Matchday 14 - Now with eastern time.

[moomba]

I don't think we'll walk it but I'll be surprised if we don't have it wrapped up before the final day.

Just hope for your sake you don't let it slip.

 

[chef]

i will always expect any side that is 2-0 up in the 60th min to go on and win.

Fair enough. Just to many 'what ifs' going on for me.

 

[Magma]

Fair enough. Just to many 'what ifs' going on for me.

well there's always what ifs, otherwise there's no point discussing anything.

i think conte has done a spectacular job picking up a lot of these guys (most of it was self inflicted) and knowing what system he wants and works best. i don't think pep knows what style works best. i think that he needs to bite the bullet and stick someone who covers the back 3/4 but fernando seems to be patchy when it comes to it. but im still confident. it's what, 4 points with 24 games left?

 

[Fryer Tuck]

the problem is, that mostly comes from opposition fans. i thought we'd win the league, and i still do, never that he would walk it. people are desperate to see him and mourinho fail.

how many certainties has the league had in 14 weeks? 3? 4? us, then spurs, then liverpool, now chelsea. each one seem to go through 'theirs to lose' when it's not even christmas.

I guess part of it just comes with the 'bloated' expectation. Oh, you're Man City, and oh, you've got Pep, and oh, you have so much money that you could buy the whole of MSN and BBC and could turn Bolton into a carpark.

The same kind that could say 'You only won the league by 1 point? ROFL, what a fraud.'

Then again, all part of that expectations game. Only thing you can do is get the results. Doesn't matter what happens, just as long as you get the league.

It annoys me. We used to be such a dominant force at home under Mancini. Havent felt the same confidence going to a home game since he left.



On another day KDB scores the tap in for our 3rd or 4th with Chelsea down to 10 men. We were superb in that first hour.

To be fair to Chelsea they looked threatening on the break, and had a few chances themselves. But I'd be happy to set up the same for the game at Stamford Bridge later in the season.



I think Chelsea have had a lift all over. So many of there players flopped last season. Courtois, Hazard, Costa in particular seem to be back to their best. They'll be around the mark, but it's only December. As you say plenty of time left.

Wow, and I thought Ethihad was one of the most feared places of the calendar. Then again, that's when many people thought we could actually win the thing.

Of course, but ifs, buts, and coconuts. It's a very fine margin.

Yeah, they reminded me of us last season with the killer counters... why I can't I have that Leicester back?

Anyone that thinks anyone will walk the league is foolish.

Darn right. The title will be an extremely tightly fought affair this season without doubt.

 

[Cruyff14]

Lynch mob attacking City is odd.

They were the better team for two thirds of the game, and if a competent referee was in charge, David Luiz would have seen red early on and you wouldn't be reading this.

Also, it's almost farcical to think if KDB scores Chelsea come back and win, considering how well City were playing.

 

[Cooldude]

If we're talking overrated managers (which I don't think Guardiola is), can I nominate Ronald Koeman? I just don't get why his reputation is so high.

I mean I like Ronald, after all he's a massive Liverpool fan, but I sometimes see his name get mentioned when people talk about the Arsenal or Barca jobs but I just don't see it.

He benefited hugely from the great Soton setup, sorta rubbished him going to Everton at the time and people called me out for it but he really is nothing special

 

[Fryer Tuck]

No its leeds

Everyone hates leeds

Ahem...

 

[chef]

well there's always what ifs, otherwise there's no point discussing anything.

i think conte has done a spectacular job picking up a lot of these guys (most of it was self inflicted) and knowing what system he wants and works best. i don't think pep knows what style works best. i think that he needs to bite the bullet and stick someone who covers the back 3/4 but fernando seems to be patchy when it comes to it. but im still confident. it's what, 4 points with 24 games left?

Yeah, the season is still wide open. Do you think you'll be busy in the January window?

 

[Loonerty]

kdb scores and it's 2-0 and quite probably game over.

If Cahill doesn't score one of the great own goals, it's 0-0 at half time.

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts...

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Lynch mob attacking City is odd.

