Leicester City v West Bromwich Albion post match thread 0 - 1

[Stadt]

http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/topic/97768-leicester-city-v-west-bromwich-albion-match-thread/?p=3183209

[Lineker's Left Foot]

Laughable. We played okay but something is not right.

Winning 5-3 vs Man United has actually stopped us playing well, playing Burnley has stopped us scoring.

I'm looking at the next few fixtures, and with our current form, when is the next time we will get points? Christ.

These plonkers will probably beat Southampton next week now

I probably wont even bother next week. (But I probably will hehe)

[crisp packet]

Low quality game.Missed chances AGAIN!!!

We are too nice as a team.

Our foul management is awful,more of our players need to take one for the team.

If we break at pace with numbers , watch how quick we get taken out! Pulled tripped whatever is needed to stop the flow...

Can we not just play 44 fcuking 2? With maherez and shluup ? FFS

[babylad92]

powells shot summed up the game the 10 minute period after ulloa was just a false indian summer for us pathetic showing once again

 

np needs to explain what hes thinking with that team selection i dont think there was one person around me in the ground who was dumstruck when the teams were announced

 

no mahrez and ulloa but nugent still being on is a scandal tbh

[Matt]

****ing dogshit.

 

An improvement in the last 4 games but only marginally, we were still ****ing awful.

 

Nugent has got to go, certainly gotta be dropped but tbh i'd look at offloading if him in January, unless of course we are already planning for next season in the Championship? Then he might be of some use to us.

 

What Wood and/or Powell have to do to get a start I do not know, they offered more than Nugent when they came on.

 

Drinkwater needs dropping for a few games - Not as critical of him as Nuge because he is a very important player for us, when he plays well we play well, unfortunately he's not playing well at the moment, thus the reason for dropping him for a few games.

 

I could list others that need dropping but not really sure we have players to replace them with.

 

We need Knockeart in the team purely for his corners, I think he's the only player at the club that can take the odd decent corner.

 

Fuming, absolutely fuming, I can accept losing but these last 5 games I cannot except the performances, I am seriously considering taking some anger management because in the last few weeks I have nearly put holes in walls and doors, I have managed to stop myself, but I am very angry.

[kingfox]

We've been worse in recent weeks, we had some good spells in the game today; however we just didn't look like scoring. 

 

Didn't see Wasilewski's elbows, but I must say him & Morgan looked fairly solid today, they kept Berahino pretty quiet & held a good line against him, he must of been offside about 10 times. At times I thought James & King played well, ball retention was better, they both passed it well enough & both were very forward thinking. There were glimpses of quality from Matty James today, he looked to get on the ball, looked to move it forward & kept it well enough; however players in front of him let him down at times. Drinkwater was better today than he was against Swansea, but he still didn't do enough, he just looks like a Championship standard midfielder who lacks any ideas when on the ball, Cambiasso was decent in parts made some good tackles; however he kept pinging it long & nothing was coming off, seriously don't know why he kept resulting it stupid lofted balls.

 

The midfield were better, but they didn't pass it quick enough, we lacked any creativeness today and were poor when it came to the final third. We had four central midfielders today who are all far too similar, good at keeping the ball at times, but lack decisiveness when it comes to driving forward.

 

Finally David Nugent was utter crap, he is nowhere near Premier League standard. 

 

Seriously don't know what the answer is anymore, we lack Premier League quality players. 

[harmoye]

We need 7 Loan players from Chelsea, Southampton etc, yes and even Crystal Palace... now !!!!

[Stadt]

powells shot summed up the game the 10 minute period after ulloa was just a false indian summer for us pathetic showing once again

 

np needs to explain what hes thinking with that team selection i dont think there was one person around me in the ground who was dumstruck when the teams were announced

 

no mahrez and ulloa but nugent still being on is a scandal tbh

[funkyrobot]

Tbf mahrez persistently gave the ball away last week so I could understand why he was dropped. Ulloa was carrying a groin injury and that's why he was benched. James was our best midfielder. Cambiasso was average, king ineffective (as he often is) and drinky performed way below his usual standards. Konch was poor but was given little help due to the midfield set up and the performance of 3 out of 4 of them in the middle. Despite our failings, this was a lucky smash n grab job by a west brom team that hoofed far more than I expected and created very little. Berahinho didn't look like a future england prospect to me. Up front we didn't create enough though. Nugent was poor again. King got into good positions but his headers were weak. Vardy was the best forward and ulloa appears to be suddenly shot shy, preferring a difficult cross to James rather than a shot at goal when he was in the area. Just have a f'kin shot mate!

