Vs Man United: 5 things we learned.

1: Madd for it

A suitable pun for the locale as Maddison started his season in the PL without fear or hesitation. Was probably our best player and really provided that link between striker and midfield. He looks like a better Paul Gallagher
and I can see him drawing a lot of fouls in dangerous areas this season. A gigantic hole in the attacking midfield area when he was subbed.

2: Gray matter

Most of us have spent along time pondering over the enigma that is Demarai Gray and I thought on the whole he had a good game and if he can really work hard this year on his decision making, may indeed begin to truly shine. What impressed me most was his defensive contribution. At the beginning of last year it was fair to say it was almost non-existent when he played but he clearly worked on this. And last night, he showed that with his pace and some defensive awareness, he can be an important cog with regard to defensive support when Chilwell is bombing up the field.

3: Varied substitutions, nothin’ more to say (sorry, poor pun!)

‘When you believe in things you don’t understand’ is the second lyric from the same song that perhaps is more apt as I try to stay optimistic about our changes last night. I felt an anxious knot in my stomach about it last night.

As mentioned on an earlier thread, don’t get me wrong, putting our RB into a RB position, bringing off a CM who didn’t look 100% fit for another CM and introducing even a half fit Vardy were all logically and patently obvious decisions. But it’s who went off and how it changed us. As referenced above, there was a gigantic hole left by the impression of Maddison but not only did we miss the individual we didn’t even really fill that gap - which had been so important with regard to any forward play that we had success with and in turn, just helped Man U to consolidate in his absence.

It also meant zero pitch time with Maddison behind Vardy and even more bizarre, we played two strikers high up against a deep Man U defence. Okay, fair enough at least bring on somebody who can get quality balls into the box in Albrighton, yet we didn’t do that either.

Now it may be that Maddison was fatigued or Puelwas worried he was going to lose his temper and get sent off but the tactical shift as a result didn’t work at all for me. It’s early days, but something to keep an eye on.

4: To me, to you ( RIP )

One major concern last season was the horizontal passing and I was so pleased to see that this seemed to be more accurate and positive than what we’d seen before now - complimented by us seemingly finding someone in Maddison who can link it together.

It wasn’t perfect and it begun to fade away - but it is much harder to stay motivated in a team that is passing with a lot of possession and not scoring than a counter attacking team who isn’t controlling the ball and not scoring. The players are bound to go through a stage in a game where they think ‘is this it? We are passing well, controlling the possession and still getting no where. And I think that is where patience and belief will come in (and some tactical changes in game)

For me l: stages of development for a more direct counter attacking team who want to advance their way of playing are:

A) practise passing, increase possession.
Patience
B)when controlling possession becomes easier and second nature - increase fluidity and creativity when we have the ball
Belief
C) become more aware and instinctive in terms of when to be patient and have belief, and when to attempt a decisive pass.
Confidence
D) the previous states now have automaticity and we can concentrate on switching between this and other tactics/formations
Versatility
E) a fluid formation based on useful possession and instinctive quick counter attacking as a second weapon.

I’d suggest we were at number 2, if indeed this is the plan. It is long term plan, but, as was mentioned last season, we, and Puel for the sake of his future here (and our club’s future if we are investing in this new way of playing) need to make sure we are at least staying a float in the mean time.

5: time - is on his side?

Which brings us to time. I really really hope we get those wins bedded to keep us bobbing along as we push for this new style because the last thing we want in for another manager to be sacked near the start of a season. I guess it’s recognising that this is a process and one which will take time.

What you would expect from Puel now, after last season and a summer, is a settled team at some point over the next month and relevant substitutions that have impact. Seeing the difference already in our passing has given me hope and although it is difficult to shift from a team who have attacked with pace so much in the past to a new more methodogical approach - I see light at the end of he tunnel already

Ps haven’t proof read so may be littered with errors!