They were the better team for two thirds of the game, and if a competent referee was in charge, David Luiz would have seen red early on and you wouldn't be reading this.

Also, it's almost farcical to think if KDB scores Chelsea come back and win, considering how well City were playing.

Completely agree.
Farcical that out of nowhere has popped up this idea that people are saying Pep is perfect etc.

His tactics for this game were fine, his players didn't execute when it was needed or required.
Competent ref and Aguero wouldn't have been able to hack down Luiz and Dinho wouldn't have seen red also.

Agree with the City boys, KDB makes that 2-0 and they win that game.

 

[Magma]

Yeah, the season is still wide open. Do you think you'll be busy in the January window?

i think a centre back is a must. i think it's gotten to a stage where it's not too far off tosin adarabioyo being given a go because vinny is perma crocked, the shine has worn off kolarov massively (per usual) and otamendi is a headcase who only plays well in the champions league. i think if we can get delph back he could be a nice boost to the side because pep loves an all energy run all day player (dinho) so yeah.

 

[Cruyff14]

Completely agree.
Farcical that out of nowhere has popped up this idea that people are saying Pep is perfect etc.

His tactics for this game were fine, his players didn't execute when it was needed or required.
Competent ref and Aguero wouldn't have been able to hack down Luiz and Dinho wouldn't have seen red also.

Agree with the City boys, KDB makes that 2-0 and they win that game.

Yes. And that is no sleight on Chelsea.

Courtois was a wall and literally kept them in it. Chelsea captalised on their chances and walked away winners because they could put the ball back in the net.

 

[windyhill]

Xhaka I have a feeling will do it at one point.

Or Le Coq

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

Lynch mob attacking City is odd.

They were the better team for two thirds of the game, and if a competent referee was in charge, David Luiz would have seen red early on and you wouldn't be reading this.

Because its citys turn to cop s**t.

United has been copping s**t for drawing despite being the better team and having crap refs too but there is still a lynch mob every week.

Hell liverpool and spurs have copped a lot of s**t too.

 

[WealstoneRaider]

it might be down to Liverpool to stop Chelsea becoming champions. That's a scary thought. Can't rule out arsenal now, which is even scarier. Need one of the Manchester clubs to lift to stop one of these awful outcomes occurring.

 

[Zidane98]

Surprised Cruyff hasn't had a dig at the blind defending of Pep. Had a go at Utd fans for blindly defending Mou.

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

it might be down to Liverpool to stop Chelsea becoming champions. That's a scary thought. Can't rule out arsenal now, which is even scarier. Need one of the Manchester clubs to lift to stop one of these awful outcomes occurring.

You cant make that call now imo

Need to wait til at least mid January

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Surprised Cruyff hasn't had a dig at the blind defending of Pep. Had a go at Utd fans for blindly defending Mou.

Mou is a campaigner though. One of the few things that will unite us and Arse fans.

Or Le Coq

More your 2YC type of player. Xhaka (and Wanyama) strike me as the straight red rash challenge type.

 

[Cruyff14]

Because its citys turn to cop s**t.

United has been copping s**t for drawing despite being the better team and having crap refs too but there is still a lynch mob every week.

Hell liverpool and spurs have copped a lot of s**t too.

Has anybody ever pointed out you're a rubbish poster? If not, you're a rubbish poster.

it might be down to Liverpool to stop Chelsea becoming champions. That's a scary thought. Can't rule out arsenal now, which is even scarier. Need one of the Manchester clubs to lift to stop one of these awful outcomes occurring.

We're going under the radar. Only lost two games for the season in all competitions, and one was with a depleted squad on the opening day.

Surprised Cruyff hasn't had a dig at the blind defending of Pep. Had a go at Utd fans for blindly defending Mou.

Surprised you're not complaining about Optus and the streaming of live sport.

 

[windyhill]

Now that is a very good question, because quite honestly, it is a mixture of factors.


But we have to start with the absolute main one, and that is quite frankly, a failure to evolve our game plan.


First of all, I’d like to let you know that while Top 10 was the goal at the very least, to even think about sacking what is now our most historically important manager would’ve required something extremely drastic… as things stand, we are reaching that point quickly.


