City v Fleetwood FA.Cup replay

Was he on the second half
Didn't even notice 🙄

Worth discussing Jacupovic. I again thought he looked every bit the challenger to Kasper.

Hopefully whatever went on there has gone.

We grew in to that game but the change of formation totally changed it. Silva, Iborra, Nacho all suddenly looked like different players.

More evidence in favour of Puel I’d say. Experimented but then brought it back to what he’s trying to achieve and delivered.

Thought Silva did well was ok on the ball, moved it quickly, tried to get forward and always made himself available. Iborra on the other hand does all the right things but needs to do them quicker, slows play down a lot which doesn't really suit us.

A decent game and win .... in the end.

First half looked like a pre-season friendly game. Leicester practicing their passing, but looking strangely rusty. Fleetwood sitting back and inviting us to try and play through them, which we couldn't.

We all know that we play better with space in front of us and have historically struggled against sides that sit in. That's when you need invention or somebody to try and break the lines. Slimani and Ian didn't try and do that and only Gray was, mostly unsuccessfully, having a go - but fair play to him for trying. The second half we looked a team.

I'm actually not going to be too harsh in judging that performance. There were some relatively new partnerships out there in Ian/Slim, Silva/Iborra and Benny/Drag. Playing a proper game is not quite like training and we lacked rhythm and pace.

So what did we learn?
Ian is a finisher. He's got a lot to learn with his runs and positioning, but he can definitely score. Something to work with maybe.
Gray's decision making is still questionable at times, but his effort to influence the game cannot be questioned here.
Where does Slimani fit? Still the unanswerable question. I've always defended him, but he still doesn't look like a player who will thrive unless everything is set up around him.
Our only support striker is Okazaki. We have no number 10 and Shinji is still the closest we have. Everybody plays better with him and nobody seems to be able to play with each other as strike pairing.
I've seen enough from Silva to know he's a good player. I'm fairly sure he'll bring something we haven't currently got.
Jakupovic is better than Hamer?
Amartey looks like he'll always be a utility man, but never quite good enough in any position.

And Benalouane. There are times when Benny looks a decent player. He reads the game well and is better with his feet than Morgan and Huth. But as soon as I start thinking he's an option he tries to kill somebody. Almost every game you get at least one really poorly timed tackle. If only he could get rid of it from his game.

Delighted you got through.

UTP!

"There are times when Benny looks a decent player... But as soon as I start thinking he's an option he tries to kill somebody."

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Thorney, frankly I'm kind of happy for you that you'll have someone to speak to in a match thread.

Yes, apart from ThorneyFox, only really Villa and Doncaster supporters have engaged in conversation this season with me.

We're going give you a good game, and could win, so you'll need to bring at least a near full strength team to the ABAX Stadium.

It's hard to tell what kind of side we're going to bring, to be honest. Your guess of our starting line-up is as good as mine. Particularly since we play Everton away mid-week after the tie and they're likely our main competition for 7th place (and, with it, a probable place in the Europa league0.

But as soon as I start thinking he's an option he tries to kill somebody.


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comment by dublin fox (was london fox)(now Cambridge fox)(can not spell fox) (U1131)
posted 9 hours, 9 minutes ago
But as soon as I start thinking he's an option he tries to kill somebody.


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Yep. Brilliant Joby 😂