Had a go at this a while ago and I thought, in the absence of being at the match and instead resigned to a stream , would utilise the time that would have been spent travelling back (and perhaps drinking) on another bash (and perhaps drinking).
1 - Kicking 'ell Kasper
Not only has it started to become a regular thing, it probably peaked today in epic proportion. Schmeichel has been a superb goalkeeper for this club and will always be remembered as part of 'that team'....but WHAT ON EARTH is going through his head when he continually pings balls out over the head of Mahrez on the wing (I stopped counting at 7) - sometimes the risk of conceding possession is worth a risk, but what is it he is hoping for from Mahrez's head, EVEN if he does make contact!? Considering our new partial attempt to play out from the back far more, I'd be surprised if Puel wasn't gently reminding Kasper of this.
2 - On the front foot...
It's now three games in a row...1-0 up in each and only 1 point gained out of a possible 9. Now it's irrelevant who the opposition is, this isn't good enough. We used to be a team (and one I would argue who isn't far better than this one on paper) who would ALMOST NEVER lose if we went in front and rarely draw. Now I know it's three games, but three games in a row is a pattern and one we need to rectify sharpish because they are the sort of statistics that can all of a sudden have a damaging effect on players' psyches.
3 - Towel throwing...
Perhaps it's just me, but I felt the substitution of Vardy and Mahrez smelt of resignation in this game...don't get me wrong, we have a hectic period of games and don't want to risk injury from fatigue or overexertion, but I think Vardy looked like he had another chance in him and even just a little extra time with Okazaki may have reaped benefits as when Jamie went off the pitch (particularly with Shinji coming on) I felt our chances of scoring depreciated radically.
4 - Silva lining...
We still just aren't the same without Kante and whilst he is irreplaceable, with Puel looking like he views Okazaki as part of a plan B (which is fair enough) another quality midfield sitting in that hole may be the answer to the Mahrez (if he stays), Gray and Vardy dilemma with regard to making the trio just a tad more cohesive (I worry Vardy may eventually be affected from a morale perspective if he is isolated on a regular basis).
5. Salah
With the money being thrown around nowadays, he looks a snip and has probably already near doubled his value. £30 odd million is still alot of money but if he gets Liverpool a Champions League place (because I don't think it would have happened without him) they will already be making a profit. Admittedly, very poor defending on both goals, but his goals scored and assists combo is the best in the Premier League (and imagine one of the best in Europe) and you don't achieve that come festive time without having a Christmas cracking season - well done.
Liverpool game: 5 talking points
posted on 30/12/17
As a postscript:
I still think we are in a good place and see progress as we move towards the New Year, onwards and upwards.
posted on 30/12/17
comment by Keep_the_faith1 (U8129)
posted 11 seconds ago
As a postscript:
I still think we are in a good place and see progress as we move towards the New Year, onwards and upwards.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fair enough - ignore the tone of my post above, too harsh in retrospect
posted on 30/12/17
By the way Everton lost to Bournemouth today, Watford to Swansea and Southampton are near the relegation zone. Just shows you how hard this league is and that actually we’ve done very well to drag ourselves from the bottom 3 to 8th
Now we aren’t a top 8 side in my opinion because of the fack up our club has made of the transfer window (again) but if Puel get us in the top 10 which he will then it will have been a decent season all things considering
posted on 30/12/17
That's okay - just really to encourage discussion, debate and of course, converse ripostes. The idioms for each talking point are just half-hearted puns really.
I guess my point regarding taking the lead is less a comparison between Leicester City and European Supremos and more with Leicester City 2017/18 and Leicester City over the last couple of years. The three clubs we dropped points against after going in front are three clubs we managed not too in recent seasons....it's really a stark comparison between how potent we were from this perspective (literally one of the best in Europe at it and against the same quality of teams) and a team who would rarely ever drop points after going 1-0 up to a team who has just done it three times in a row.
As mentioned more 'a talking point' and whether there is any correlation/trend as opposed to berating the team...we are in a good position...so we are in a position to discuss talking points like this which is a positive
posted on 30/12/17
It is an exceptionally difficult league, possibly the most competitive and hardest in some ways in Europe. In terms of our overall progress over the last 3 or 4 years, it has been very good to excellent. Top 10 would be great for me...staying the league and consolidating is still great for me...we are definitely on track with regard to our targets when re-entering the Premier League and in some ways are more stable than our last reasonably success stint at this level which is brill.
posted on 30/12/17
(to be fair, we did drop points to Man U after taking the lead a couple of years ago....but still.....
posted on 30/12/17
Good post KTF1. My thoughts for what they’re worth:
1. Ndidi. He was utter class today. Without him we would have been totally overrun in midfield today. He made us tick and he stopped lots of Liverpool attacks. He was also the only Leicester player not giving the ball away regularly (bar Iborra).
2. The front 4. Didn’t work again today. We posed no threat. None. We were lucky Liverpool have the ball to us a few times for a sniff.
3. We’re at our best for me when we’re on the front foot and losing questions to teams. The way we play is neat, but continues to isolate Vardy, whilst Gray and Mahrez aren’t producing the magic. We’re missing a link player. Okazaki is the answer short term, and hopefully Silva and/or a new player in Jan. But currently not enough.
4. Defensive set up. Shame we didn’t really try and play today. We caused a fragile Liverpool defense problems when we did. Shame we only started playing when behind.
5. Kaspers kicking was awful. But his handling and punching assured. Those at the game will know there was a swirling wind which was taking the ball away from lots of players. Kasper could have done more to adjust though.
posted on 30/12/17
Ndidi was our best player by a distance, Iborra gave the ball away more than he should, the problem I have with Iborra is he slows play down to much, we have to get the ball forward quicker for that front line to be effective.
Kasper previously always looked to deliver the ball quickly into the channels for Vardy, Okazaki Mahrez to run onto. Channels are relatively easy to hit. Now he needs to be more precise with his kicks and it's showing up the difficulty.
posted on 30/12/17
Although his kicking was pretty terrible the direction off the luck constantly to Mahrez on the touch line is surely instruction from Management rather than his own design?
Started great with the defending from the front then slowed it right down and lost the game after those first few minutes.
Someone said Slowmani, did he play?
posted on 31/12/17
Having a pop again did more to the point did anyone give him the ball you really don't like for what ever reason. Shinji was equally ineffective bumdled off the ball and showing nothing do you want to have a go at him?