4-4-2 as a game plan no longer works. Everyone and their aunt knows how we operate, and rather than take the chance to evolve and make ourselves unpredictable, we are running what is now an outdated plan. Kante's departure played a role in that (and quite frankly, he's probably made an extremely intelligent decision here, he's on track to win two titles in a row, both of which where he's the centre piece), and well, now we find ourselves short in midfield. Danny Drinkwater now has to play his role and Kante's role (because ironically, Drinkwater is the best player to play Kante's role), but thanks to evolving strategies over time, it meant that 2 in midfield was no longer the answer (because other teams are now wiser and know to flood the midfield and stay back on us.) Now logically, you would think that we would go back to the formation that we did the great escape in and one that we had a lot of success in 3-5-2. But nope, Ranieri seems hell bent on keeping 4 at the back for whatever reason, and as such, predicting the line up and how things will go has become awfully predictable... (yeah I know last season, everyone knew the formation and names, but this time around, everyone knows the combination is not going to work.)


Vardy-Slimani has potential to be an excellent combination when both are on song, a perfect mix of speed and height. 2 problems: 1. We don't have the midfield to deliver to them, and since we're not doing 3-5-2, one of them has to drop back, but... 2. Neither of them are as good tracking back. Neither of them can play the role done by Okazaki last year, whose role I stated was extremely underrated last season, as he's virtually an extra body in midfield, and this season, it's of no surprise he's actually been our best performing striker... when he's actually on the pitch that is. At this point, if the strike force does not have Okazaki, you're going no where. Seriously, outside of that Okazaki goal, our last few goals came from penalties, what is our biggest asset has been laid to waste.


And then the defence, the best last season after that Arsenal game (I think we conceded less than the number of goals we conceded up to the Arsenal game from that point until the end of the season, where we couldn't keep a clean sheet for any reason at all.) Now it looks a mess. I would say Kante did play a role in helping the defenders, but these guys look horribly out of it. I think tiredness has finally caught up to Morgan, there's only so many seasons you can do without actually getting a break, Huth has been costing us some silly goals at times recently, Simpson's still the weakest of the XI (OK, I’ll admit he’s one of the very few to have gained some credits in the bank this season,), and Fuchs... he's still performing, but seems just a little more inconsistent. They did quote the rule changes in the box being a reason why they have been so poor at corners, but as professionals, that's just unacceptable. I know in 14/15, anytime the opposition got a set piece, it seemed like that they would just score from them. To think we're here 2 season later, being in an even worse position with a better squad... that's just beyond unacceptable. Do we just not practice defending set pieces? What the heck are the guys doing.


I think there's one factor to also consider, and its a big one: No Kasper. Zieler was meant to be a keeper on par with Kasper, and was meant to be a very shrewd signing, yet he leaks goals... oh my god, he leaks... I'll say it again, I think Kasper is one of the top keepers in the league and is massively underrated. I guarantee you that he would've saved half the goals conceded by Zieler, and I'd say that he's been a regular contributor of points this season. I have very little confidence with Zieler, and I cannot wait any longer for Kasper to come back.


Speaking of which, where is the communication? They’ve been awfully silent and there seems to be a lack of understanding… how is that even possible from a team that was full of it one season, almost telepathic with each other, and now laying as if we’ve just picked them at random, none of them have ever seen each other before, and then playing their first game together. I swear the most communication I’ve seen outside of Kasper losing his nut with his defenders is Ranieri to the others. This is clear with Zieler, I may not be pitch side, but from what I’ve seen, there is nothing that suggests that any proper organisational work has been going on. Keepers and defenders have this interesting relationship in that if they are confident with each other, they will play better and therefore encourage said confidence, it’s a cycle. The differences between Kasper’s and Zieler’s style seem night and day. If anything, the defenders look like they play better to Kasper’s style. Granted, Kasper has to make some saves, but he knows his defenders and knows what they need to do. Zieler… I don’t know what has been going on in training, and I know it takes a while for a backup to get up to something workable, but I don’t know how much work he has had with the back 4, because they all seem like a mess. It is of no surprise that we have played worse defensively with Zieler between the sticks.


