No creativity

[Guest ttfn]

Can you explain to me this stubborness that is labelled at Pearson? 

 

He doesn't stick with the same formation each game. He changes the personnel regularly. The squad changes on a weekly basis. It's not as though he's selecting the same 11 each week without fail in a rigid set-up.

 

If anything he's more experimental and uncertain than stubborn.

I'm starting to worry that rather than stubborn, he's unable to see what's staring him right in the face.

 

The definition of madness is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results; in the last six weeks we've used the diamond three times and scored 0 goals in 3 games.

[nickm]

I was always the first to slag pearson off last season and i was surprised and relieved when he came good, any problems we've ever had comes down to the lack of midfield creativity and it's almost as if he has a mental block and cannot see what's staring him in the face.

He's a good manager and he obviously wants to put out the best team he can but when we got into the premier league the thais wanted us to just do as little and spend as little as we needed to so we could stay up or even get one season and get a good payday. It's all about the money for them, they're really not interested in LCFC it is purely a money thing.

Pearson's hands are tied and to a large degree they always have been!

[Charl91]

I was always the first to slag pearson off last season and i was surprised and relieved when he came good, any problems we've ever had comes down to the lack of midfield creativity and it's almost as if he has a mental block and cannot see what's staring him in the face.

He's a good manager and he obviously wants to put out the best team he can but when we got into the premier league the thais wanted us to just do as little and spend as little as we needed to so we could stay up or even get one season and get a good payday. It's all about the money for them, they're really not interested in LCFC it is purely a money thing.

Pearson's hands are tied and to a large degree they always have been!

 

Where have you got that idea from?

 

'Cus as far as I know, the Thais have always supported Pearson in the transfer market.

[Thracian]

Something seems to be wrong in the club.

 

The Knockaert situation for a start. I'm not his biggest fan because he's so damned frustrating. He has more skill than most yet too often chooses the wrong places to use it and leaves his team-mates ina mess when it goes wrong - which is often.

 

But that means the guy needs talking to and encouragement to use his skills more constructively - not being sat on the sidelines. It's almost as if he's been banished for a while.

 

Are there non-football reasons for that or what?  If so what's to stop the manager from saying so? He doesn't have to give reasons. Just that it's an internal matter that he regrets and that's that. 

 

And what about Mayrez. Okay the bloke's not the best defender but he's one of our best attackers and we need to score as well as prevent goals. Or Albrighton who was signed to be a winger but has hardly played.

 

It's a lot of attacking potential we're missing for a side that doesn't look like scoring and whose central midfielders are being baulked by the lack of movement and passing options out wide.

 

I keep coming back to Cambiasso. I really have nothing against the bloke individually but - without using Schlupp on the left-edge of a diamond - I don't understand how that system can produce enough goals for us and certainly not the way we're setting ourselves up.

 

Cambiasso just seems unnecessary and counter-productive. For various reasons, including Cambiasso, we're not equipped to absorb pressure and not concede.

 

King or James would be more effective in the role anyway but we don't need four comparable midfield players in the same side and we do need much more in terms of width, pace and threat.

 

And there are various ways we can effect that while still being reasonably strong defensively. 

[Guest CityFan 06]

I can see your point about creativity mate. I think to create more chances it would help to have width in the side. I.e Mahrez, Albrighton, Knockaert on the wings to then supply to the strikers with the help of centre midfielders or defenders. But, I trust and have faith in Pearson whatever team/formation/players he picks, I will support his decisions and support the team.

[Spanner73]

Agree with a lot of things that have been said , I think it's his stubborn attitude that winds people up , how many people said during the summer they were concerned about our creativity in the middle of the park and goals coming from midfield his reluctance to sign a striker when he knew he needed one , oh well I'll go with what we've got . I don't think we're miles away but we need to give other sides something to think about , it seems teams have worked us out quickly and if we stop ulloa and vards we stop Leicester , I'm a believer in the more threat you have the more you'll create therefore 2 wide players ie mahrez and Powell and ulloa and vards up top until jan when we can look to bring in more creativity in the middle and a top finisher he knew he needed before we started out this season , that's if he's still here

[fleckneymike]

It would also help if there was better movement from the strikers.

