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

[North East Fox]

I think it's worth noting that O'Neill had two more points after his first ten Premier League games with us than we have now and had a run of 9 games without a win that season. Were people panicking to anything like this extent then out of interest?

Did we not finish 9th or something as well? I know I'm looking at this differently to most but I can't help but keep reminding myself that we actually took part in the JPT, played Scunny on a regular basis and thought beating Peterborough was a good result - this was all within the last 5-6 years. It's never nice losing and the match today was hard to watch but we're still 17th and I don't even think we've played anywhere near as good as we can for the majority of this season.

 

People keep saying how the Premier League isn't up to that much - then why was everyone so desperate to get there. It's tough and we will never be in the top 6 in this league but we all love our club and want us to win but I just think some need to remember who we follow.

[conLAD logan]

we are less of a threat without 2 wingers and its shown in these games where we've played far too narrow. Get mahrez and knockaert starting

[inckley fox]

I think it's worth noting that O'Neill had two more points after his first ten Premier League games with us than we have now and had a run of 9 games without a win that season. Were people panicking to anything like this extent then out of interest?

 

No, because we got five points from those nine games, made the League Cup Final and won the League Cup Final. Our squad was not amply funded like this one, and it didn't exactly take the 2nd tier by storm like this one. A week after that run came to an end we secured a 9th place finish in the Premier League. I can see why people might have felt more upbeat then than they do now.

[Larry_LCFC]

Anyone see Fosters little wind up mission towards the end when he was getting stick for his blatant time wasting? Literally bent over and started waving his arse at the kop to the beat of the chants against him whilst conducting with his hand. Bellend Have never wanted to slot a late equalizer past a keeper so much.

[Titterofwit]

First time poster living In Ireland but a leicester fan from spending a long and happy period of my life living in the city,

I missed the o'neill era by a few years but what delighted me then was how the walshes and lennons, izzet and heskeys proved to be absolutely good enough and hungry enough to step up .

this bunch won a very tough league at a canter and with the exception of mahrez have not displayed the wit tor desire to survive at this level.

O'neill was bred in a town close to me, he and most of his brothers played Gaelic football to a high level those lads took nothing for granted, our bunch are lazy except for the wee Algerian.

[Bert]

Anyone see Fosters little wind up mission towards the end when he was getting stick for his blatant time wasting? Literally bent over and started waving his arse at the kop to the beat of the chants against him whilst conducting with his hand. Bellend Have never wanted to slot a late equalizer past a keeper so much.

I've never understood why it's fine for fans to give a player stick, but if the player gives it back they're this that and the other.

Don't give it if you can't take it.

[Donut]

Anyone see Fosters little wind up mission towards the end when he was getting stick for his blatant time wasting? Literally bent over and started waving his arse at the kop to the beat of the chants against him whilst conducting with his hand. Bellend Have never wanted to slot a late equalizer past a keeper so much.

 

Certainly wound you up anyway.

[Larry_LCFC]

I've never understood why it's fine for fans to give a player stick, but if the player gives it back they're this that and the other.

Don't give it if you can't take it.

  

Certainly wound you up anyway.

Did the not indicate that I found it rather amusing? I don't mind banter between fans and players at all. Just would have been nice to wipe the smug grin off his face.

[Dan]

Playing Nugent has to stop, it really does. He carries absolutely zero attacking threat. You can babble on about vague notions of scoring penalties, link-up play and work rate all you want, its a load of bollocks. Anyone can provide that.

 

I feel for him because I'm sure he's a nice bloke, he's broadly genuine and he works hard but he is nowhere near PL standard, and missing so many of those small but very significant increments of quality you need to be considered PL standard. He's only a top 10 Championship strikers. His record from open play since even the start of last season is sub-par.

 

I've come to thinking this. He's a Championship forward.

[Guest Kopfkino]

I've come to thinking this. He's a Championship forward.

 

The difference playing in the Premier League is speed of thought needs to be much quicker. Nugent just doesn't see things quick enough and that's not going to change

[Dan]

You've basically summed it up.

This reminds me so much of that Feb-April 2013 run. Today was like the Millwall game in that run - you think that it's a great chance of a fresh start with an eminently winnable home game after what appears to have been a nadir and something unbelievably ridiculous happens to fvck us over (for Cambiasso own goal read 2nd minute Morgan red card).

Sadly the Millwall game was directly followed by the infamous Barnsley debacle. Fingers crossed that the Saints game won't be like that.