So that's a midfield with a lack of numbers, failing to service a strike force that is losing confidence and game time, and with the added pressure, our defence is constantly under fire, and without a competent keeper to save our bacon. 4-4-2 no longer works, and we need to evolve. When Tony Pulis looks more progressive and exciting than you, then have a word with yourself.


Oh, but you'll say a 'lack of form' has played a role, which, while is true, is not the biggest reason here, because our tactics are just not good enough. Maybe we if did that, they wouldn't be out of form.


We have SOME perfectly good players waiting on the bench, ready to take advantage of any non-performers. Why must Hernandez strictly play RB? He's can play CB, that was his main position. What because of Hull? Well, we haven't done much better with our tried and true pair, we need competition, damn it. Even discounting Simpson, why can’t he take Huth’s spot at the very least if Morgan’s got ‘Captain’s Immunity?’ Oh wait, can’t have that, Morgan plays like trash without Huth… and Hull also suggests it will never work… all one match of it. Never mind trying to get some experience in (even when we had preseason matches, why the hell did we not play those two together, just to see how it would go, and at least develop some understanding between the pair, which is of utmost importance in the defensive game?) Hernandez would be perfect in a back 3, which is what we need, and had we done that earlier, we would be in a muuuuuuch better position. What the heck must Grey do to get a start? Kid's been one of our better players, and he would be keeping the starters honest, yet we only bring him out as a sub when he could be doing so much more for his development.


And then there's the transfer market dealings... no more CBs to cover our lumbering dinosaurs? Not even young ones to have a chance to learn from their seniors the tips and tricks of the trade, setting up a future. I know I dismissed @Bojankantkick on Keane for 20m, saying how he wasn’t that good for us, and that he would be an indication of everything wrong in the market… I think he would be good value right about now… That’s how bad we have been, when the 20m price tag for a youth prospect actually looks rather tempting at this point in time. How do we not have any one actually competing for spots. Amartey’s too busy in midfield, Hernandez doesn’t seem to be considered, Wasyl’s past it… I miss Liam Moore all of a sudden. He wouldn’t be as bad as this lot is right now.


There’s also players bought in on the whim of their Euro performances... seriously, no one has actually seen Kaptuska actually play outside of the Euros, and they all realised that 'mistake' once he got here. This is baffling for two reasons: 1. The kid is a regular for Poland, who has been one of the better performing Euro sides, how the heck is he not ready? 2. Have you learnt nothing from the Kramaric dealings? Proper work, identify players with a role. At this point, I fail to see what the Polish regular couldn’t possibly do then what our wingers have been serving up. Heck, he can play CM as well, so for god sakes, can we at least get him to the bench? Because I have more confidence in him than Schlupp, and speaking of… we rejected 12m for him? He’s not going to get regular football here, and he’s clearly unhappy, and we rejected West Brom’s offer for him… we are mad. Schlupp has no brain, he’s got things that look scary, but he’s got no end product. I know he’s a work of the academy, but sentimentality can only take you so far. How have we stuffed that one up so badly?



Then there’s also the matter of overly content and lazy players. There’s no energy, there’s no drive. Chasing the 2nd balls? Nope, not happening. Everything that was 15/16 Leicester is no longer there. Heck, Vardy’s not even doing that (though there’s extremely strong evidence to suggest he’s been instructed to not play his natural game.) Let’s face it, you just won the title with Leicester of all teams… what possible challenge could you possibly do? Nothing’s ever gonna stack up to that… you’ve peaked… umm, here’s a suggestion, why not show the world that it was no fluke, double up and see if you can do something that hasn’t been done in years and actually attempt to defend the title, try to get a CL spot, heck, try to get any Euro spot. It’s called club development. You have been given a chance to take that next step up on a platter… but to dismiss it and just be content with the big fat bucks with the big fat bonuses for winning the league, that’s unacceptable. A report just came in that suggested we’re got the 17th highest average weekly wage in Europe… really showing that pay packet in action there, guys. Overpaid, overhyped and over here.


