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Thought he was in the left wing with Ian playing number 9?

comment by True Blue ( Wake up Boo ) (U9486)
posted 42 minutes ago
Thought he was in the left wing with Ian playing number 9?
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Correct True Blue
But does he think he should be no. 9?

Daka is a no.9 all day long. He was a very good one as well before we started to ruin him. Putting him on the left is a just a total waste. He’s a quick run in behind good finisher who needs games and creative support around him. Remember the 4 goal haul in Europe? There’s a player in there but as with Kramaric, Slimani, Musa etc we just don’t know how to use strikers if they’re not Vardy

Whilst it was far from a perfect performance, I was pretty encouraged by what we showed. Despite the collective bed wetting from some on FT, there were a lot of things to be pleased with. My main takeaways:

Everything we do will go through Coady and Winks - you can see why we were desperate to get these two in early and paid over the odds to get them here. They will be at the core of the way Maresca plays. I wasn't impressed with the Winks signing at the time, but there's clearly a player there. He always looked out of his depth at Spurs and never really offered anything, but he is clearly someone Maresca wants to be his lynchpin from which our play revolves around.

Ricardo - his new inverted full back role is a game changer in two ways. Firstly, it allows us to mimic the Stones/Trent role that Pep and Klopp have deployed, giving us an extra man in midfield who can dictate play when we have the ball. Secondly, my transitioning him away from the full/wing back role, it reduces the risk of him getting ACLs and increases the chances of us keeping him fit. Whilst it may be disappointing to know that we'll never get the Ricardo of 3-4 years ago back, a fully fit player of his quality at even 80% of his peak will make him the best player in the league. Very interested to see how his new role and unlikely partnership with Winks develops.

KDH - looked back to his best in a more advanced role. I have a feeling he will have a big season and be a key player for us in a 8/10 hybrid role.

Vardy - looked sharp in small segments without ever really getting involved in the general play. If we can get the formation and style functioning, he can still be a valuable asset for us, though I do think we will benefit from having a more long-term option. Iheanacho could be ideal in that role, and I'd like to see Daka given a go in this position to see what he can offer (though I think both would mutually benefit from playing together, but that won't be possible with this particular formation).

Young players - Madividua looked sharp and keen to get involved but may lack a final product. Thought McAteer looked good when he came on and might be the breakthrough if we need to look to youth to pad out the squad.

Overall, I was relatively pleased. It seems the players have reacted well and are taking onboard Maresca's vision and philosophy a lot quicker than I expected. We are clearly lacking a few additions in key positions (Ndidi playing at right wing was a proper lol moment) that will make the new approach properly tick.

On that, looks like we will soon be getting a new goalkeeper and attacking midfielder. Hermansen from Brondby for around £6m - heir apparent to Schmeichel in the Danish set up, and a proper play-out-from-the-back goalie. And the young lad from Chelsea, Casadei - I'll confess I know nothing about him other than he is highly rated and was one of the best performers in the youth Euros.

Onwards and upwards. In Enzo we trust.

I'm almost encouraged by your comments Foxello. What wasn't so good that led to the negativity on FT?

comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 10 hours, 38 minutes ago
I'm almost encouraged by your comments Foxello. What wasn't so good that led to the negativity on FT?
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Most of the negativity on FT seems to stem from lazy stereotypes about the football being "boring", "tippy-tappy", "Rodgersball" and because we only won 1-0 against a very limited team, even though we had enough chances for it to be 3 or 4. On the style of play, some people seem to have the notion that any kind of possession based football is identical to whatever the hell Rodgers had us playing last season, when in reality the kind of play that Maresca is trying to instill will be several steps above that monstrosity.

Some fans want us to either play aggressive, physical, hoof-it football, or think that we can turn the clock back to 2015-16 and play fast, counter-attacking football, as if that's the answer to beating Rotherham and Plymouth when they come to the KP with 10 men behind the ball and we have 75% possession.

If you want a burst of optimism, take a look at the Tactics thread over there. It's a really informative piece on what Maresca is trying to (and already has maned to so far) implement and what we can expect from him. Spoilers - it's very Man City-esque, albeit without our comparative De Bruyne or Haaland at present.

I was at the game. It was very much a pre-season friendly in terms of performance and energy levels. It's very hard to take much from these games.
I was impressed with Winks who always wanted the ball and is good in tight spaces. The rest of them were pretty average on the day, but it's just a pre-season friendly and I expect the pace to pick up considerably once the real games start.

The BIG pieces missing from the jigsaw are someone who can replace Madders' and Tielemans' creativity in the middle, and a couple of decent wingers (assuming Barnes leaves soon), although Albrighton looked very bright when he came on.

Thanks for the really informed views everyone as I missed the game so good to get some very balanced opinions on the game.

Sounds like we are going to play possession football and look to be patient in the build up this year. I’m ok with this if we have enough creativity in midfield for teams that are solid and deep. Otherwise Vardy, Daka or Ian will just end up isolated as they were for much of last season.

I’m more than happy with the amount of midfielders that can receive and ball and move it on in tight spaces, but I’d definitely like to see us bring in more creativity before the window closes.

If/when Barnes goes have we actually got anyone who is classed as an attacking midfielder/winger bar Albrighton?!

Matt Piper explained it perfectly, it’s possession Football with a purpose rather than possession just for the sake of it under Rodgers.

There was a bit of mixing it up with passes backwards then a quick ball forward as their defence moved out.

comment by Foxello - "a miserable Rodgers obsessed weirdo" (U6985)
posted 1 day, 22 hours ago

If you want a burst of optimism, take a look at the Tactics thread over there. It's a really informative piece on what Maresca is trying to (and already has maned to so far) implement and what we can expect from him. Spoilers - it's very Man City-esque, albeit without our comparative De Bruyne or Haaland at present.
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It's a solid read, 15 pages at the moment but has some very informative postings. It sounds like he is already making changes to our playing style. I suppose my concerns still stand, he's trying to change us to mini Man City but without the players they have being available. Given that, I can see that the acquisitions we have made fit into his philosophy; much more is needed though before I can be comfortable we're going to make a decent fist of this season.

I've read on FT that we've still got 7 weeks to address the weakness of the squad. That is true to an extent, but if that is indeed to be the case, it means we'd be half way through the season before all became fully acclimitised to the new style. That brings the huge risk of Top & Co panicking and firing Maresco if we aren't challenging for promotion. Given how poor the decision making was over the last couple of seasons, and the chief culprit still being in place, that's a concern.

Still it looks like there may be some light at the end of the tunnel, so we can but hope for a good outcome.