Post Match Leicester 3 Crystal Palace 1

[Jeff]

Musa, Okazaki and Fuchs got the goals.

 

[Blaarev]

Nice.

 

[FIF]

We're baaaaack

 

[Blaarev]

Shinj, my favorite emoji!

 

[Volpone]

So we could have won it 5-1 ?

 

[Polar Bear]

Super pleasing. Sounded like a good performance against fairly strong and motivated opponents. What a great week to bounce back from Chelsea.

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

Well over all a good performance. Getting better defensively but still looking a bit shakey at the end there, I think on the whole we let too many crosses in the box and whilst we didn't do too bad a job dealing with them it's an area from improvement. Schmeichel made some massive saves. Musa was a breath of fresh air out on the left and getting forward to support the attack. Okazaki with his usual workman like performance was fantastic in his defensive contribution and link up play. We started slowly - pumping too many long and hopefully balls but about midway through the first half started settling into the game, keeping it on the ground and looked creative and direct going forward - we look so much better like that. Might be worthwhile sticking with this line up. I guess the big decision should be - Vardy or Slimani? Slimani is the threat from set pieces but IMO is still getting used to playing here. We know what Jamie Vardy offers.

Schmeichel - 8 - A number of big saves
Simpson - 7 - Decent
Morgan - 6 - Solid enough
Huth - 6 - Solid enough
Fuchs - 6 - Not great defensively but got a bonus point for a great goal.
Mahrez - 7 - Tricky, creative - decent
King - 7 - Solid anchoring role
Drinkwater - 8 - very good again.
Musa - 8 - Slow start but summed up the performance of the team with some direct and creative play.
Okazaki - 8 - Great work ethic defensively and some good link up play, MOM
Slimani - 5 - A bit off the pace with some of the link up play today

subs:
Gray - nothing of note
Vardy - had a positive effect and presence upfront
Amartey - nothing of note

 

[FIF]

Kasper 8 - he's in a rich vein of form and making crucial saves - if only he knew how to come for crosses

Simpson 6.5 - quiet game - which is good for Simpson, still stays up front too long
Morgan 6 - Benteke gave him nightmares but he held out somehow
Huth 6 - Happy not to have Benteke most of the match
Fuchs 5.5 - great goal but he was skinned by Zaha a number of times

Mahrez 7 - looked great on the ball but didn't have his shooting boots on
Drinkwater 8 - Fantastic through to the last 5 mins, he is the team's fulcrum on both attack and defence
King 7.5 - another very strong game for King, he's won back his position
Musa 6.5 - seemed lost and didn't know how to tackle at first but he kept plugging away, Shinji like work for his goal which was very well taken. Big confidence boost.

Shinji - 8 - great hustle as always and helps the team tremendously, missed an easy one but put away a beauty that won us the game
Slimani 6.5 - wasn't on top form but his non-stop hustle is so valuable, he got us the first goal through sheer determination. Has a dangerous head which didn't quite work today. So glad CR listened to my suggestion to start him and Oka together.

Vardy - 6.5 looks good as a sub - could become a supersub
Gray & Amartey didn't have enough time to get into the game and the frenetic pace caught them on the hop a little.

 

[Cate Fox]

Fuch's goal (ignore the Vardy wanna be)

 

[glyn]

. I guess the big decision should be - Vardy or Slimani? Slimani is the threat from set pieces but IMO is still getting used to playing here. We know what Jamie Vardy offers.

The point is we don't have to choose. Claudio said he doesn't have a first XI and it's horses for courses. That's how it should be and today was the scenario we wanted at the start of the season where different options could be used to good effect.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

Think you guys are underrating Danny Simpson's performance yet again.

 

[tedfoxxx]

Shinji Okazaki, ladies and gentlemen. We gave our most exciting attacking display of the season and it was largely thanks to him. He took pressure off of Drinkwater with his closing down and he opened pockets of space for Musa to run into. His first touch is so tight, it got us on the front foot safe in knowledge that Shinji would either give it simple or win a free kick.

I'm just so in love with him and he was so very very good today.

 

[Lako42]

Me love him

 

[Speedy1]

Shinji Okazaki, ladies and gentlemen. We gave our most exciting attacking display of the season and it was largely thanks to him. He took pressure off of Drinkwater with his closing down and he opened pockets of space for Musa to run into. His first touch is so tight, it got us on the front foot safe in knowledge that Shinji would either give it simple or win a free kick.

I'm just so in love with him and he was so very very good today.

Couldn't agree more. No coincidence he starts and we get a result like that. Shame he couldn't finish that early chance.

He has to start from here on.

 

[Micky]

Said it in the week, Okazaki is vital to the team. He links the play like no one else. He allows us to transition from back to front.
Today I thought Shinji, Drinky, Simmo and Riyad were excellent. I also thought Slimani played very well.

 

[Volpone]

Game of the day, full 90 mins, Sky Sports 1, 8:30pm.

 

[Brown Nose]

Excellent selection from Ranieri. He made the right changes and they paid off.

I thought our best two players were Simpson and Okazaki. The former is our best defender this season and I can't really understand the decision to rotate him instead of the central defenders or Fuchs. I was pleased to see Fuchs get a goal for us finally, although his performance still wasn't good enough.

Okazaki was immense. It was easily the best I've seen him play. His start was horrible missing that sitter but he dug in and gave his team mates an option so often. His little touches and positional play were exceptional and I was delighted he got a goal to show for it.

Slimani is the right option up front. He offers much more than Vardy this season and I thought he led the line very well. Musa was less effective and seemed to lack confidence but he needs matches to grow into the team. Mahrez was a delight to watch at times too. I didn't see the performance from Drinkwater that others seemed to. Palace did a job on him pushing McArthur onto him and his passing was much less influential as a result. I actually think that this helped us to play better.

Overall, there was very little between the two sides. We edged it in terms of possession in the attacking third but I thought Palace would have won had they had Okazaki in their side. He really was the difference. Palace have a very capable side but too many of their players are unreliable, drifting in and out of the game.

I'll not go on about the applause thing before the match, except to say that my feelings about it were clearly in a minority (that doesn't mean I'm wrong of course!). Some around me thought it was as idiotic as I did and the Palace fans appeared bewildered by it, but most clapped away. Ranieri holding the picture of 'King Bumhole' did make me feel queasy mind.

 

[Robin127]

What, no love for Andy King? I thought he had an excellent game.

 

[FIF]

I'll not go on about the applause thing before the match, except to say that my feelings about it were clearly in a minority (that doesn't mean I'm wrong of course!). Some around me thought it was as idiotic as I did and the Palace fans appeared bewildered by it, but most clapped away. Ranieri holding the picture of 'King Bumhole' did make me feel queasy mind.

Is there really any need for this?

 

[Micky]

Is there really any need for this?

I enjoy reading Brown Nose's comments but this is a poor effort.