Oh but wait, there is one competition where they actually do try… the Champions League. Now this has to be the biggest myth of them all. Oh, we’re undefeated alright, but if you’ve dug a little deeper, you’ll find that our performances there aren’t really that much better there in they are domestically. Oh its clear that they put in more effort, but one doesn’t magically find form in a flick of a switch now, oh no. You’ve got to build that form up, and it shows that while the effort has increased, the domestic form is still ever present. Heck, the match against Club Brugge is a great example. 2nd half against them after being 2-0 up? We actually got dominated by Brugge in possession, who have been more focused on their league form after basically confirming they will be eliminated from all Euro competition. We were struggling against a Belgan team that had given up, their league form also worrying. Hell, we struggled against Copenhagen too in possession… and these teams would struggle in the Championship… (seriously guys, redefine your definition of CL quality.) Oh, we’re through as the top seed… that’s nice, just how are we going to against the first real test? And let’s not forget that we could be without Mahrez and Slimani by that point (or they’re going to be very tired), good luck with that one.




You know what the best bit is? We have made it clear that we were tanking the game before, usually some big club away, before our CL games in an attempt to do as well as we can there (we should be aiming to do well in the CL, but not like this.) We used it as an excuse on our poor performances, claiming that we wouldn’t do much there anyway… 4-0 losses? Pfft, we were going to lose anyway, so why put in an effort and hinder our chances of victory in the CL? Guess what? Now that we qualified, and had an ‘easier’ run of games, we have actually done worse. 1 point in our last four games, despite qualifying as top seed… oh yeah, that has worked so well, hasn’t it? Just hit the switch, and boom, Super God mode, just like that…. Yeah, nah.



Oh, but this is our natural position, this is where we’re meant to be. We just overperformed. Let me be very clear here, I have seen some absolute shockers when it has come to form, and you would need to go back to our relegation season to League 1 to find anything so hopeless and dire. We were unlucky in 14/15, there was a little bit of hope in 12/13, even under Sousa and Sven, we looked better being midtable numpties (where we really were playoff quality in those years at the very least.) In our time in the PL this time around, we have been more Top 10 then we have Bottom 10. I know what this team is capable of, and least season proved my thoughts about what the team as a whole can do. If the team ran 3-5-2 from the start, I would say they would be hovering around 9th-10th at this very moment. But no, we’re playing the outdated 4-4-2 with a very predictable team, losing to an absolutely dire Sunderland team… seriously, Sunderland, when you make Sunderland look like Barcalona, you need to have a long hard ponder at yourself… Dominated by Sunderland. The sad thing is? This isn’t even surprising. If we can’t even beat the worst team in the division, what chance do we have? I thought that there even though we were playing horribly, there were teams in the division clearly worse than us… now I’m starting to think we might up a creek, especially since we just allowed Sunderland to be within touching distance of us. We could be in the relegation zone this time next week… heck… I wonder if bottom at Xmas one year, top the next, and bottom the season after has been done… yes, it is possible that Swansea could be ahead of us, putting us on the bottom… I have no idea what my reaction that will be, although it will probably highlight one big very major thing: Even in what is meant to be a dull season, Leicester somehow just manages to pull something that just defies everything. Just watch now, we will be bottom, and then we’ll pull off another Great Escape, and it would be to no one’s surprise that that would happen, because let’s face it, but now, it’s starting to reach that level. Champions League and Relegation… possible, but I can’t see how because not even our CL form was that convincing either.



Last season, these guys were punching above their weight with the motivation to prove a point, this season, that has all gone, the hunger has been fed with fatter cheques. There are hungry players on the sidelines, eager to have a go, yet never getting a chance. Those slackers need a wake-up, they think what they accomplished last season is enough to give them a free ride, but if anything, they needed a fire to be lit under them to ensure that the performances keep ticking on. Keep them honest and on their toes, or get replaced, simple as that. None of that has happened this season.


