Ricardo goes missing, don't care if I never see him again as I've said before, it will take him a substantial amount of hard work and team play to win me over, he needs to run himself into the ground getting his ar$e up and down all game long game after game after game rather than just going forwards then watching his team mates struggle to cover his lack of interest in defending.
Ghezzal will be a player, a star if he settles but it's too early to be throwing him into a struggling team, struggling in the sense of playing the way the manager has in his head.
Albrighton, gives and has everything, covers his full back, great crossing and going forwards and always gives 100%.
Not really a question for me at all.
With Amartey right back, the necessesity for Albrighton’s tracking back won’t be as necessary as if Ricardo was there. He does however, offer great service at times to Vardy but is limited by pace.
Ricardo, without the need to prioritise playing full back is very dangerous going forward and, as I mentioned on another thread, IMO one of the best players we have dribbling at pace. I also think he nicely balanced wide play and cutting in. However, he still needs to track back as a forward player and he doesn’t have a great record for this so far.
Ghezzal has shown some real potential connecting with Maddison and Vardy and producing the quick touch football in triangles that I think Puel is hoping will be an asset to unlock defences. However, he doesn’t have that ability (at the moment) to take on a defender confidently IMO on a reasonably regular basis but does look the best at cutting inside and inverted wingers is something Puel also seems to like. Although not outstanding at getting back and can be caught ball watching, I think he does make a concerted effort most of the time to get stuck in and at least try to help out.
Just some food for thought
All Full Backs need some cover from the player in front of them rather than a massive void.
One of the reasons Simpson has shown himself to be an excellent Full Back was his ability to survive having Mahrez in front of him, even Mahrez though did more covering than Ricardo.
True, true....and yes, eventually Mahrez did start to make some attempts (some of the time) to track back. And yes, more than Ricardo...but the latter hasn’t really had much time here and our critique of him has been as a full back not getting back rather than as a winger to be fair. I’m not sure I remember too much criticism of him not getting back enough when he was starting in a more advanced role. I think we are probably judging him as a FB, in a formation where his manager has asked to get very high up (with little cover from Ghezzal to be fair) in one particularly bad game.
In this instance, we are comparing him as an attacking wide player, and whilst his tracking back still isn’t great, it would seem a little unfair to judge him on his RB contribution when considering for this RW role (as it would be unfair to judge Albrighton on his less than flattering showings at RB on occasions).
I think Simpson was great for us, but that relationship with Mahrez works both ways. Whilst it was his defensive work and discipline that allowed for Mahrez to have more freedom, it was also Mahrez’s creativity and brilliance that kept the wolves from the door with regard to Any critique of Simpson not really contributing as much as Fuchs on the other side.
I also think the argument for having a solid right back who doesn’t attack as much, is more of an argument to support a Ricardo/Ghezzal inclusion over Albrighton from this perspective...not that this is neccessarily my thought process but just trying to be objective and balanced.
The solution to this may, of course, be to have Albrighton left wing, allowing Chilwell to attack even more, and Maddison behind Vardy but as I said, I have a feeling Puel will start Iheanacho.
The other option is Albrighton in front of Ricardo...but at the minute, I think nearly Puel or a fair bunch of Coty fans would have that as a current preference.
*I think neither Puel or a fair bunch of City fans would have that as a current preference.
I think there’s an argument for any one of them. If we’re sticking with Amartey at right back and Mendy in the middle then I’d marginally go for Ricardo. But there’s not much in it.
Good point Dunge. An option to bring Iborra in May depend on that RW choice as well
I’m with Dungeon. If it’s that formation Pereira easily looks the best player to link the midfield, hold possesion and run at defenders.
Unlike TB, I really like him. I just think he needs time or a different system.
Albrighton for me.
In a malfunctioning side, where nobody is entirely clear what the formation is, you need players with high work rate. Marc will give you that. On Saturday we looked far better when Gray came on, because his direct running compensated for the lack of balance that prevailed before he entered the fray.
Like others, however, I've come around to thinking that 3-5-2, or one of its variants, if worth a try given our apparent inability to find a credible full back.
...so we are all agreed that he will play Ricardo/pereira right back and Ghezzal in front....
Joby.... "A malfunctioning team" in your dreams my friends. We won half our games quarterfinal of a cup competition and integrating one of the brightest talents to emerge from the championship
Not least getting over losing one of the best players in the world.
Imo it is disrespecting the management team give them 10 games and then write the team and formation off please. Everyone knows players don't just do a Kante look at Mendy a star this season we are only six games in and people on here think we should be in the top six by right.
Once again, there we are celebrating Mendy.
Average is our new goal.
