Post Match Leicester 1 West Bromwich Albion 2

[Redditch Fox]

dissappointed disallusioned angry tad pissed. fair result the one player who was causing them problems (Musa) was taken off. Drinkwater was at fault for the second goal and was poor throughout, that said he should not be asked to play every minute of every game . Our lack of recruitment (especially central midfield), once again proved costly We must be capapable of adjusting our formation, especially in central midfield. Last season the team picked itself , thus far this season we do not know our best starting line-up

It doesn't matter to know what "our best starting line-up is". We have to have sufficient resources to rotate the team because of multiple fixtures.

You are right on two things though. First that Drinkwater has been played into the ground and secondly that we have probably wasted a lot of money - serious money - on doubtful purchases and not targeted key areas.

 

[FIF]

We were dreadful when the game was level. How we can be playing a mid table team like WBA at home and not attack astounds me. No shots in the first half was abominable. We started to play each time we went behind and looked the better team but that means **** all if you're crap when level. It looked like mentally we were saying this is just WBA and paid for it. We also seemed to be setting up not to lose again. This is the most disappointing game since Hull IMO. These are games we should be winning.

 

[FIF]

Zieler 5 - Kasper would have saved the second in the form he's in but that wasn't Zieler's fault.

Simpson 5.5 - not too bad but WBA knew to attack down the flanks
Morgan 5 - Up against bigger and faster players and didn't totally emabarrass himself
Huth 5.5 - played pretty well. needs to remind attackers where to put the ball when he's in the box.
Fuchs 4.5 - poor first half. defensively we need an upgrade but he still plays well on attack when we bother.

Mahrez 5.5 - poor first half where he was repeatedly beaten by their FB, much better second half but nowhere near golden ball form
Drinky 5 - would have been our best player if not for the assist, owned it and continued working hard but his teammates are letting him down
King 5 - was alright - worked hard.
Musa 6 - needs to be greedier when in the box. Terrifying their defence when taken off - bad move by CR.

Okazaki 5 - wasn't his day today but still better than his replacement.
Slimani 5.5 - Is a threat but players don't seemed to have learned how to play with him yet - amazing if true.

Vardy 3 - He got himself into good positions and ran hard but doesn't look like he can score in a month of sundays. 2 or 3 relatively easy chances that he'd have put away last year didn't even hit the target.
Gray 4.5 - has amazing feet but can't beat 3 people every time.
Ulloa NA

CR - 3.5 - one of his worst games. poor strategy and poor substitutions

Should've been 3 easy points and 8th place - instead we're looking up at some rubbish.

 

[Motown Fox]

Completely agree King is a spare prick at the wedding, we need a midfielder in January however if we are not careful DD could be gone! By the way is kapustka shagging one of the training staffs dauhters? He is real quality with pace abd an end product! Sort it out CR

Think he's too busy shagging his girlfriend

 

[Ike O'Noclassed]

If Simpson, Huth and Slimani rate a 5.5.. I'd award Rondon a full Spinal Tap 11.

 

[Graz]

Mahrez was our best player by a long way. I thought he had a pretty good game. Definitely looked most likely to make something happen.

Ranieri was shouting at Shinji a lot towards the end of the first half, so wasn't totally surprised he got taken off at half time.

We were poor. We played pretty badly. But as has been said, Drinkwater's cock-up came at a time when we looked most likely to score again. I can forgive Drinky that mistake; he's been a class above most of our players this season. Shame his mistake cost us! You could see how angry he was with it and he was desperate to make up for it after that.

Things aren't clicking up front at the minute, but teams are making it very, very difficult for us. We're the champions, they know our strengths and they'll play to stop that. Vardy is pretty ineffectual when the opposition sit deep, especially as the game went on.

I still think, more than anything, we miss Kante so badly. Not even for his defensive cover so much as his energy and the way he turns defence into attack. Kante would pick up the ball and move forward - either running forward or playing a forward pass to Drinky/Mahrez so they can get it forward for Vardy. The problem is, Drinkwater's now having to do both roles pretty much by himself. Even at their best, King and Amartey can't do that. Very few players can.... and that's the problem. How do we replace that? 11 games into the season, we still haven't worked that out.

 

[FIF]

If Simpson, Huth and Slimani rate a 5.5.. I'd award Rondon a full Spinal Tap 11.

You're free to rate them whatever you want. For me they didn't have a good or bad game overall. If Rondon was so much better than them I'm surprised he didn't score a dozen and set up another 20. Slimani got a goal on limited service.

 

[FIF]

Mahrez was our best player by a long way. I thought he had a pretty good game. Definitely looked most likely to make something happen.

Ranieri was shouting at Shinji a lot towards the end of the first half, so wasn't totally surprised he got taken off at half time.

