Pearson out?

[suffolk fox]

We could have played any formation under the sun, with any player combination and as much attacking intent as you can muster... But if those 11 players can't keep the ball and pass to each other, it will ultimately look negative as you are doing nothing but defending. We couldn't even pass the ball into their half at times so we are going to look deep.

I don't believe Pearson set out for us to be negative, so I'm not going to criticise him for that. That was a symptom of simple failures of the players mentioned above.

But we need to ask why 11 players to a man couldn't string more than a few passes together.

The chopping and changing of formations and players has to be a problem, last season every man knew his job, where he should be on the pitch, I don't think we can say that's the case now.

This.........top post

[Col city fan]

We could have played any formation under the sun, with any player combination and as much attacking intent as you can muster... But if those 11 players can't keep the ball and pass to each other, it will ultimately look negative as you are doing nothing but defending. We couldn't even pass the ball into their half at times so we are going to look deep.

I don't believe Pearson set out for us to be negative, so I'm not going to criticise him for that. That was a symptom of simple failures of the players mentioned above.

But we need to ask why 11 players to a man couldn't string more than a few passes together.

The chopping and changing of formations and players has to be a problem, last season every man knew his job, where he should be on the pitch, I don't think we can say that's the case now.

Spot on... We made ourselves appear defensive because we couldn't keep the ball. Pearson wanted to go out and attack them, I beleive.

[Callabinho]

Babs makes THE point in his post. Nail firmly in the woodwork. The lads look like they're caught in headlights, "ah shit we're in the premier league" they are terrified to go and express themselves because of the fear that they will concede.

[LJS]

Well they weren't scared in the first few matches. Certainly, there were periods in each of these early games in which we were dominated by the opposition. That will happen in the Premier League. But the last few games have been something else altogether. Pearson has himself said publicly that he wants an emphasis on clean sheets and our set up in recent matches suggests that's what he has been trying to do. I'd have no issue with that of I thought even one of our backline were up to defending at this level but as it stands they just are not and we should be playing to our strengths which lie further up the pitch.

I take the point about the performance of the players but different systems and set ups do influence how much space we play with which allows for easier passing and retention of possession. Not that passing a ball five yards should be beyond a professional footballer in any case and I'd hope De Laet and Mahrez got a bollocking at half time for continually gifting possession back to Swansea.

[Matt]

 

#fearless

 

[theessexfox]

Course not, nowhere near consideration, but we need improvement. 

[Babylon]

Well they weren't scared in the first few matches. Certainly, there were periods in each of these early games in which we were dominated by the opposition. That will happen in the Premier League. But the last few games have been something else altogether. Pearson has himself said publicly that he wants an emphasis on clean sheets and our set up in recent matches suggests that's what he has been trying to do. I'd have no issue with that of I thought even one of our backline were up to defending at this level but as it stands they just are not and we should be playing to our strengths which lie further up the pitch.

I don't read or listen to everything he says, but most of the stuff I have seen him say has always resolved around positive intent, rather than clean sheets. I'm sure he may have mentioned wanting more but I'd have thought the times he mentions being positive will out way that.

 

 

I take the point about the performance of the players but different systems and set ups do influence how much space we play with which allows for easier passing and retention of possession. Not that passing a ball five yards should be beyond a professional footballer in any case and I'd hope De Laet and Mahrez got a bollocking at half time for continually gifting possession back to Swansea.

 

Fully appreciate your point about systems etc influencing passing etc. But as you say, these were of such a basic nature that it's hard to pin that on the system. A straight ball from one player to another 6ft away should not be ending up with a white shirt most of the time.

[Ash79]

We could have played any formation under the sun, with any player combination and as much attacking intent as you can muster... But if those 11 players can't keep the ball and pass to each other, it will ultimately look negative as you are doing nothing but defending. We couldn't even pass the ball into their half at times so we are going to look deep.

I don't believe Pearson set out for us to be negative, so I'm not going to criticise him for that. That was a symptom of simple failures of the players mentioned above.

But we need to ask why 11 players to a man couldn't string more than a few passes together.