Mersey,
Whilst I agree that Mendy hasn’t given us anything to proclaim him as the new messiah he is having a decent season. Certainly I’d groan less if his name was read out on the team sheet than I would if it were the names of James or King.
I think Mendy is suffering from the slow start that he made to his LCFC career, whereas Ndidi is shielded from criticism because he’s proven over many games. I don’t believe there is actually much between them in terms of performances this season and Ndidi has regressed from the high standards he’s previously set. Against Huddersfield I had Mendy as performing the better of the two.
I still agree with the viewpoint that Ndidi is our best midfielder and also acknowledge he’s still a young player with huge potential but, on performances alone, you could make an argument that Mendy has been at least as good. Irrespective of the individuals the balance of the team doesn’t look quite right at the moment.
“…. them 10 games and then write the team and formation off please.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nev,
To answer your point I’m not writing anyone off. I’m not calling for Puel’s head and agree that, if we keep winning 50% of our games, there will be no need to make a change. Results are what buy you time to implement longer term strategies.
As stated I just wish I would see one performance that convinced me that our future direction is the right one. We’ve managed to win games with individual moments of quality, but frequently looked the poorer side for large passages of play.
There have been improvements in certain individuals: Gray’s work rate is much improved, Chilwell now sometimes justifies his selection over Fuchs, Mendy’s contribution is much improved and Maddison looks a fantastic prospect. But I’m still left wondering if this is green shoots for sustained success or a false dawn.
comment by Nevsaysagoal2city (U5194)
posted 5 hours, 39 minutes ago
Joby.... "A malfunctioning team" in your dreams my friends. We won half our games quarterfinal of a cup competition and integrating one of the brightest talents to emerge from the championship
Not least getting over losing one of the best players in the world.
Imo it is disrespecting the management team give them 10 games and then write the team and formation off please. Everyone knows players don't just do a Kante look at Mendy a star this season we are only six games in and people on here think we should be in the top six by right.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nev - tell me, do you honestly believe that all is rosy in the garden or are you just in constant wind up mode?
For me it's Amartey at RB with Pereira; being kind to Ricardo he isn't up to standard defensively yet.
If it's Ricardo at RB then Marc has to start to provide defensive cover.
Joby - I don’t disagree that’s mendy is having a good season and doing a good job. Anyone who suggests he has the ability or potential of Ndidi is on another planet to me, and I still feel we are wasting Ndidi’s talents in this formation. That or Mendy isn’t doing enough to help him, which is why I want Iborra in.
I just don’t think that saying that everything is perfect because Mendy is brilliant is ok. Mendy has done a job for me. Nothing more, nothing less.
How do we get the best from the real talent there which is Ndidi? Back to my post on Nev’s thread - it’s time for 3 at the back again 😂
——
Think you could fit our players perfectly in to 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.
3 CBs (take your pick)
Pereira or Albrighton and Chilwell
Iborra or Silva or Mendy, Ndidi and Maddison
Vardy and Nacho
Or to keep wide strikers in a 3-4-3
3 CBs (take your pick)
Pereira or Albrighton and Chilwell
Mendy Ndidi
Maddison Vardy Ghezzal/Gray/Albrighton
Move Maddison back to midfield if you feel wild.
Perfect.
I’ll add, I think Maddison could play the Drinkwater role as a midfielder. Don’t forget that’s what he did before he came to us.
True Mersey, but he has shown he could be an upgrade on the Okazaki role behind Vardy. Moving Maddison further back after 3 goals and assist would not be advantageous
Don’t see the point in playing Maddison further back in a role when there is no one who could play his current role better or even on par
Nun just because i'm not with the glum mongers on here who don't like any success we are having. es everything is rosy to most of us in the real world, but if you think its all happenchance and we are going down the gurgle thats your choice.
Again just because i think three wins and a quarter final place is good does not mean i a wum i am just in the majority out there
comment by Nevsaysagoal2city (U5194)
posted 6 minutes ago
Nun just because i'm not with the glum mongers on here who don't like any success we are having. es everything is rosy to most of us in the real world, but if you think its all happenchance and we are going down the gurgle thats your choice.
Again just because i think three wins and a quarter final place is good does not mean i a wum i am just in the majority out there
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The majority about what?
How do you know?
It's only you who wants to create division and sling labels about while calling your fellow posters on here liars, everyone else seems quite happy seeing where the journey takes us but questioning decisions and debating possible solutions.
Sign in if you want to comment
Albrighton, Ghezzal or Ricardo/Pereira?
Page 1 of 2
posted on 27/9/18
Albrighton
posted on 27/9/18
Because....
posted on 27/9/18
Ricardo goes missing, don't care if I never see him again as I've said before, it will take him a substantial amount of hard work and team play to win me over, he needs to run himself into the ground getting his ar$e up and down all game long game after game after game rather than just going forwards then watching his team mates struggle to cover his lack of interest in defending.