 

Defending against us is really rather simple for a well drilled premier league side if we aren't playing with at least one winger.

 

Nugent and Vardy tend to run in straight lines whilst Ulloa prefers not to run at all thank you very much. You can play whatever system you like in midfield but if the forward line isn't moving it becomes very difficult to either play a ball in to them or for a midfielder to break into the box. I believe all our goals  have come from within the box and from around 8-10 yards out, if you cannot get the ball into that area then you aren't going to score.

 

Against Everton we scored from crosses (corner and open play), against Arsenal we scored from a cross, against Stoke we scored from a cross ,against United we scored from a cross and against Burnley we scored twice from crosses. Remove that width and you remove the threat.

[cjslcfc]

Agree with a lot of things that have been said , I think it's his stubborn attitude that winds people up , how many people said during the summer they were concerned about our creativity in the middle of the park and goals coming from midfield his reluctance to sign a striker when he knew he needed one , oh well I'll go with what we've got . I don't think we're miles away but we need to give other sides something to think about , it seems teams have worked us out quickly and if we stop ulloa and vards we stop Leicester , I'm a believer in the more threat you have the more you'll create therefore 2 wide players ie mahrez and Powell and ulloa and vards up top until jan when we can look to bring in more creativity in the middle and a top finisher he knew he needed before we started out this season , that's if he's still here

 

Could you name me a midfielder we could have got who would have guaranteed those goals?

 

He tried to sign 4 other strikers by my reckoning. Reluctance? Financial restriction by the board/budgets?

 

Top finisher? You can't buy and guarantee goals in our position. We don't have the funds/appeal to be able to do that. Ulloa was this "top finisher" and now he's not flavour of the month. Going back to the striker point, he tried to buy several so he has clearly tried to get this finisher.

[Guest ttfn]

It would also help if there was better movement from the strikers.

Defending against us is really rather simple for a well drilled premier league side if we aren't playing with at least one winger.

Nugent and Vardy tend to run in straight lines whilst Ulloa prefers not to run at all thank you very much. You can play whatever system you like in midfield but if the forward line isn't moving it becomes very difficult to either play a ball in to them or for a midfielder to break into the box. I believe all our goals have come from within the box and from around 8-10 yards out, if you cannot get the ball into that area then you aren't going to score.

Against Everton we scored from crosses (corner and open play), against Arsenal we scored from a cross, against Stoke we scored from a cross ,against United we scored from a cross and against Burnley we scored twice from crosses. Remove that width and you remove the threat.

It's pretty gear-grinding that everybody can see we need wingers except for the one person whose opinion counts.

[cjslcfc]

It's pretty gear-grinding that everybody can see we need wingers except for the one person whose opinion counts.

 

What confused me in his post-match comments yesterday was when he said we weren't in a position to play with that width. That means he either thinks all the wingers we have now are shite or he doesn't want to play them for certain reasons. 

 

Who would you play with Mahrez though?

 

If he rated Albrighton he would have played him more by now, surely? 

[Spanner73]

Could you name me a midfielder we could have got who would have guaranteed those goals?

He tried to sign 4 other strikers by my reckoning. Reluctance? Financial restriction by the board/budgets?

Top finisher? You can't buy and guarantee goals in our position. We don't have the funds/appeal to be able to do that. Ulloa was this "top finisher" and now he's not flavour of the month. Going back to the striker point, he tried to buy several so he has clearly tried to get this finisher.

