Guest kristianity77 Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 Stoke could maintain possession and looked like the wanted do something as soon as they had the ball up top. We can't and don't do neither. We all new by Startin vardy and nugent who have scored 3 between them all season that was just not gonna be our day. You'd hope now that we have seen the last of them pair starting. You'd imagine that from here on in it will be Ulloa and Kramaric. The only issue is, is that we could have anyone in the world up front but if they don't get the ball, then they don't score. For all intents and purposes Ulloa is the deadliest striker we've had in memory for me with his shots to goals ratio which whilst good for him, highlights the problems we have. If it wasn't for him scoring from single chances, we'd be in much bigger trouble points wise than we are now. Personally I think our defence is OK. We've not been hammered (by scoreline anyway) yet this season and 34 conceded in 22 is par for the course for a newly promoted side. The problem is the middle of the park is hopeless at doing its defensive side of things and its hopeless linking defence to attack. So our best hope of scoring is bypassing midfield altogether and chucking long balls up all day long. That will never cut it in the premier league.
Dickov22 Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 Only the last 20 minutes of the game was poor. We dominated the first half and we at least in contention for most of the second. Stoke's goal was against the run of play. Blue tinted glasses mate. We edged the first half on chances and weren't bad. Second half was as bad as I've seen us all season. Long hoof ball, totally outmuscled in midfield, and Stoke were completely comfortable. As soon as they scored, that was it. They just had the know how to see the game out. We also lost any attacking threat once Vardy went off in my opinion. At least he was running the channels and giving the defenders something different to think about. In fact he was unlucky the ball didn't bounce for him kindly after he got infront of Begovic and nicked the ball off him. After Vardy went off we decided it'd be a good idea to continually lump balls at Nugent and Ulloa, and then Kramaric in the air. Easy day for the Stoke centre halves once we started playing like that.
lgfualol Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 If only the players repaid that faith. But for a lot of them, they just haven't got the quality to be in a side in any other position than bottom 3. Dyche's £1 warriors (other than yesterday) never seem to give up.
Deucalion Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 Blue tinted glasses mate. To me it seems like a reasonable description of the game and evidence that the Championship winning team is capable of competing with a mid-table PL side. I think other people are just getting carried away by the fact we narrowly lost the game and were poor for the last 20 minutes.
reynard Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 are you people actually serious? we've been playing brilliant recently but we've had one slip up so we're definitely going to get relegated? unbelievable, we have our 3 best cm's out so it's hardly surprising we struggled to keep the ball, not to mention drinkwater's just back from injury so can't have been fully fit. Have we really though? Hull away was a very poor performance but a great result. Spurs at home was good at times but ultimately a failure. Liverpool away was I admit a good performance and a bit unlucky. Newcastle at home was a totally meaningless match against a side who clearly were not interested and yet we only sneaked a win. Villa at home was an Ok to good performance against a really poor team and again we only just got over the finish line. I'd say the last few games have been average to good but a far cry from brilliant.
Number 6 Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 It's silly to write us off. A tight game was settled by a moment of magic yesterday, if we sneak one in before that and hold out for a 1-0 win then we would be 16th. That shows how close it is. I think this next batch of fixtures will determine a lot. If we can somehow stay within touching distance through the tough run of fixtures then I think we have a real chance. Having said that we have to start by taking the initiative in games like yesterday. Seem us look a bit scared on too many occasions. Many mistakes have been made this season, but now is not the time to dwell on them. Staggered how many on here calling us as good as down too. 2-0 down at Anfield after some awful decisions and the players never gave up, and I, as a fan, certainly won't until anything is concrete.
Mark 'expert' Lawrenson Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 It's so frustrating losing with a whimper, if we are going to get relegated the least we should expect is to go down fighting. Yesterday's performance was shocking in terms of spirit and fight. That is more unforgivable than the poor tactics and team selection for me.
Sunbury Fox Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 A bad day at the office and as others have said being forced to play DD and King together was always likely to lead to us being overrun in midfield. They were never a good combo even in the Championship. Still think DD will come good but for me King has been poor for at least 3 seasons. No idea why he got given a new contract. Stoke are a decent side so losing to them is not in itself embarrassing or disastrous. However, losing to them given our upcoming fixtures was a disaster, I fear. Winning yesterday and then against Palace was crucial as it would have left us in a position where anything we could get out of the games against United, Arsenal, Man City, Everton and Chelsea would just be a bonus. Now, I think we probably need to win one of those games and that will be v difficult.
Matt Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 It's silly to write us off. A tight game was settled by a moment of magic yesterday, if we sneak one in before that and hold out for a 1-0 win then we would be 16th. That shows how close it is. I think this next batch of fixtures will determine a lot. If we can somehow stay within touching distance through the tough run of fixtures then I think we have a real chance. Having said that we have to start by taking the initiative in games like yesterday. Seem us look a bit scared on too many occasions. Many mistakes have been made this season, but now is not the time to dwell on them. Staggered how many on here calling us as good as down too. 2-0 down at Anfield after some awful decisions and the players never gave up, and I, as a fan, certainly won't until anything is concrete. But we didn't and we aren't, we've now put a huge amount of un-needed pressure on ourselves, given ourselves excuses almost.