Ghezzal will be a player, a star if he settles but it's too early to be throwing him into a struggling team, struggling in the sense of playing the way the manager has in his head.
Albrighton, gives and has everything, covers his full back, great crossing and going forwards and always gives 100%.
Not really a question for me at all.
posted on 27/9/18
With Amartey right back, the necessesity for Albrighton’s tracking back won’t be as necessary as if Ricardo was there. He does however, offer great service at times to Vardy but is limited by pace.
Ricardo, without the need to prioritise playing full back is very dangerous going forward and, as I mentioned on another thread, IMO one of the best players we have dribbling at pace. I also think he nicely balanced wide play and cutting in. However, he still needs to track back as a forward player and he doesn’t have a great record for this so far.
Ghezzal has shown some real potential connecting with Maddison and Vardy and producing the quick touch football in triangles that I think Puel is hoping will be an asset to unlock defences. However, he doesn’t have that ability (at the moment) to take on a defender confidently IMO on a reasonably regular basis but does look the best at cutting inside and inverted wingers is something Puel also seems to like. Although not outstanding at getting back and can be caught ball watching, I think he does make a concerted effort most of the time to get stuck in and at least try to help out.
Just some food for thought
posted on 27/9/18
All Full Backs need some cover from the player in front of them rather than a massive void.
One of the reasons Simpson has shown himself to be an excellent Full Back was his ability to survive having Mahrez in front of him, even Mahrez though did more covering than Ricardo.
posted on 27/9/18
True, true....and yes, eventually Mahrez did start to make some attempts (some of the time) to track back. And yes, more than Ricardo...but the latter hasn’t really had much time here and our critique of him has been as a full back not getting back rather than as a winger to be fair. I’m not sure I remember too much criticism of him not getting back enough when he was starting in a more advanced role. I think we are probably judging him as a FB, in a formation where his manager has asked to get very high up (with little cover from Ghezzal to be fair) in one particularly bad game.
In this instance, we are comparing him as an attacking wide player, and whilst his tracking back still isn’t great, it would seem a little unfair to judge him on his RB contribution when considering for this RW role (as it would be unfair to judge Albrighton on his less than flattering showings at RB on occasions).
I think Simpson was great for us, but that relationship with Mahrez works both ways. Whilst it was his defensive work and discipline that allowed for Mahrez to have more freedom, it was also Mahrez’s creativity and brilliance that kept the wolves from the door with regard to Any critique of Simpson not really contributing as much as Fuchs on the other side.
I also think the argument for having a solid right back who doesn’t attack as much, is more of an argument to support a Ricardo/Ghezzal inclusion over Albrighton from this perspective...not that this is neccessarily my thought process but just trying to be objective and balanced.
The solution to this may, of course, be to have Albrighton left wing, allowing Chilwell to attack even more, and Maddison behind Vardy but as I said, I have a feeling Puel will start Iheanacho.
The other option is Albrighton in front of Ricardo...but at the minute, I think nearly Puel or a fair bunch of Coty fans would have that as a current preference.
posted on 27/9/18
*I think neither Puel or a fair bunch of City fans would have that as a current preference.
posted on 27/9/18
Still prefer Albrighton.
posted on 27/9/18
I think there’s an argument for any one of them. If we’re sticking with Amartey at right back and Mendy in the middle then I’d marginally go for Ricardo. But there’s not much in it.
posted on 27/9/18
Good point Dunge. An option to bring Iborra in May depend on that RW choice as well
posted on 27/9/18
I’m with Dungeon. If it’s that formation Pereira easily looks the best player to link the midfield, hold possesion and run at defenders.
Unlike TB, I really like him. I just think he needs time or a different system.
posted on 27/9/18
Albrighton for me.
In a malfunctioning side, where nobody is entirely clear what the formation is, you need players with high work rate. Marc will give you that. On Saturday we looked far better when Gray came on, because his direct running compensated for the lack of balance that prevailed before he entered the fray.
Like others, however, I've come around to thinking that 3-5-2, or one of its variants, if worth a try given our apparent inability to find a credible full back.
posted on 28/9/18
...so we are all agreed that he will play Ricardo/pereira right back and Ghezzal in front....
posted on 28/9/18
Joby.... "A malfunctioning team" in your dreams my friends. We won half our games quarterfinal of a cup competition and integrating one of the brightest talents to emerge from the championship
Not least getting over losing one of the best players in the world.
Imo it is disrespecting the management team give them 10 games and then write the team and formation off please. Everyone knows players don't just do a Kante look at Mendy a star this season we are only six games in and people on here think we should be in the top six by right.
posted on 28/9/18
Once again, there we are celebrating Mendy.