I just think we need to pull opposition players about a bit to create more opportunities I'm not sure who would fit thd Bill in midfield but were quite predictable we need more threat from more positions, the more threat we have the more the opposition have to think about

I accept he tried to sign a striker but the bottom line is he didn't and ulloa isn't enough on his own I don't believe there are restrictions I think the owners would give him what he requires , it's his awkwardness that gets in the way , in all fairness we all knew Nuge wouldn't cut it but he went with him anyway and time has told us we don't have enough firepower , ulloa and vards are the best we have

[Guest Col city fan]

I know I keep banging on about Martin O'Neil, but he was by far our most succesful manager for many years.

He had it right.

We had the tenacity of Lennon (and Savage who actually did ok for us), alongside a creative man. Usually Gary Parker. We had a left back in Guppy who was so often the out ball for us. And we had Izzett doing hardly any defensive responsibility..his job was to get forward. Our midfield had balance and everyone knew their role.

In terms of both creativity and shape, that side was MILES better than this team.

Nige must develop a plan, and have the courage to stick with it.

I say again, it is ridiculous to sign a player with the aerial ability of Leo, then have literally no-one who can cross a ball. If we want to play this way, we could literally do worse than recalling Gallagher...and I never thought I'd say that!

[Legend_in_blue]

I know I keep banging on about Martin O'Neil, but he was by far our most succesful manager for many years.

He had it right.

We had the tenacity of Lennon (and Savage who actually did ok for us), alongside a creative man. Usually Gary Parker. We had a left back in Guppy who was so often the out ball for us. And we had Izzett doing hardly any defensive responsibility..his job was to get forward. Our midfield had balance and everyone knew their role.

In terms of both creativity and shape, that side was MILES better than this team.

Nige must develop a plan, and have the courage to stick with it.

I say again, it is ridiculous to sign a player with the aerial ability of Leo, then have literally no-one who can cross a ball. If we want to play this way, we could literally do worse than recalling Gallagher...and I never thought I'd say that!

 

Absolutely it was a better team back in those days, but then everyone knew what they were doing.

 

Everyone in this team knew what they were doing last season, but it's as though Pearson has gone about that team ethic, dismantling everything that was good about it, and enforcing something quite alien to everyone else but himself - now no one has a clue.

 

Why would you go about dismantling what made the team so successful last season, with this mentality of being more concerned about how to cancel out the opposition, rather than focus on our own game?  It's absolutely shocking and if it continues, which I expect it will because the guy is so damn stubborn, even when it stares him full in the face as to how wrong it is, he still isn't looking to change it in any way at all.  It will cost him eventually.

 

The manner of these defeats is appalling.  Not looking in any way at all like a team who bossed it last season.  Even the hard graft and closing down of players isn't in the team.  That's inexcusable at any level against any opposition and I don't see how were going to get out of this, because even if the table suggests otherwise, we're in big trouble.

[cjslcfc]

Could you name me a midfielder we could have got who would have guaranteed those goals?

He tried to sign 4 other strikers by my reckoning. Reluctance? Financial restriction by the board/budgets?

Top finisher? You can't buy and guarantee goals in our position. We don't have the funds/appeal to be able to do that. Ulloa was this "top finisher" and now he's not flavour of the month. Going back to the striker point, he tried to buy several so he has clearly tried to get this finisher.

I just think we need to pull opposition players about a bit to create more opportunities I'm not sure who would fit thd Bill in midfield but were quite predictable we need more threat from more positions, the more threat we have the more the opposition have to think about

I accept he tried to sign a striker but the bottom line is he didn't and ulloa isn't enough on his own I don't believe there are restrictions I think the owners would give him what he requires , it's his awkwardness that gets in the way , in all fairness we all knew Nuge wouldn't cut it but he went with him anyway and time has told us we don't have enough firepower , ulloa and vards are the best we have

 

I think the problem is our centre midfielders are much the same. None particularly quick, none with particular flair, none particularly good at breaking up play. They are all box to box midfielders who would thrive off an extra creative body. I agree we need it and we do have creativity in Mahrez and Knockaert but he's unwilling to play them for some reason. Surprisingly our best midfield pair has been King and Hammond together!! Nugent dropping in worked but this was all against teams where we were expected to not have much of the ball and could play quick on the counter. 