The chopping and changing of formations and players has to be a problem, last season every man knew his job, where he should be on the pitch, I don't think we can say that's the case now.

This 1000%

[artursteppe]

General points. Hammond is just not good enough. Liam, as much as we all love him is the one in every game that regularly plays the opposition forwards on side. Pearson was a defender, why does he not sort the defence out? Swansea's first corner was an absolute 'give-away' for a goal. Liam was nowhere near his man and Bony should have scored. Full backs ok going forward, make mistakes defending. Wes, playing well.

Hammond is rubbish, Drinky likes playing with Matty, Esteban is quality but not as quick as we would like, Andy is at least better than he ever has been.

Mahrez is the most valuable player in the side, and he will choose to go in January if we do not shape up by then.

Nugent is not first team quality, but ok in the squad - gives the ball away more than Konch.

Vardy is limited positionally and should only play as a striker where his devastating pace can be used.

Leo is second most valuable player.

We still haven't seen the new boys from Man Utd.

I wish Jeff and Knocky were more consistent, just don't know what to do with them.

Ok Nige, you sort out the defence, I've just evaluated your players for you, so you can chat to your coaches and get the right team on the pitch in the right formation, with the right attitude.

Why is the opposition better than us in the first half of every match, no matter who they are, or who is in our team?????????????

[StanSP]

I wonder why you're not a fully qualified manager/coach yet...

 

Did you think Esteban would be quick? He's not your lung-bursting Yaya Toure-esque machine and if you ever thought that you'd be fooling yourself from the start 

 

Mahrez won't go in January. 

 

Sounds like you're pinning defensive woes on Liam Moore. Harsh. De Laet is the weak link at the moment. For yesterday's 2nd goal, he didn't even track Montero go in behind him. Didn't even want to chase back.. Yes Liam played Montero on but the chances of them scoring would have also decreased if De Laet followed the winger back. 

 

I don't get why Powell and Lawrence are being requested to play, so to speak. As fans we barely know what they do in training and how well they're performing. Maybe they're not up to scratch and don't deserve a start? And I'm pretty sure Tom Lawrence was bought primarily as a development player so what use will it be chucking him straight in to the first team squad where it might not do his confidence any good if he's not ready? 

 

I'll admit I have no idea what's going on with Nick Powell. 

[Thracian]

We could have played any formation under the sun, with any player combination and as much attacking intent as you can muster... But if those 11 players can't keep the ball and pass to each other, it will ultimately look negative as you are doing nothing but defending. We couldn't even pass the ball into their half at times so we are going to look deep.

I don't believe Pearson set out for us to be negative, so I'm not going to criticise him for that. That was a symptom of simple failures of the players mentioned above.

But we need to ask why 11 players to a man couldn't string more than a few passes together.

The chopping and changing of formations and players has to be a problem, last season every man knew his job, where he should be on the pitch, I don't think we can say that's the case now.

 

 

You're no great fan of King but he's key to our situation. Since he's been absent we've been lost and disjointed for reasons of tactics, personnel and attitude. 

 

King should have started yesterday but and when he did come on he demonstrated just how easy it was to pass and move efficiently. He never stopped moving, making himself available and moving the ball constructively. 

 

No it wasn't enough to change the game - it was conceded from the beginning by our ridiculous team selection and tactics. But at least we looked like a football team again and should unquestionably have scored. 

 

Our passing thoughout this spell of bad results has been appalling in the main and King is the key because he sets the example. He knows what he wants to do much earlier than most players and no-one else in the side makes himself so consistently available - at least until he tires. 

 

I agree that the change of players and formation doesn't help. But that's what training sessions are for...to make people familiar with the coming approach yet our team seems lost together.

 

Yesterday for all our apparent attacking intent we first focused on keeping Boney and co quiet. I said before the game that we wouldn't succeed and that our only hope was to press the opposition and score enough goals ourselves. We didn't. There was no forward momentum - no-one making King's unselfish runs or seeing the pictures early. Right from the start we operated in containing mode and only responded once we'd gone behind. 