 

If we play anything like that we will lose by more than what Sunderland did.

The difference playing in the Premier League is speed of thought needs to be much quicker. Nugent just doesn't see things quick enough and that's not going to change

 

Agreed. I wanted him to succeed but it just isn't happening. He doesn't even get chances. How many shots has he had this season? I bet it's no more than five.

[J.Lisemore]

Playing Nugent has to stop, it really does. He carries absolutely zero attacking threat. You can babble on about vague notions of scoring penalties, link-up play and work rate all you want, its a load of bollocks. Anyone can provide that.

 

I feel for him because I'm sure he's a nice bloke, he's broadly genuine and he works hard but he is nowhere near PL standard, and missing so many of those small but very significant increments of quality you need to be considered PL standard. He's only a top 10 Championship strikers. His record from open play since even the start of last season is sub-par.

 

Completely agree with this. We clearly need someone of more quality than Nugent, for all the effort he puts in he just isn't good enough in my eyes.

[Dan]

I've just seen what Lawro said pre game, "Leicester only need to turn up and they will win" oh dear.....

 

Yeah but we didn't turn up and therefore lost to a mediocre side to a freak goal. He wasn't wrong.

[ozleicester]

The Premier League requires more than just graft and hard work, it needs creativity, guile and even a little over confidence.

 

The only player in our squad who demonstrates that, did not start for the 2nd time in 3 games. Mahrez is the the difference between grafting and hoping... and actually creating some opportunities.

 

He might not chase back hard enough, he might not run like a headless chicken, but when hes got the ball at his feet, we become a threat. 

 

We have to gamble a little in the prem, it may hurt us on occasion but youve got to take a risk (something we look to scared to do).. not just hope to sneak a goal here and there.

 

Place your bet, Roll the dice and stand by your decisions.

[Dan]

I appreciate it's a higher standard of football but I do think some people are a bit deluded about some of the opposition at times. I don't agree with whoever said WBA were poorer than Reading/Brighton but I didn't think they were unbeatable at all. I think the Leicester of last season would've gotten at least a point yesterday and I'm even more confident that we'd have created more.

 

I have absolutely no idea what Albrighton has to do to get a game. We have players who fit the kind of football we played last season and earlier this year and we're neglecting them - and for what? This utter shit? My ****ing word.

[Burmesefox]

slight improvement (not hard)

mahrez, knockaert? anyone? load of crap again really. Vardy looked a bit lively at times, west brom were rubbish. we needed a spark. we have two. neither got on the pitch. smashing.

[Burmesefox]

Spot on.

It was obvious we had no width and no outlet for de Laet and konch. WBA were poor and we we're unlucky not to get a point but we were sooooo dull and ineffective.

[Burmesefox]

Didn't mahrez have a slight knock?

[Crinklyfox]

First time poster living In Ireland but a leicester fan from spending a long and happy period of my life living in the city,

I missed the o'neill era by a few years but what delighted me then was how the walshes and lennons, izzet and heskeys proved to be absolutely good enough and hungry enough to step up .

this bunch won a very tough league at a canter and with the exception of mahrez have not displayed the wit tor desire to survive at this level.

O'neill was bred in a town close to me, he and most of his brothers played Gaelic football to a high level those lads took nothing for granted, our bunch are lazy except for the wee Algerian.

Welcome to Foxestalk.

 

I'm old enough to have followed City through the MON years and was very unhappy when he left, we have yet to recapture anything like that era.

 

MON said that when City were promoted under his management they already had a number of players who were good enough for the highest league in England.  I don't think we have so many now and that's one of the problems.  Some players will adapt but it's obvious that others won't make the grade and to stay up we need quality throughout the side, plus the desire to put in the effort to win.

[Guest ttfn]

And won, by managing the game well, defensive assuredness from Lescott, appropriate tactics to suit various parts of the game and possessing players of quality going forward to provide a sting in the tail. Of course theyre better than Brighton and fvcking Reading.

Whats the fvcking point in coming on here and calling West Brom "the worst team weve played so far this season" when we were atrocious and theyve left with 3 points? None

They never looked like scoring. They got a one in a million fluke and then wasted time until the end of the game. Actually maybe that is good "game management" but Yeovil nearly did that to us last season and didn't have to rely on a freak own goal to score. Forest did exactly the same to us last season and were called out for being shit on here. In reality there was much to admire about their organisation but nobody pretended they were a great side.

It's not like scrappy 1-0 wins with organised defences don't exist in the championship.

