Yeah I watched that interview yesterday and his attention to detail didn't overly surprise me, though the level certainly did.

I mean watching 60 clips of the same player and being able to tell them what they did on all 60 occasions, clearly gives the players an advantage and is nothing short of remarkable that he would think to do that. As you said, the bloke is a tactical genius 👍

I think it will be the same team apart from Amartey and I'm really looking forward to seeing him play.

Pffft. There's posters on this forum that watch more than that.

This bears out a story from earlier in the season, where a difference between Ranieri and Pearson was discussed: While Pearson liked to go home, have a glass of wine, relax and ignore the strange noises coming out of his son's bedroom, Ranieri lives and breathes football to the point where it's on his mind most of the time. If he's not watching Leicester games or considering tactics, he's watching opposition games. If he's not doing that then he's either asleep or watching a neutral game out of pure interest. Football is a love for him, an obsession.

I wonder if the greatest challenge for him is not coming up with ideas but reining them in, making sure he can keep things simple and consistent and not bombarding players with information - giving them key things to focus their minds on. Or perhaps out players have been doing so well this season precisely /because/ they're capable of taking a lot of this in. Either way, it seems to have been working so far.

The difference in tactics between the two is clear.

How many times were you left wondering what was Pearson doing with that choice or change. 99 times out of 100 Ranieri seems to see what everyone else sees and gets it right. I wonder how much of Pearson's decision making was due to his stubborness?

Looking forward to seeing Amartey. Hope he's pretty much match fit.

We must win tomorrow

comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 33 minutes ago
While Pearson liked to go home, have a glass of wine, relax and ignore the strange noises coming out of his son's bedroom,
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Very interesting stuff. Its strange but Ranieri has kind of played down his role here. Almost like things have ran themselves. So far he has almost done a perfect job.

Would be surprised if Shinji isnt playing tomorrow personally. He is just starting to find his feet. I would go for Amartey at right back aswell. Important thing is to get behind the boys and not be frustrated if we go a goal behind.

Ranieri is a class act and underrated IMO but he's got your players willing to run through brick walls for him and it's clear for all to see.

I think he's almost nailed on to win MotY

comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 2 hours, 8 minutes ago
This bears out a story from earlier in the season, where a difference between Ranieri and Pearson was discussed: While Pearson liked to go home, have a glass of wine, relax and ignore the strange noises coming out of his son's bedroom, Ranieri lives and breathes football to the point where it's on his mind most of the time. If he's not watching Leicester games or considering tactics, he's watching opposition games. If he's not doing that then he's either asleep or watching a neutral game out of pure interest. Football is a love for him, an obsession.

I wonder if the greatest challenge for him is not coming up with ideas but reining them in, making sure he can keep things simple and consistent and not bombarding players with information - giving them key things to focus their minds on. Or perhaps out players have been doing so well this season precisely /because/ they're capable of taking a lot of this in. Either way, it seems to have been working so far.
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Excellent Dunge and I may have an answer to fhe last paragraph.

Ranieri said the players are very intelligent and they quickly learnt to understand what he expects from them and you can see that. Every single player knows his own job but they are also aware of their teammates, which is crucial. When one goes another drops in to cover, it's like clockwork and their positioning is spot on.

We're so well organised now and that is because, in my opinion,the players fully understand what Ranieri is telling them. He mentioned something about some good players not being intelligent and therefore they never reach their potential but he says our players are. I think he is feeding them with whatever information they need to know and they're taking it on board and implementing it superbly.

I see spurs have been paired with Dortmund the EL.

Tough tie for them but what a tie. I'd love to be able to watch Leicester play in front of the yellow wall. hope they get through so they have to play 2 more games

Liverpool v United too - tasty

I would have preferred them getting an easier tie than that, but at least they have to travel. Liverpool vs. United is a great draw.

Arro - I've thought for a long time now that intelligence about the game is not something that English footballers are naturally good at - certainly not when compared to the likes of Spain and Germany anyway. It's why our so-called golden generation never achieved anything, and why we're still not likely to achieve anything this summer. The only way I see around it, other than changing coaching priorities from a young age, is putting a genius like Mourinho in charge of the national team. (Although there are no guarantees even then and many people wouldn't like it.)

For us, I can imagine Drinkwater being a real thinker and student of the game. King as well to some extent. I still wonder just how much those two learned from watching Cambiasso last season.

Just as a genuine question - without meaning to belittle anyone as I've been very fond of Ranieri ever since his first stint in Spain nearly 20 years ago:

Wouldn't he have a team of people doing all those reviews for him? Someone taking 3 or 4 players, or each of the opponent's lines, anaylsing them in that kind of depth, and then passing their reports over to Claudio?

Of course it's up to the manager to then go through his executive summaries and do the rest of his homework...but surely he's got loads more on his plate that might take precedence?

comment by I blame the fans (U6426)
posted 28 minutes ago
Just as a genuine question - without meaning to belittle anyone as I've been very fond of Ranieri ever since his first stint in Spain nearly 20 years ago:

Wouldn't he have a team of people doing all those reviews for him? Someone taking 3 or 4 players, or each of the opponent's lines, anaylsing them in that kind of depth, and then passing their reports over to Claudio?

Of course it's up to the manager to then go through his executive summaries and do the rest of his homework...but surely he's got loads more on his plate that might take precedence?
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Not according to Vardy, he does it himself but he isn't always on the training ground, that's often left to the coaches whereas Pearson was more hands on in that department.

The players don't train everyday either, they get two days off so he has time.

It’s that long since we had an article about football that I’ve been staring at it for a while in some sort of bemused trance not quite sure how to respond.
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It definitely appears that Ranieri has brought a tactical awareness that wasn’t as evident in the previous regime. The most obvious example I can think of is the transition back to 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1.

Under the Pearson regime we always favoured 4-4-2, but quite often couldn’t get the balance right between defensive rigidity and attacking prowess. This led to a few changes in style and system – particularly in the Premier League – until the final change to 5-3-2 that saved our season.

How many of us thought that 5-3-2 was the way we should continue to play in the PL? How often is it mentioned now? CR has made the 4-4-2 (and its variations) work to such an extent that formation is hardly ever a discussion point.

That's a good point about the formation Joby, and I think it's real testament to two of the slightly less sung (I won't call them unsung) heroes of our side - the full-backs.

Whilst Huth and Morgan have been undoubtedly immense, the only reason we've been able to successfully switch to 4-4-2 is the form of Simpson and Fuchs.

3-5-2/5-3-2 made sense last season because it protected our shaky back line, but it is by nature a slightly defensive set-up.

4-4-2 leaves your defence more exposed, particularly down the flanks where your full-backs are often left one-on-one, but those two have been utterly solid. When was the last time you saw a winger out-do either of them during a match (Simpson against Arsenal aside)?

You can tell Ranieri works really hard with those two every week to make sure they know their opposition wingers inside out. For me that particularly shows in the way he's taken a frankly fairly average footballer like Simpson and turned him into a star defender for us.

Personally I've been really impressed with his management of the squad. He's made the big change to 4-4-2 but since then he's restricted himself to minor and often very astute changes specifically tailored to particular opponents.

Long may it continue!