[Buzzell]

[Kitchandro]

A few points:

 

1. Starting with 4 central midfielders is another inexplicably stupid thing that Pearson has done recently. Today proves once and for all that this 'winning the midfield battle' thing is hugely overrated. We did that today but it left us no better off with no cutting edge to make use of it. We did need width but more than that we needed a different kind of player. Mahrez is that kind of player, for example. We started today with yet another different formation and for the life of I can't understand why we can't just play either the 4-3-3 we started the season with (with a few tweaks in personnel) or the 4-4-2 we played last season (again, with a couple of tweaks in personnel)

 

2. Speaking of Mahrez - it's perfectly clear from Pearson's interview that he didn't play because he felt that Mahrez didn't try hard enough last week. Personally I disagree, but what I find particularly odd is Pearson saying that he doesn't care who it is, if they aren't putting in the effort they won't play. Well obviously you do care who it is, Nigel, because Nugent has continued to be selected despite not putting in maximum effort.

 

3. Speaking of Nugent - everyone was clearly fed up with him today. He plays like he's knackered, he doesn't hold the ball up, he doesn't make things happen and he doesn't even look like scoring goals. Simply, he's not up to this level. Sorry, but it's as simple as that unless he drastically improves. He should at least be running around like a scolded cat, and he doesn't.

 

4. We played ok today, don't get me wrong. But ok isn't good enough. Vardy did not start playing centrally til the second half, which I found bizarre because it should have been a diamond 4-4-2 with 2 central strikers. Strange. We didn't link up in the final 3rd at all. We may have dominated possession but we had about 3 shots - 2 were on target but poor efforts, the other went out for a throw. I actually think we got plenty of crosses in despite our lack of width but we have that old problem again of not being able to win headers in the box. On another day we would have drawn 0-0, but you can't claim we deserved to win. We had a lot of possession but the amount of chances and shots we had is pitiful.

 

5. The defence was decent. Morgan was solid as usual, Konchesky was ok, and I think Was and the much maligned De Laet both played very well. Freak goal, can't blame them too much. However, Kasper needs to top being so immature. He rushes things and it leads to errors that can cost us. You need your goalkeeper to have a cool head and he hasn't really got one I'm afraid.

 

6. Today could be viewed as 'one of those days', but coupled with our last few performances and results it only points to relegation. As I said before the game, confidence is very low and that's why we needed a win. I can only see a defeat next week and with Nigel having no clue as to how to sort out our problems we are in a real mess. I'm absolutely livid that he's  let us get in this position because there is no way this group of players, which he assembled, should be going down. Had we carried on in the same, positive vein after the Man Utd match we'd be ok. But Pearson is solely to blame for this collapse and we have shot ourselves in the foot because of our approach to playing against teams who we should have been fancying ourselves against. Points chucked away due to negativity and at times, complacency, is not something I'm very accepting of.

[ashmanlee]

At Southampton?!

 

Not a chance.

logic says we'll get slammed but i have a weird feeling we'll sneak a goal in first then weather most of the storm concede and then come straight back at them 2-1 final result (praying)

[harmoye]

It's hard seeing the team you love, that have hit the heights last season get blitzed !

 

Pearson needs to get in quality loan players... strikers to score goals...and big defenders to repel the goals we have been conceding on set pieces.

 

The team we have at this moment are just not good enough, and unless we address the situation immediately we are down !