 

We are just not good enough to contain and pinch wins "a la Stoke" other than very occasionally. We're not big enough, not fast enough and not good enough at tracking the runners and all three weaknesses were apparent again yesterday. 

 

That's not a go as Morgan and Moore either  They've do well in the main. But we have to take the pressure off and will only do that by passing and moving as a unit and with far more balance, accuracy and attacking intent than we're showing at the moment. 

 

As for "Pearson Out" we certainly can't afford to go on the sort of shocking run we endured a couple of seasons back which so highlighted Pearson's limitations as a tactician and/or his sfaff. In many ways I thin Pearson's an excellent manager and will need - as he did in The Championship - time to develop.

 

But at both levels it's plain to me that he needs a genuinely capable tactician around him. Someone who understands what we've got, understands our limitations and can make the most of both. At the moment we're not doing that. And, worst of all we're constantly leaving out the man most capable of linking our bits together. 

 

Spectacular can come later. We need efficiency and understanding right now. People who compliment one another and get the best from them.

[dannythefox]

We need to stay with Pearson nobody knows the players like him getting someone else in would Mess everything up

[Thracian]

Spot on... We made ourselves appear defensive because we couldn't keep the ball. Pearson wanted to go out and attack them, I beleive.

 

 

It was a bit deeper than that. So often we played negatively - two or three backwards passes in succession sometimes even as far as the goalkeeper. That's no good.

 

There's a difference between contructively retaining possession and time-passing. We did far too much of the latter. King would love playing for Swansea because he epitomises their team. Pass and move first one way, then the other, watching the movers and waiting for the one manouvre which opens up an opportunity. 

 

Swansea also benefitted from a wonderful partnership up front that we were never going to contain. But we don't even have a partnership or partnerships any more. It's utterly naive. You can't win things like that. 

 

There needs to be partnerships everywhere.    

[Corky]

We could have played any formation under the sun, with any player combination and as much attacking intent as you can muster... But if those 11 players can't keep the ball and pass to each other, it will ultimately look negative as you are doing nothing but defending. We couldn't even pass the ball into their half at times so we are going to look deep.

I don't believe Pearson set out for us to be negative, so I'm not going to criticise him for that. That was a symptom of simple failures of the players mentioned above.

But we need to ask why 11 players to a man couldn't string more than a few passes together.

The chopping and changing of formations and players has to be a problem, last season every man knew his job, where he should be on the pitch, I don't think we can say that's the case now.

 

I agree with this, the line-up was positive but the tempo and quality wasn't anywhere near good enough. Pearson mentioned this in his interview so I expect a focus on this ahead of next week.

 

We just need a win, no matter how it comes.

[halferowley2]

I like Pearson and want him to keep us in the Premier. The owners have invested a large amount of money in

the club and have been very patient waiting for us to get promoted I'm sure the last thing they want is to

return to the championship. I'm sure owning LCFC is great PR for their parent company King Power. They will

want to grow King Power and will want LCFC to remain in the Premier they are not a charity and to have

achieved what they have in business they are used to making harsh decisions. They outlined their plans 1st

season = survival, 2nd season = mid table, 3rd season = challenging for top 6. If it looks like its not going

to happen I suspect they are already seeking advice.

Come on Nige getting the team working again.

[Fox92]

No. Simple answer. He'll turn it around, he always does.

[foxer]

There is no way I'd want to get rid of him. Even if we go down, he's the man to being us straight back up. He's not perfect but does seem to learn from his mistakes. We can only get better with nige at the helm imo

[Finchy]

Come on Col you being serious? He may have put out on paper an attacking minded formation/players but we didn't play like it especially first half.

Worrying, Swansea didn't get out of second gear in order to beat us that is the worry and concern.

 

But why is that Pearson's fault? There was nothing wrong with the game plan. The misplaced passes were our main problem in the first half, the players need to take some of the blame. 

 

I hate this attitude that it is always the managers fault. I find it astonishing that anyone has a bad word to say about him, his record at this club is outstanding, and 3 months into our first Premier League season in 10 years, there are threads like this. Embarrassing. 