We were poor. We played pretty badly. But as has been said, Drinkwater's cock-up came at a time when we looked most likely to score again. I can forgive Drinky that mistake; he's been a class above most of our players this season. Shame his mistake cost us! You could see how angry he was with it and he was desperate to make up for it after that.

Things aren't clicking up front at the minute, but teams are making it very, very difficult for us. We're the champions, they know our strengths and they'll play to stop that. Vardy is pretty ineffectual when the opposition sit deep, especially as the game went on.

I still think, more than anything, we miss Kante so badly. Not even for his defensive cover so much as his energy and the way he turns defence into attack. Kante would pick up the ball and move forward - either running forward or playing a forward pass to Drinky/Mahrez so they can get it forward for Vardy. The problem is, Drinkwater's now having to do both roles pretty much by himself. Even at their best, King and Amartey can't do that. Very few players can.... and that's the problem. How do we replace that? 11 games into the season, we still haven't worked that out.

I think Mahrez did some wonderful things but most of the first half and often in the second he lost the ball a lot and his tracking back has almost disappeared now. For major parts of the game the LB outplayed him. I don't think I've ever seen him given the ball as much as he was today - which is great - and it was the plan but then he was supposed to put the ball on Slimani's head and only once did he manage that.

I also think you've got "the old days" memories of Kanté already. Yes he did sometimes run forwards but I'm pretty sure that the majority of his passes were backwards and sideways. Sure we'd be better with him in than Kingy but the big difference between this year and last is the lack of mental effort and Vardy's inability to put the ball on target. Last year that header he messed up yesterday was a sure fire goal. In the last game he twice trod on or mis-controled the ball whereas last year he would have taken it and smacked it past the GK.

We aren't putting the chances away that we did last year and that's not really down to Kanté missing.

 

[camberwell fox]

I've also noticed Mahrez has a reluctance to cut outside onto his right foot.

He did it once yesterday I think but he is becoming predictable and therefore easier to mark.

 

[Orifice]

It's a bloody shame.

If we still had Kante we'd be in the top three, unbeaten this season, it seems.

 

[City Fan]

All this talk of Kante - I genuinely don't think we'd be doing any better this season with him, as he would no doubt be suffering from the same demotivation as the rest of them. Hence the reason why I believe he left, and why I didn't feel aggrieved at him for doing so.

They've all just won the Premier League at odds of 5000/1. They've basically completed football. They know that whatever they do in a Leicester shirt going forward, it will never be as good as last season, so what's the point? I can't blame them as I'm just not motivated as a supporter anymore for the same reason. I genuinely felt hardly any sadness in defeat yesterday, and haven't done all season - which kind of saddens me.

I'm surprised more didn't leave in the summer to be honest; to find the spark that would inevitably have evaded them this season. Champions League or not. Kante was the bright one, clearly.

 

[Brown Nose]

Drinkwater (usually one of our best players) looked well out of it today, long before the catastrophic back pass

 

[Rock Fox]

Interesting stats - could explain a lot. If he gets selected for England he'll be completely done in...

 

[Fox Fan]

Interesting stats - could explain a lot. If he gets selected for England he'll be completely done in...

Already pulled out with an 'injury'.

 

[perthfox]

I cant believe this is more or less the same team as last season,we terrified defence with our speed going forward now it takes 8 or 9 passes to get into the area by which time its fully covered,where has the speed gone.watched all this seasons games here in oz and we get no better.

 

[Mawsley]

...where has the speed gone...

1. Summit climbed, fat contracts awarded, egos stroked - desire has waned
2. Ridiculous summer tournaments robbed the squad of proper pre-season conditioning
3. Injuries resulting from lack of conditioning have led to a half-cocked midfield
4. Refereeing change for contact decisions has robbed the centre backs of their major strength
5. Stadium is full of band-wagon jumping half-sharp twats who boo the champions

We have no fortress mentality, the band of brothers has become more Oasis than Hanson and there's a couple now wanting to survive without injury for a big payday in the transfer window.

 

[LoopisDeLupis]

1. Summit climbed, fat contracts awarded, egos stroked - desire has waned
2. Ridiculous summer tournaments robbed the squad of proper pre-season conditioning
3. Injuries resulting from lack of conditioning have led to a half-cocked midfield
4. Refereeing change for contact decisions has robbed the centre backs of their major strength
5. Stadium is full of band-wagon jumping half-sharp twats who boo the champions

We have no fortress mentality, the band of brothers has become more Oasis than Hanson and there's a couple now wanting to survive without injury for a big payday in the transfer window.

A football post! From Mawsley! Get the confetti cannons out!

 

[Mawsley]

A football post! From Mawsley! Get the confetti cannons out!

****

Most of the time any comment I'd make has been said before, many times, by me or others - I don't see the point in repetition.

 

[homer]

A football post! From Mawsley! Get the confetti cannons out!

He's not a true football forum poster until he's posted a full set of player ratings

Lightweight plastic wanker

 

[Mawsley]