[Robin JD Popley]

Hate to say it but it's beginning to look worrying. I cannot understand what has changed in the psyche of the squad since we beat Man Utd, those 1st six games we gave a pretty good account of ourselves overall. However, since then the lads look like they have run out of ideas. Also hate to bang on about it but our defence worries me. I know the goal we conceded today was a completely freak goal but I do have to pull the back four up again on the build up play from them. We were in their half and within 15 seconds the ball was in the back of our net. That shows we are either too slow in tracking back or teams have realised we are weak down the flanks and therefore can expose that problem with quick movement. 

 

I really hope things improve and I have always been a person who believes in the glass being half full rather than empty but time is ticking. It may only be November but we won't play many worse teams than today.

[Vicki Vixen]

We need to develop the confidence to go in to PL games believing we can win based on the ability of our players.

We need a settled side and a settled formation which first and foremost is set up to make the most of our attributes rather than to negate our opponents.

Right now we seem intent on cancelling out the opposition and hoping to nick games by a single goal. The only good reason for this approach is that NP does not think we can win games on merit.

It has led to an unsettled team who seem unsure of where their team mates are on the pitch and a visible air of frustration among both players and fans. Lots of reminders here of the 2012/13 season unfortunately.

[Dan]

The main thing we learned today I guess is that we definitely don't have the full backs for a diamond. You need exceptional full backs in my opinion and we simply don't have them.

 

It's a shame that Cambiasso got the winner at the wrong end as he was easily our best player.

 

Vardy tried but it didn't really come off for him, no long-term problem there.

 

Been biting my tongue here but.. Nugent - time to be dropped and I mean properly. He isn't a Premier League footballer. I wanted him to succeed but I can't see how he will.

 

Didn't think the centre halves were too bad.

 

King was anonymous. I love Kingy and thought it was all set up for him to score today but it wasn't to be. He wasn't involved enough.

 

Drinkwater was too quiet.

 

James I thought played quite well.

 

So annoying how basic our play was. We won nothing against Lescott all game. We had four central midfielders yet played hoofball yet again. We give ourselves an advantage in the middle and completely bypass it.

 

West Brom - nothing special. Definition of solid but unspectacular. Fluke goal won it for them.

 

We needed the result today and we've drawn our fourth blank in five games. This is relegation form and today's result has without a doubt thrown is straight into the mix. How we've gone from that start to this I just cannot understand.

 

4-4-2 next week. Vardy & Ulloa up front. Albrighton out wide (why have we signed him?), Mahrez out wide. Do whatever you want with the midfield.

[ARTY_FOX]

The noise being made during the minutes silence was out of order.

[Guest LCFC_World]

I actually thought we played alright. We just need to take our chances. Right now I would take 17th place. Surely there are 3 worse teams than us...?

Anyway, I'm sorry but Nugent needs to be dropped. Shouldn't even be making the bench from what I have seen of him. Powell looked lively when he came on, needs to be in that starting 11, very creative player. Knockaert and Mahrez also need to be back in that team.

Danny Simpson as well.

And so much time wasting from west Brom today really pissed me off.

[Fox92]

Width. There's the problem today. Lack of width. Wingers are an outlet, I was constantly seeing our midfielders look wide but not have an option. It was too congested. Mahrez should have been in the side. And another winger. Ok, I haven't really liked what I've seen of Albrighton so far but one week he plays the next week he isn't on the bench? Ulloa should have played too.

 

I feel Pearson is also playing players that he won't drop. De Laet, rubbish, but I knew he wouldn't be dropped. Both full backs are poor, feel for the centre backs who have all been ok so far this season.

[harmoye]

I actually thought we played alright. We just need to take our chances. Right now I would take 17th place. Surely there are 3 worse teams than us...? 

 

 

NO, we are the very bad... and i've seen them all !

[EnglishOxide]

I'm not too disheartened by todays game.

If Vardy buries the overhead and Andy King does better with a couple of headers then it's a different story. West Brom offered very little and once again Wasilewski has made us look solid at the back, for the first time in a while.

Nigel played the diamond today, and it came close to working. It wasn't a disastrous way to line up. It's the subs he made which I found were bad. We were crying out for some creativity. Mahrez and Knockaert should have been in place to come in.