[suffolk fox]

But why is that Pearson's fault? There was nothing wrong with the game plan. The misplaced passes were our main problem in the first half, the players need to take some of the blame. 

 

I hate this attitude that it is always the managers fault. I find it astonishing that anyone has a bad word to say about him, his record at this club is outstanding, and 3 months into our first Premier League season in 10 years, there are threads like this. Embarrassing.

Come on please at least be honest with yourself. The manager picks the team the manager gives instructions to the team before kick off on how he wants them to play what formation he wants us to play, what players for them to watch, what tactics he wants us to adopt.

I agree once they cross the line as players the manager can sit or stand and watch but evaluate what if anything is going wrong and what can he do to improve the situation i.e change tactics, personnel or formation so yes, it is down to the manager at any level.

I have not said I want Pearson sacked I responded to Cols argument that we picked four forwards and we had a go? Well, I don't know what game he was watching cos we didn't have a go at all.

I like anyone can accept losing if we do have a bloody go even 8 0 aka Sunderland but at the very least have a bloody go. We had two shots on target against Newcastle in 90 minutes how many did we have yesterday?

Nigel Pearson does not know what his best team is yet or even what formation he wants to play? He does seem to be playing players out of position Vardy is not a winger and he was playing too deep leaving Ulloa isolated up front. I am baffled as to why Vardy played out wide when Albrighton who is a winger cant get in the team yesterday.

Nigel Pearson has done well for us I make no moans about it promotion from league 1 winning the championship last year. Premiership is a different kettle of fish. Going back to basics would be nice let us play 4 4 2 Vardy Nugent/ulloa up top Drinkwater James King Mahres/knockeart in the middle and at least do what we do well press, break quickly and at the very least have a bloody go.

[Raj]

talk of getting rid of him is silly.

Players need to step upto the challenge of the prem like we did in the first few games and not be afraid.

atm they look shit scared...dont now whats happened since the manu game but defo the confidence has gone

[inckley fox]

I said this in the summer. Stick with him come what may.

Many said today, sod it, attack them.. Pearson put out an attacking formation. We went for it.

And now people criticise him...

 

Well there's more to it than simply picking a line-up that a handful of FT posters find agreeable!

 

The side looked short of motivation and organisation - these amount to a manager's responsibility too. And, as far as the line-up is concerned, there are few out there who would put De Laet, Hammond and Nugent in ahead of Simpson, Cambiasso and James.

 

He has failed to settle his line-up so far, consistently picking 2/3 players per game ahead of more capable alternatives. Take the decision to leave Vardy out for Nugent or Schlupp on occasions, or stick with Hammond ahead of James. He has tinkered with the formation on a game by game basis, to the extent that players don't seem to know what system they are playing. While some of those stand-ins - Hammond especially - have done us proud, you can't persist with players on a 'if you do a job, you get the shout' basis to the same extent at the bottom end of the PL, as at the top end of the Championship.

 

He's got it wrong and he's going to have to put it right, and quick. But let's not go thinking that he can be defended on the grounds that a few FT posters more or less agreed with his team selection; or even that the only measurement of his decision-making should be his team selection when there's a lot more there for him to sort out.

[roblcfc84]

Well there's more to it than simply picking a line-up that a handful of FT posters find agreeable!

 

The side looked short of motivation and organisation - these amount to a manager's responsibility too. And, as far as the line-up is concerned, there are few out there who would put De Laet, Hammond and Nugent in ahead of Simpson, Cambiasso and James.

 

He has failed to settle his line-up so far, consistently picking 2/3 players per game ahead of more capable alternatives. Take the decision to leave Vardy out for Nugent or Schlupp on occasions, or stick with Hammond ahead of James. He has tinkered with the formation on a game by game basis, to the extent that players don't seem to know what system they are playing. While some of those stand-ins - Hammond especially - have done us proud, you can't persist with players on a 'if you do a job, you get the shout' basis to the same extent at the bottom end of the PL, as at the top end of the Championship.

 

He's got it wrong and he's going to have to put it right, and quick. But let's not go thinking that he can be defended on the grounds that a few FT posters more or less agreed with his team selection; or even that the only measurement of his decision-making should be his team selection when there's a lot more there for him to sort out.