Average is our new goal.
posted on 28/9/18
Mersey,
Whilst I agree that Mendy hasn’t given us anything to proclaim him as the new messiah he is having a decent season. Certainly I’d groan less if his name was read out on the team sheet than I would if it were the names of James or King.
I think Mendy is suffering from the slow start that he made to his LCFC career, whereas Ndidi is shielded from criticism because he’s proven over many games. I don’t believe there is actually much between them in terms of performances this season and Ndidi has regressed from the high standards he’s previously set. Against Huddersfield I had Mendy as performing the better of the two.
I still agree with the viewpoint that Ndidi is our best midfielder and also acknowledge he’s still a young player with huge potential but, on performances alone, you could make an argument that Mendy has been at least as good. Irrespective of the individuals the balance of the team doesn’t look quite right at the moment.
posted on 28/9/18
“…. them 10 games and then write the team and formation off please.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nev,
To answer your point I’m not writing anyone off. I’m not calling for Puel’s head and agree that, if we keep winning 50% of our games, there will be no need to make a change. Results are what buy you time to implement longer term strategies.
As stated I just wish I would see one performance that convinced me that our future direction is the right one. We’ve managed to win games with individual moments of quality, but frequently looked the poorer side for large passages of play.
There have been improvements in certain individuals: Gray’s work rate is much improved, Chilwell now sometimes justifies his selection over Fuchs, Mendy’s contribution is much improved and Maddison looks a fantastic prospect. But I’m still left wondering if this is green shoots for sustained success or a false dawn.
posted on 28/9/18
comment by Nevsaysagoal2city (U5194)
posted 5 hours, 39 minutes ago
Joby.... "A malfunctioning team" in your dreams my friends. We won half our games quarterfinal of a cup competition and integrating one of the brightest talents to emerge from the championship
Not least getting over losing one of the best players in the world.
Imo it is disrespecting the management team give them 10 games and then write the team and formation off please. Everyone knows players don't just do a Kante look at Mendy a star this season we are only six games in and people on here think we should be in the top six by right.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nev - tell me, do you honestly believe that all is rosy in the garden or are you just in constant wind up mode?
posted on 28/9/18
For me it's Amartey at RB with Pereira; being kind to Ricardo he isn't up to standard defensively yet.
If it's Ricardo at RB then Marc has to start to provide defensive cover.
posted on 28/9/18
Joby - I don’t disagree that’s mendy is having a good season and doing a good job. Anyone who suggests he has the ability or potential of Ndidi is on another planet to me, and I still feel we are wasting Ndidi’s talents in this formation. That or Mendy isn’t doing enough to help him, which is why I want Iborra in.
I just don’t think that saying that everything is perfect because Mendy is brilliant is ok. Mendy has done a job for me. Nothing more, nothing less.
How do we get the best from the real talent there which is Ndidi? Back to my post on Nev’s thread - it’s time for 3 at the back again 😂
——
Think you could fit our players perfectly in to 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.
3 CBs (take your pick)
Pereira or Albrighton and Chilwell
Iborra or Silva or Mendy, Ndidi and Maddison
Vardy and Nacho
Or to keep wide strikers in a 3-4-3
3 CBs (take your pick)
Pereira or Albrighton and Chilwell
Mendy Ndidi
Maddison Vardy Ghezzal/Gray/Albrighton
Move Maddison back to midfield if you feel wild.
Perfect.
posted on 28/9/18
I’ll add, I think Maddison could play the Drinkwater role as a midfielder. Don’t forget that’s what he did before he came to us.
posted on 28/9/18
True Mersey, but he has shown he could be an upgrade on the Okazaki role behind Vardy. Moving Maddison further back after 3 goals and assist would not be advantageous
posted on 28/9/18
Don’t see the point in playing Maddison further back in a role when there is no one who could play his current role better or even on par
posted on 28/9/18
Nun just because i'm not with the glum mongers on here who don't like any success we are having. es everything is rosy to most of us in the real world, but if you think its all happenchance and we are going down the gurgle thats your choice.
Again just because i think three wins and a quarter final place is good does not mean i a wum i am just in the majority out there
posted on 28/9/18
comment by Nevsaysagoal2city (U5194)
posted 6 minutes ago
Nun just because i'm not with the glum mongers on here who don't like any success we are having. es everything is rosy to most of us in the real world, but if you think its all happenchance and we are going down the gurgle thats your choice.
Again just because i think three wins and a quarter final place is good does not mean i a wum i am just in the majority out there
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The majority about what?
How do you know?
It's only you who wants to create division and sling labels about while calling your fellow posters on here liars, everyone else seems quite happy seeing where the journey takes us but questioning decisions and debating possible solutions.
Page 1 of 2