Robin JD Popley Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 Agree with the O.P. about needing a Muzzy type player. As I said last night too, his loyalty to Wes is baffling. Don't get me wrong, he Captained us to victory last season and in the Championship, he was head and shoulders above most but as I said the day we brought him from Forest - he is not a quick defender. Perhaps we need a big brute at the back but I think Wasyl is more apt for that as he can at least be a bit more mobile across the ground; I've lost count how many times Morgan has gone to ground this season. Konchesky - was very pleased when we first signed him (as there are few Championship teams that could brag a LB with as much experience) and he is steady but he is not getting any younger and with the likes of Charlie Austin running at you full kilter, we are looking increasingly more and more out of our depth at the back. Hopefully it isn't too late and I believe we will have more new faces in before the window shuts, but, yesterday all that hard work was undone and mostly due to Nigel's own stupidity (namely with Albrighton!)
Claridge Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 For me Mahrez,schlupp,was,ulloa , cambiasso have shown they can be prem players. Maybe if they find a bit of form or a run in the team. Knocks,James,drink water,Simpson Just not good enough for the prem. vardy,nugent,wes,Konchesky,Morgan,de leat,,kasper,Moore. Maybe someone would sign jasper if we went down,but because of his name,not performances
kingfox Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 What frustrates me the most is that, on there day all of our midfielders are capable of putting in good performances. Hammond has been a pleasant surprise this season, he is the defensive thorn in our midfield and stats don't lie, that was our 10th loss without him this season. James has put in some good performances this season, Liverpool away especially he was absolute quality, he is an absolute workhorse and on his day one our key players. While with Cambiasso, Drinkwater and King you have three midfielders who like to keep the ball, Cambiasso for me is better in a three but then there would be no place for Hammond, because playing both would look incredibly defensive and negative. I've said in the past Drinkwater isn't Premier League standard, because he is nowhere near physical enough; however I believe he can be more effective if he is partnered by Hammond or James. King has improved defensively over the years, but like others I'm starting to wonder what does he actually offer, he isn't physical enough and his goalscoring days look to be over, if any midfielder is to be sacrificed for a better recruit then it ought to be him.
Number 6 Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 But we didn't and we aren't, we've now put a huge amount of un-needed pressure on ourselves, given ourselves excuses almost. I'm well aware. I'm just highlighting that the gap between us and safety is, at this stage, still small.
Guest Cujek Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 What is the point of this post? This is our team, this what we have, these players were good enough to get us into the premier league, but now we are here, they suddenly are not good enough? Every player has his off days, yesterday the problem was midfield, Drinky and King are not the best midfield pairing, against Vile we dominated them in midfield with James and Hammond, Cambaisso has undoubted class, but not a lot of pace any more (was never the quickest player anyway). Nuge runs his legs off every game no matter where he is asked to play, he is a credit to the club, same as Vardy, the finishing has been woeful at times, but if scoring goals was easy, then strikers wouldnt be the most expensive players on the pitch. Konch is past his prime, sure, but it would be hard to find a replacement with half as much experience that would join us and not ask for 70k a week. I really dont know why you are picking out players like Moore and not saying he is good enough for the prem, the lad is 21 years old there are not many better 21 year old centre backs in the game right now, a few more years he will be playing the football of his life, give him chance. The step from Championship to Prem is a big one and we were never going to walk this league after being away for so long. We are however, in touch with the teams above us, all the results yesterday went our way and we have as much chance as anyone of staying up, be positive support our lads, dont be a negative nelly.
Lasty Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 I agree with the OP. We make every match look like a second division one. The lack of top level quality is sometimes embarrassing.
les-tah Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 I'm just baffled how this squad was chosen to start the season !!!!!! Haha
Stadt Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 I appreciate that some people dislike Pearson but instead of criticising him they build up others as as if he's not achieved anything himself.
MattGamble92 Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 Why do people still look at possession rates in such a way? Nigel and his staff would plan for the opposition to have most of the ball while we effectively use the counter attack. We aren't aiming to have more possession. That's why we came unstuck against Palace away where we had more of the ball because they simply knew our plan and dropped deep.
Nick Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 http://www.espnfc.co.uk/club/leicester-city/375/blog/post/2251433/pearson-and-farcical-team-selections?
Matt Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 http://www.espnfc.co.uk/club/leicester-city/375/blog/post/2251433/pearson-and-farcical-team-selections? Can't disagree with any of that. I'm a Pearson fan as I keep saying and I have always said he shouldn't go even if we get relegated, unless he does something stupid, this tinkering and for me (like it says in the article) we set up not to lose the game yesterday, that is stupid given our position, given our situation, I have many questions about his decisions. I'm not saying he should go but his selections are frustrating the **** out of me for good reason.
nettle Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 Soon as the team was announced yesterday everyone knew what the outcome was going to be everything was flat the team the crowd everything. That team put out yesterday had championship written all over it.
Dan Posted 18 January 2015 Posted 18 January 2015 I'm not convinced he played for a point, I'm more edging towards him under-estimating Stoke.
Frost Posted 19 January 2015 Posted 19 January 2015 Why do people still look at possession rates in such a way? Nigel and his staff would plan for the opposition to have most of the ball while we effectively use the counter attack. We aren't aiming to have more possession. That's why we came unstuck against Palace away where we had more of the ball because they simply knew our plan and dropped deep. Well we don't actually have the ability to retain possession for more than 30 seconds. Its quite a big issue given the opposition then control the game. Stoke were so comfortable and NP's team selection was shambolic.
Frost Posted 19 January 2015 Posted 19 January 2015 I'm not convinced he played for a point, I'm more edging towards him under-estimating Stoke. Andy King and Drinkwater vs Nzonzi alone would be an issue. Our line-up was poor.
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