chelsea v City

comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 33 minutes ago
comment by Foxello (U6985)
posted 1 hour, 16 minutes ago
Counter attack has always been an option for us, but for it to be effective there is a certain reliance on the opponents playing into your hands. The Maddison goal against Watford is a good example. Where I think we are right to be moving forward to is a system where counter attack is *an* option, not the *only* option. Teams had found us out towards the end of the title winning season and we weren't being allowed anywhere near the space we were getting - think of Palace and Sunderland away as examples. We need to get a lot better at playing the slower, more technical passing style and we are certainly not the finished article, but today was a good step towards it.
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Don’t think anyone would disagree with this. It just needs to be an option. It hasn’t been for quite some time.
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More technical passing style yes - its the slower bit that's the problem.

Not that I'm totally disagreeing but I love the old ' other teams had found us out' line, total Boll&cks but a well loved line by some.

It was said at around this time ( Xmas ) in the League Winning Season, we went on to win the League.

It wasn't really used as an option in Claudios second Season as change was required, we'd been found out they said so change was needed, he failed miserably and was sacked.

Shakey came in an reverted to type, we went on an amazing run until the players were resting on the beach early.

Now he wouldn't change and was sacked.

Puel comes in and the Revolution starts so we can beat the eleven players behind the ball teams and become a 'proper' Footballing team with neat passes and possession and the like.

So, that takes us to dull, boring and Dire performances while rather than having problems breaking down these defensive teams we're now at the stage of having to throw the kitchen sink at them just to rescue a point!

I'll say it again just for clarity, any comments about ' they'd found us out are just TOTAL Boll&cks.

It will ALWAYS be a struggle to break down teams who just want to defend for a point whatever system is used and it can't be used as justification to totally destroy a winning play and mentality of a squad who were so successful in that system, just to justify a snobbish attitude of making us play 'proper' Football.

Now making that style more palatable to pundits and fans alike as Puel was so successful with when he first came and tweaked it is a perfect solution, a hybrid of what we had was very exciting to watch.

Roll on Puel's Evolution, the Revolution is Dead in the water.

I’d love to hear why Puel did what he did at the start and what he was looking to achieve.

I’d love to hear why he thinks that’s not what we should be doing now.

So we can beat the likes of Fulham, Brighton, Burnley and West Ham Mersey.

Of course...

Couple of interesting stats:

Vardy has scored 13 in his last 15 games against the ‘big 6’

No English player has created more chances that Maddison this season.

comment by Keep_the_faith1 (U8129)
posted 5 minutes ago
Couple of interesting stats:

Vardy has scored 13 in his last 15 games against the ‘big 6’

No English player has created more chances that Maddison this season.
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More than Mahrez

comment by Black Starr (U12353)
posted 2 hours, 44 minutes ago
comment by 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 (U18355)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Foxello (U6985)
posted 21 minutes ago
I've filtered BS so I have no idea what he's blathering on about, and I've never been so pleased. Someone please inject his tears into my veins so I can absorb the sweet nectar.
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he’s raging Leicester won
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Why are you so obsessed with me you weirdo?
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Unfiltered me just to reply to a comment you logged out to read

I was just curious who it was mate - honestly it’s really facking weird. Never had anyone stalk me like this what on earth are you doing? It’s Saturday night you cant

comment by True Blue (U9486)
posted 13 hours, 16 minutes ago
Not that I'm totally disagreeing but I love the old ' other teams had found us out' line, total Boll&cks but a well loved line by some.

It was said at around this time ( Xmas ) in the League Winning Season, we went on to win the League.

It wasn't really used as an option in Claudios second Season as change was required, we'd been found out they said so change was needed, he failed miserably and was sacked.

Shakey came in an reverted to type, we went on an amazing run until the players were resting on the beach early.

Now he wouldn't change and was sacked.

Puel comes in and the Revolution starts so we can beat the eleven players behind the ball teams and become a 'proper' Footballing team with neat passes and possession and the like.

So, that takes us to dull, boring and Dire performances while rather than having problems breaking down these defensive teams we're now at the stage of having to throw the kitchen sink at them just to rescue a point!

I'll say it again just for clarity, any comments about ' they'd found us out are just TOTAL Boll&cks.

It will ALWAYS be a struggle to break down teams who just want to defend for a point whatever system is used and it can't be used as justification to totally destroy a winning play and mentality of a squad who were so successful in that system, just to justify a snobbish attitude of making us play 'proper' Football.

Now making that style more palatable to pundits and fans alike as Puel was so successful with when he first came and tweaked it is a perfect solution, a hybrid of what we had was very exciting to watch.

Roll on Puel's Evolution, the Revolution is Dead in the water.


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This is spot on. What Puel evolved us to doing was focusing on keeping possession as and end rather than as a means to an end; this, coupled with the lack of ability on the ball of many players in the squad has resulted in the slow, boring stuff we've mostly been watching for the last year, where teams find it exceptionally easy to defend against us as we give them so much time to retreat into perfect defensive formations when we get the ball from them. Add in a lack of pressing high up the pitch and Claude's insistence on playing an ultra-defensive line up with two DMs against all teams, no matter what their ability, and we get the tripe that has been served up to us on a regular basis.

I suppose from yesterday we can be even more defensive with 3 DMs on the pitch, but that worked. I'm obviously delighted with the result, but it seemed to me not to be some fantastic transition to a competitive footballing passing unit, but classic Leicester defending and counter attacking. I only saw the MoTD highlights, I got the idea that Vardy had about one chance which he took superbly, and we appear to have been fortunate Chelsea didn't score with the woodwork saving us twice? Perhaps someone who saw the whole game could confirm if that is a fair assessment or was it different?

In any event I don't expect to see a transition in Claude's thinking to being far more positive in possession, mixed in with some more pressing, but we can but hope. If he doesn't change he's not going to last. By the way Wednesday is a free hit for me, it will be interesting to see if we adopt the 3 DMs approach against Man City, but I want to see more evolution in our approach for Saturday please Claude; if we get more of the same dreadful cautious football against Cardiff it will be another nail in his coffin for me.

I'd love to be able to post in a couple of months that we have been transformed into a vibrant attacking team under Claude, able to mix it up depending on the opposition with fast counter attacking, together with both careful and penetrative possesion based football, and energetic pressing at appropriate times. This would be much preferable to commenting on the alternative decline to an alternative seemingly inevitable sacking.