It's us not playing well that is the determining factor in our poor run at the moment. Part of that is tactics, part of it is low confidence and part of it is the likes of Nugent and Drinkwater not being able to handle the fact that they're getting less time on the ball. Some of that last part is definitely better positioning and tactics from the opposition, but much of it is due to the pedestrian speed at which we're getting the ball to them, not to mention trying to play the game in a 5 yard corridor down the centre of the pitch.

[Guest Col city fan]

They never looked like scoring. They got a one in a million fluke and then wasted time until the end of the game. Actually maybe that is good "game management" but Yeovil nearly did that to us last season and didn't have to rely on a freak own goal to score. Forest did exactly the same to us last season and were called out for being shit on here. In reality there was much to admire about their organisation but nobody pretended they were a great side.

It's not like scrappy 1-0 wins with organised defences don't exist in the championship.

It's us not playing well that is the determining factor in our poor run at the moment. Part of that is tactics, part of it is low confidence and part of it is the likes of Nugent and Drinkwater not being able to handle the fact that they're getting less time on the ball. Some of that last part is definitely better positioning and tactics from the opposition, but much of it is due to the pedestrian speed at which we're getting the ball to them, not to mention trying to play the game in a 5 yard corridor down the centre of the pitch.

You keep on about this 'us not playing well' thing and just ignore the bigger picture. We know we are a decent side. We know that Nugent can score goals, we know that Drinkwater can look like he bosses the midfield. Yet we aren't playing well.

Either these players aren't as good as we hoped they would be, or you've underestimated the opposition this season. Maybe our players who we know can play well, aren't playing well, because they aren't being allowed to play well? Why aren't we playing well? What can have changed to suddenly render good players into bad players?

The opposition....?

[Guest Col city fan]

.

Please change your name to that.

It's not at all amusing. This is a football forum, full of opposing views on stuff. That's fine. It should not be used to abuse. Yet the mods appear to let certain posters put exactly what they want, personal abuse included. It needs to stop.

[Guest ttfn]

You keep on about this 'us not playing well' thing and just ignore the bigger picture. We know we are a decent side. We know that Nugent can score goals, we know that Drinkwater can look like he bosses the midfield. Yet we aren't playing well.

Either these players aren't as good as we hoped they would be, or you've underestimated the opposition this season. Maybe our players who we know can play well, aren't playing well, because they aren't being allowed to play well? Why aren't we playing well? What can have changed to suddenly render good players into bad players?

The opposition... There's a clue..

How do you explain our run in Feb-April 2013 then? We knew we were a good side (2nd in the league, 5 wins in a row) and won 1 in 13, all without any step up in opposition.

In truth it's pretty clear that there are a myriad of factors at play. Bad luck is obviously one, as is the indisputable fact that teams like West Brom are better than at least 75% of teams we played last year (where we disagree is not on that, but on where they fit in by contrast to the better championship sides).

But we are getting a lot of the basics wrong at the moment. The chopping and changing not just of personnel but formations has to stop. The emphasis on "winning the midfield battle" has to stop. We might get hammered on occasion but a 4-0 defeat and a 2-1 win is better for us than two 0-0 draws from stifling the game (and as long as we can't keep clean sheets this is a non-starter anyway). The fear of sides who finished in the bottom half has to stop. We were utterly fearless against Everton, Chelsea (where we played 4-4-2 as much out if necessity as choice), Arsenal and Manchester United. If we don't fear them, why would we fear West Brom? Is it because we had nothing to lose in those games? Surely if West Brom are as competent as you say then we should feel like we have nothing to lose in every game and that fearless mentality should remain?

[KFS]

Id like to see us try and play our best footballers which imo would be something like

Schmeichel

De Laet Wasilevski Morgan Konchesky

Mahrez King Cambiasso Knockeart

Powell

Ulloa

Yep.

And keep this every week, I don't even care about "setting up to nullify the opposition". Southampton have thrived because they played their own philosophy from game 1 and continue to today.

We're fvcking about too much trying to match up the opposition through tactics and hard work but sacrificing class and ability.

[Guest ttfn]

It's not at all amusing. This is a football forum, full of opposing views on stuff. That's fine. It should not be used to abuse. Yet the mods appear to let certain posters put exactly what they want, personal abuse included. It needs to stop.

Come on Col, it's such a ridiculously childish insult. If it's any consolation he'll probably wake up feeling like there is construction work going on in his head whilst all you've got to worry about is what you'll have for lunch.

Don't be such a "plonker".