This was already going to be a confusing season for Leicester fans, as we knew that the heroics were unlikely going to be replicated, but from a professional point of view, this would’ve been the perfect time to grow the club, and it seems that we haven’t done enough in that. Our base is regressing at an alarming rate. It is extremely disappointing to think that ‘going back to acceptable’ is what seems to be happening. We had a chance to build further upon it, maybe get onto the coattails of Tottenham and Liverpool and become a club of that structure. We are letting it slip.


So while the player’s motivation has been a key factor, the biggest one of all is the manager, who is responsible for giving us tactics that will take us to the next level, and to inspire those that are content into something more. If you think that’s as high as we’ll go, think again, this young kid wants to be a regular into something greater, so perform to the standard, or shove off. Ranieri has failed to deliver upon that so far.


I’m sure many of you are aware of a certain ex-manager’s relationship with us by now, and yes, these calls are starting to get louder now, especially with the results. While I don’t think it will happen considering the indignity of what happened last time (let’s face it, we’d need to be beyond screwed for that to happen, it wasn’t a sacking on a playing level at all, so it’s a different kettle of fish), it does indicate the current state of matters. I’m sure everyone was willing to give Ranieri any time he needed to make something of this season. Heck, even if we were in 18th, but had some signs of life in us, just a bit of bad luck I don’t think the heat would have been as intense as it has been. The guy won us the maiden title, he will be a club legend forever. For fans to even consider bringing back Pearson… yeah, it’s been that bad.


I should touch up on one last point; selling Vardy and Mahrez before the season start… let me ask you this one question… exactly what do you think the reaction would be if we were in this position, but without both of them? The answer would be extremely worse.



At this point in time, I don’t know what we’re going to do in the market, I don’t know where to even begin, and we still have AFCON upon us… if we were stuffed now, I don’t want to know what things will be like in the New Year.


Something has to change in the club, and I’ll take just about any change at this point… it’s a lot better than being delivered the same crap week in, week out, especially when you know what the outcome is going to be. Hell, I could be doing a lot more with my Sunday 12am-4am, I have no shortage of options. It’s my weekend during the off-season, the thing I look forward to. I think it speaks volumes when I’m tempted to watch something else at that hour as opposed to waiting till after the match or until I wake up in the morning to do so. Such is the absolute direness of the performances being served up. Do remember that I’ve seen these guys from a wonky camera in Huddlesfield before at this hour with no commentary and shoddy camera work, and if this is the worst I have seen for a long time, you know something horrible is up. What should be the path to a better future is being hindered by being stuck in a since bypassed age. It’s time to do something different Claudio. Please.



And I think that should give you some idea of exactly what the heck is wrong with is. The main point being the manager is simply not evolving his tactics nor is he properly motivating the players, and thinks that we can just switch our form on and off, going against everything we did last seasons, where we fought in every match for a result, no matter who it was or where it has been played, and all in all, it has led to a very disappointing campaign. The talk of the season last season has just faded away into mediocrity. It’s business as usual, especially with a very exciting title race up top. What’s that? The previous Champions? Just appeared out of the blue and just disappeared just as quickly into the shadows… of the Championship at this rate.

* son, you're going down. ( maybe with the euro cup)

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

If Cahill doesn't score one of the great own goals, it's 0-0 at half time.

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts...

Yep, swings and roundabouts.

 

[moomba]

Surprised Cruyff hasn't had a dig at the blind defending of Pep. Had a go at Utd fans for blindly defending Mou.

Who is blindly defending Pep?

Your making a strawman argument every couple of posts arm.

 

[Zidane98]

Has anybody ever pointed out you're a rubbish poster? If not, you're a rubbish poster.


We're going under the radar. Only lost two games for the season in all competitions, and one was with a depleted squad on the opening day.


Surprised you're not complaining about Optus and the streaming of live sport.

Expected better than this sort of drivel from you.

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

Has anybody ever pointed out you're a rubbish poster? If not, you're a rubbish poster.

Getting a bit personal there cryuff.

Is it because you cant attack the argument because Im right?

Is it because the shoes on the other foot for once and the trolling can be reversed?

Is it because its all fair to troll united but United fans cant troll back?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Who is blindly defending Pep?

You've repeated yourself more than once here. No rebuttal.
Tactics were fine. Subs less so.