My personal preference is 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. It means we get to use Mahrez and Knockaert. There's where our creativity comes from.

The problem with today is that Vardy was the only one who could run past an opponent. Where as last season at one stage we had Dyer, Schluup, Vardy, Mahrez, Knockaert and De Laet (when he was playing well) on the pitch.

Like I said, I prefer 4-4-2 but if Nige goes with something different then he needs to make sure our forwards get service and that our midfielders can get into goalscoring positions.

We dust ourselves down and go again. There's no disaster here. The positive is that our defence looked better. Next game we need to offer more going forwardown.

[Guest CityFan 06]

An much improved performance from previous games. Still something to work from. Plenty of chances, onto the next game.

[Bert]

On the plus side...........

Posted 28 October 2014 - 03:29 PM

I think our players will try this time but West Brom are simply too much for us.

1-0 to West Brom.

Where's the plus side to this?

this place

Terrible game, lucky winner for them, denied a good pen shout, draw would of been fair.

Worrying thing for us is are forwards haven't played well since September (all of them....... not just Nugent)

If you're on about that Lescott tackle he got the ball.

[Father Ted]

We showed the desire in the first half to make things happen but we have some issues.

 

Konchesky must be dropped for Schlupp. Losing Dyer has been devastating to the way that we play and we have absolutely nothing going forward on the left. Schlupp would have been ideal at left back today, in a game where WE matched West Brom with the diamond, Jeff could have really exploited them down that side with his pace - instead we had nosebleed Konch.

 

I'm also concerned about Drinkwater's form. We all know how pivotal he was to us last season. The usual, Drinky plays well we play well, Drinky plays bad we play bad theme is certainly proving true at the moment. I don't think that early season injuries to Drinky, James and Vardy have helped the cause at all.

 

On the whole though, the diamond didn't quite work - it simply nullified West Brom's midfield and turned the game into a real scrap. I felt that Wes and Wasyl really dealt with Sessegnon and Berahino well. Wasyl in particular was outstanding, showing us exactly the guile and experience we've been missing in there. A real tough nut and some great distribution in there. Would keep him in.

 

No creativity from midfield though. James is a grafter, Kingy a possession maestro, Cambiasso deep lying. The diamond has severe limitations unless Knockaert or Mahrez play.

 

Against Southampton I'd go with the diamond again but drop one of the central midfield 4 for Mahrez to sit at the tip of the diamond and I'd drop Konch for Schlupp.

[NewburyFox]

I didn't think we were too bad today - it was certainly much improved on the Swansea and Newcastle performances. The main problem for me was that the four CMs were all too similar - to play a diamond you need some creativity at the tip and for all of King's natural goalscoring ability, he's never been a creative midfielder. I'm sure Powell and Mahrez are more than capable of playing there, and even though they will inevitably lose the ball more than King would, they're also much more likely to actually create something. Leaving Mahrez out at home is criminal.

 

Additionally the system we played requires the full backs to provide width and who are capable of crossing. Ours, quite simply, can't. De Laet can get forward but can't and has never been able to swing a good ball into the box, while Konchesky struggles to get forward nowadays, and when he does it's usually a hopeful punt into the box.

 

Nugent isn't good enough for this level. I was desperate for him to prove his critics wrong but it's become painfully obvious that he's not up to it. His speed of thought when he gets the ball is far too slow, and he just doesn't provide a goal threat. There was a chance in the first half where we had a long throw, and it was flicked on to the back post. A natural goal scorer would've anticipated that and already been moving there, however Nugent was stood on the penalty spot. He should've been replaced with real Premier League quality in the summer, and it's a big mistake by the management team that he wasn't.

 

Why Vardy was taken off and Wood put on is anyone's guess. His pace was causing problems and I imagine West Brom breathed a sigh of relief when he went off and we predictably resorted to desperate hoof ball.

 

On another day we wouldn't have conceded such an unlucky own goal and got a point, but it's not happening for us at the moment and the constant tinkering isn't helping. We need to find a system and stick to it, one which plays to our strengths rather than repeatedly trying to nullify the opposition.