking no point resorting to long ball when we don't have Futacs in the team, played through the wing positions quite often particularly Marshall but the thing that pisses me off is no one clinical enough in the box to score those goals from his crosses and we need that type of player.

[Milton Keynes Fox]

Kasper-7

SSL-8

Morgan-8

Moore-9 at centre back, 7 at right back

Konchesky-7

Marshall-8

Drinkwater-7

King-7

Dyer-5

Nugent-7

Vardy-7

[The Doctor]

Kasper - 7 - A couple of very good saves but otherwise not tested that much. One dodgy kick but in general he did well at picking the strikers out.

St Ledger - 6 - Ok, not much more, but did well to step in on such short notice.

Morgan - 8 - Absolute beast this lad, absolutely solid and looking comfortable with the ball at his feet.

Moore - 7 - Solid and looks like he could go on to be a good championship CB.

Konchesky - 6 - Still looks a bit lax, as if he's assured of his place - hopefully Schlupps performance should start turning the screws on him to perform.

Marshall - 8 - Good goal and put in a few good crosses. Only downside was a couple of poor corners.

Drinkwater - 8 - Brilliant, put a fair bit of bite into the midfield, keeping them contained and really freeing up King to venture forward.

King - 8 - Very good on the ball, mopped up well and got us moving. If he plays like that the invisible man tag is going to disappear very quickly.

Dyer - 6 - Threatened early on, very unlucky not to get a goal or a penalty in the second half, but still doesn't really offer a final ball.

Vardy - 9 - won a penalty and no less than he deserved, a thorn in blackpool's side all game - just needs to be a bit more selfish at times. He reminds me of Dickov - irritating little sod to defend against and snapping away at everyone's heels.

Nugent - 7 - Looks a decent partner for Vardy, got himself onto the ball several times but I don't recall him getting that much in front of goal.

Subs:

Knockaert - 6 - Rather quiet, but when we were under the kosch quite a bit that's understandable.

Schlupp - 7 - Looked fairly good as a LB, perhaps more so than when he plays upfront.

Beckford - 5 - He got the chances, a couple of decent touches but the decision making... poor.

[maynefox]

Kasper: 7

SSL: 6

Morgan: 8

Moore: 7

Konchesky: 7

King: 7

Marshall: 7

Dyer: 6

Drinkwater: 7

Nugent: 6

Vardy: 7

Schlupp: 7

Knockaert: 6

Beckford: 6

[Corky]

Schmeichel- 7

St Ledger- 7

Morgan- 7

Moore- 8

Konchesky- 6

Marshall- 7

King- 7

Drinkwater- 7

Dyer- 7

Nugent- 7

Vardy- 8

[Saxondale]

Schmeichel 8 - Some cracking saves. Bloody great, as per.

St Ledger 7 - Not bad.

Morgan 9 - Commanding.

Moore 8 - Some bloody awful passes, but made up for it with some class defending. Good anticipation, pace, strength and athleticism.

Konchesky 8 - Strong as always and did well as a makeshift centre-half later on.

Marshall 8 - Legend (NB. Was talking to some Wednesday fans on the train home, they were about creaming themselves about Marshall)

King 7 - Not quite at his best but showing a lot more competitiveness than last season.

Drinkwater 7 - Usual battling but was outmuscled a few times.

Dyer 7 - Always a threat, would have scored if it wasn't for a defender's face.

Vardy 8 - Love his battling and his breakaway pace.

Nugent 6 - Something not quite right about his game at the moment. Loses possession too much and his positioning isn't the best.

Schlupp 7 - For a makeshift leftback did very well.

Knockaert 7 - Didn't really make an impact but showed some class.

Beckford 6 - Got into some good positions but couldn't hit a barn door.

[foxaholic]

This x 100

Dyer was superb today, my MOTM.

OK a couple of times he lost the ball / pass was not perfect.

But so did King etc but only Dyer gets criticized.

He absolutely roasted them last night, had a penalty against him not given that was, was so unlucky not to score and created lots of chances.

Superb from Lloyd.

Agreed why he gets so much stick on here is puzzling as it does not represent the general view hence his ovation when subbed

[nuttytimmy]

Conclusions from Blackpool.

[Guest foxestalkisfullofidiots]

I thought Dyer played well, does not deserve the flak that he gets, it seems to me some fans just like to single out a player, first it was Wellens then Gally and now everyone seems to be getting on Dyer's back, take Andy King for example, had another average game and everyone raves about him, probably the most overrated midfielder in the league.

[Jobyfox]

I agree with most observations on here. I gave MOTM to Marshall purely because his quality of delivery always looked the most likely match winner (despite hos poor corners). Morgan was very close behind with notable mentions to Vardy and King.

I'm a little bit frustrated with Schmeichel. His poor kicking is going to cost us a goal one of these days and I just wish he'd assess options before the inevitable long punt down the field. His distribution is definitely an area of weakness, although he did make good saves at the required times.

Some are a little tough on Knochesky. I thought he did well mostly and coped with being played out of position.

Nugent is yet to show the form of last season and I hope it returns soon.

[Jobyfox]

I thought Dyer played well, does not deserve the flak that he gets, it seems to me some fans just like to single out a player, first it was Wellens then Gally and now everyone seems to be getting on Dyer's back, take Andy King for example, had another average game and everyone raves about him, probably the most overrated midfielder in the league.

I think most people acknowledge that Dyer had a decent game, but the frustration comes with the fact that you know there will rarely be an end product to his endeavour. We all admire Dyer's character and work rate, but many feel that he is perhaps short of the quality we require as a genuine promotion contender. This is a shame as if anyone deserves to succeed then it's Lloyd, but I'm just not sure he's got it.

I don't know whether you were at the game or watching on TV, but King is a much improved player so far this season. I was his biggest critic last term and couldn't understand why he always escaped the wrath that Wellens and Gally received. He's now involved in the game when he isn't scoring and looks dangerous in an attacking sense and influential in a defensive one. He's doing everything I wanted him to do last season and, hopefully, this will continue.