 

The main success of last season was the balance in the team. We've completely lost that balance and gone for lots of CMs who are pretty similar and are all playing badly at the moment. It's a mystery why we've suddenly changed and not attacked teams like the start of the season.

[Spanner73]

We had the tenacity of Lennon (and Savage who actually did ok for us), alongside a creative man. Usually Gary Parker. We had a left back in Guppy who was so often the out ball for us. And we had Izzett doing hardly any defensive responsibility.

Absolutely spot on , we had different options then unlike now , to me were very transparent at the moment and to beat Leicester all you have to do is this .... I think if you have 5 options in terms of players who can create and cause problems things would change very quickly but to do that we need players firing and the window

[Father Ted]

Can anyone please explain why we aren't playing our most creative players, or at least giving them a run?

I personally don't think Mahrez and Knockaert are particularly fantastic, but at least they can run with the ball and look to create something??

We look like scoring never again.. and I STILL maintain that supply is the issue. It doesn't matter who we play up top, as a team we look like creating zero.

What is Pearson doing?

Let's have some rational explanations or at least some attempt at explaining what is in Pearson's mind..

'Because they don't defend' apparently. Load of bollocks, negative tactics from Pearson. Doing my head in, no bottle from Pearson.

[Father Ted]

I say again, it is ridiculous to sign a player with the aerial ability of Leo, then have literally no-one who can cross a ball. If we want to play this way, we could literally do worse than recalling Gallagher...and I never thought

 

I'd rather eat my own shit than see Ga££acunt play for us again.

 

[suffolk fox]

Let's be honest the way we set up even if we had Ronaldo and Messi up front even they wouldnt score.

[Father Ted]

Let's be honest the way we set up even if we had Ronaldo and Messi up front even they wouldnt score.

They wouldn't play anyway because they're not good enough defensively

[suffolk fox]

They wouldn't play anyway because they're not good enough defensively

This...........spot feckin on!

[Dickov22]

We don't have to play 442, however we need at least one of the midfielders we pick to be a natural wide man.

[lgfualol]

I didn't know the best place to post this but it shows something.

Espn guy on twitter says we're second highest long ball attempters at 896 (Burnley top with 960).

And third worse pass completion at 72.7%. Burnley at 70.3% and Crystal Palace last with 65.8%.

[Babylon]

I didn't know the best place to post this but it shows something.

Espn guy on twitter says we're second highest long ball attempters at 896 (Burnley top with 960).

And third worse pass completion at 72.7%. Burnley at 70.3% and Crystal Palace last with 65.8%.

 

Not really a shock after watching the games, we looked like we'd given up all hope of trying to pass the ball through midfield and just pumped speculative balls forward.

[Silverdaz]

I can see whats he is trying to do, early in the season when we were scoring and giving some of the big teams a run for their money we were still conceding goals.  So NP has tried to solve this problem with a few extra bodies in out midfield but it has hindered us offensively.  He just needs to get the balance right IMO

[Silverdaz]

I think the problem is our centre midfielders are much the same. None particularly quick, none with particular flair, none particularly good at breaking up play. They are all box to box midfielders who would thrive off an extra creative body. I agree we need it and we do have creativity in Mahrez and Knockaert but he's unwilling to play them for some reason. Surprisingly our best midfield pair has been King and Hammond together!! Nugent dropping in worked but this was all against teams where we were expected to not have much of the ball and could play quick on the counter. 

 

The main success of last season was the balance in the team. We've completely lost that balance and gone for lots of CMs who are pretty similar and are all playing badly at the moment. It's a mystery why we've suddenly changed and not attacked teams like the start of the season.

Spot on for me we have never really replace Lloyd