Bang on!! Very articulate. Seems to be a view on here that if you question NP you know nothing about football. We had 3 players with PL experience not even on the bench yesterday. I hope he gets it right and he gets the time, but the reality PL survival is bigger than one man.

This isn't me saying he should go or can't do the job, but for me he needs to get over himself a little. He's not a tactical genius, he is a manager with great man management and excellent team building skills. Let's get bk to 442 and do what we do best.

[inckley fox]

We could have played any formation under the sun, with any player combination and as much attacking intent as you can muster... But if those 11 players can't keep the ball and pass to each other, it will ultimately look negative as you are doing nothing but defending. We couldn't even pass the ball into their half at times so we are going to look deep.

I don't believe Pearson set out for us to be negative, so I'm not going to criticise him for that. That was a symptom of simple failures of the players mentioned above.

But we need to ask why 11 players to a man couldn't string more than a few passes together.

The chopping and changing of formations and players has to be a problem, last season every man knew his job, where he should be on the pitch, I don't think we can say that's the case now.

 

I agree that the main problem is the chopping and changing. His determination to give people a fair chance has prevented him from settling on his best team early in the campaign, and this has proven to be a mistake.

 

But Pearson's comments on failing to retain possession, a problem which you refer to here, are another example of papering over the cracks (much like his 'we need to take our chances' line of the last few weeks). The work-rate is sorely lacking and when we're on the ball there quite often aren't options ahead of the players in possession. At times Mahrez, Drinkwater and Nugent were horribly devoid of movement and it didn't matter whether it was Hammond, Konchesky, Morgan, Cambiasso, James, King or whoever on the ball, they weren't going to offer an outlet.

 

The same problem occurred when it came to picking up possession. I saw Mahrez, Nugent and later Cambiasso shying away from tackles on occasions, and one particular incident stuck in my mind, when De Laet was caught out of position and literally walked back into defence while our central defenders desperately scrambled the ball clear.

 

He is being let down by his players in terms of their application, something almost unheard of among newly promoted sides (Reading a couple of years ago springs to mind), and definitely unheard of among newly promoted sides who stay up. I've seen a few on here virtually absolve Pearson of blame on these grounds. But these are his players and he, like any other manager, will have to take responsibility for them.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Pearson out? Title

Say no more. You need the ****ing day off mate

You need to understand your own language. The thread title is a question, not a bloody statement.

 

Go back to school you numpty, and stop being so pathetically boring.

[inckley fox]

Bang on!! Very articulate. Seems to be a view on here that if you question NP you know nothing about football. We had 3 players with PL experience not even on the bench yesterday. I hope he gets it right and he gets the time, but the reality PL survival is bigger than one man.

This isn't me saying he should go or can't do the job, but for me he needs to get over himself a little. He's not a tactical genius, he is a manager with great man management and excellent team building skills. Let's get bk to 442 and do what we do best.

 

Yes, I'd go with the 4-4-2 if we can manage to play it without sticking Vardy out in a role he's never played at league level, or Schlupp in the same position, or Hammond ahead of James / King / Cambiasso, or those same full backs, or Nugent up front etc. When I hear people saying the problem is Moore (I mean, the amount of pressure those two central defenders are under game in game out is extraordinary by any standards), or the solution is King etc. I despair a little. It's instability and a keenness to pick players who are clearly outside of our best eleven which, along with a failure to motivate the side adequately for games like yesterday, which could cost Pearson.

 

The clearest viable alternative I've seen is the 4-3-3 with Cambiasso, James, Drinkwater; simply because it was with these on the field that we briefly took charge against Newcastle. I felt at the time that with Mahrez in ahead of Nugent (and I'm still baffled that Mahrez wanted to play but Pearson wouldn't even stick him on the bench), and Ulloa / Vardy alongside him in attack, we might have stolen the initiative. It's also a pretty decent-looking side on paper, if nothing else, and not unrecognisable (James, Mahrez in and Hammond, Nugent out - unless I'm mistaken) from that which disposed of Manchester United.