Yes we look a real team again with Puel incharge, defensively as bad as ever which is a real worry.

62% possession aswell today

Great cameo from Ulloa as well to help see the game out.

Were we watching the same game ?
Tickty tacky bad touches in the middle of the park
Defensively a shambles, every corner is looking extremely dangerous,
Vardy completely isolated and relying on gray and mahrez to turn up for the game and work

And we've forgotten how to take corners
very lucky wins against
Spurs,west ham who forgot there shooting boots
And today,

An awful lot of work to do and if mahrez goes in January
We are prying silver not only slots into the team
But brings something very special,,

6/10 need to improve could do better !

Not disagreeing at all Dublin but we won again, at the end of the day that's all that matters.

Someone's got to meet the valuation for Mahrez, will they because no one's tried that hard so far.

Can't believe some of the harsh comments on here tonight. On my way back from Newcastle now and the I'm glad the support and atmosphere amongst the city fans at the ground was better than it is on here.

I really like what Puel is trying to do. We are playing more football and looking more dangerous as an attacking threat than we have for a long time. Don't disagree that the defense needs work, but we were so far the better side today that we thoroughly deserved the win.

Wel done Claude

TB - I just cane to say how brilliant Ulloa is at closing out games. Is there a better last 10 minutes player who’s a worse first 80 minutes player 😂

He was brilliant today.

Great win against a very poor Newcastle team but not a great defensive display.

Chilwell is growing with first team experience - keep him in and credit to him. Iborra quality again but a bit lazy elsewhere.

Finally my one moan. Is it really worth playing Vardy in this formation? He’s so isolated and wasted it frustrates me no matter about him! A hold up player with Gray and Mahrez playing off him would probably work better. Vardy is one of our best players but we’re wasting him.

Mersey - yes, at least insomuch as it gives the opposition defence a choice to make with regard to a deep or a high line.

Fair shout Dunge. He does pull defenses apart and create holes for Mahrez and Gray.

Wasn't Vardy also instrumental in the winner, oh wait, Oki was on then.

I think although Vardy might not get the goals himself in this formation but he's still critical to help everyone else by distracting the opposition defenders and disrupting them.

Wow

We are 8th in the league.
Unbeaten away since August.
Playing with confidence.
and yet

The aqmount of negativity on here after a win in Geordie land astounds me.
I would love to have seen Dunlins post if we had lost/ drawn . we wernt great defensively , but sont worry Nev will blame Kasper for everyrthing.And who cares if the defence is a shambles as long as we score more than them and Dublin I dont want Silver in January, I want gold.

Keep it going Claude. Its that team that sacked you next.

UTF

You should never be surprised with the negativity on here. Dublin's post far too harsh on the team today. We dominated Newcastle in periods but I will agree defensively we are a worry.

Remove the tinted glasses lads,
Im not particularly having a go,
3 pts is good away from home is excellent,

All im saying is we're not that good and have been very lucky in games,
We we're playing better football in the great escape season without getting results
We have a lot of problems that need working on
And against the top 2 playing like this we would have been punished,

Now we weren't and we did enough to get 9 points
But Barcelona we ain't not by a long shot!!

We certainly did not player better football under Pearson in that season, especially before the last 9 games or whatever it was that kept us up. We're a work in progress at the moment. 8th in the table with 1 defeat in 11 not bad for a team which isnt that good.

I kind of agree with Dublin but not quite. We have got perhaps more than we've deserved overall under Puel so far, although perhaps credit there should go to the forward players for creating and finishing their chances.

Today, I thought we deserved the three points. Newcastle looked shaky and low on confidence - seeing Mahrez's equaliser seemed to knock the stuffing out of them, like they never truly believed they could win. Even the shocking defending for their second didn't truly inspire them. Meanwhile we knocked the ball around quite nicely at times against a team who never truly got into us to stop us because they were too scared of Vardy getting in behind (see above).

We've played well in patches under Puel so far and this one was similar. Whether he can continue with Mahrez and Gray in the same side and be solid defensively, I don't know. But then if Mahrez keeps playing like he is then Puel won't have that problem much longer anyhow.

What a load miserable bull. Vardy is not isolated his giving oppertunites for others to score so we don't become a one trick pony again. 62% possession. We are only 5 points behind Spurs and Arsenal.
Sorry to disapoint but neither CS or NP could get us there so this none English manager bias cuts no cloth here.
As the for why we concede from set pieces its blindingly obvious but you don't want to see it.

'None English bias', there goes Nev with his positive discrimination bias again.

Yes, Kasper is awful isn't he, despite their keeper failing to stop Mahrez's shot and falling over his own player in the area coming for a high ball, a few more like that on MOTD but none of Kasper apart from his confidence being applauded chipping it over their forward calmly.

Some interesting points for discussion, whilst I agree perhaps some people are being a bit moany Nev, why does it always have to turn into them being called xenophobic!? I guess it’s similar to the Hitler phenomenon with regard to online forums.

Anywho, I agree that sometimes we forget there was some really good football being played under Pearson at the beginning of the season but it was for a limited period before we nose-dived for a while and I think it’s way too early to compare styles of play and quality of football under Puel.

It is clear though, that rather than try to completely abandon our counter-attacking style like Under Ranieri’s fall from grace, Puel is trying to utilise it as just one of our weapons rather than our complete arsenal. Whilst some will see us passing the ball arojnd more and slow build ups as ‘boring’ (perhaps particularly in comparison to the fast exciting football in the league winning season) I see it as a work in progress and feel optimistic about it.

However, we do need to keep trying to find that balance between possession and looking for movement and holes in the opposition’s defence and just simply over passing. I forgive some of the misplaced places because we are making significantly more passing attempts over the last few games than we have done for a long time - mistakes are bound to happen in the interim and whilst we are winning, fair enough. But perhaps just a little consideration as to when we look to pass (on occasions, there were far too many risky passes when players were out of position or dropping deep; when a quick ball over the top would not only have been safer but actually the ‘better’ option to utilise the counter attack - still, I think this balance will come).

I think Puel, by trying to add to our tactics and options during a game rather than change them, is hoping to make our team/formation/play more tangible and unpredictable for the opposition with players interchanging positions more and tactical changes more fluid in games. This is more technical and European in style and will mean patches where we aren’t constantly attacking at pace, but I think we all agree that this as an isolated tactic probably does have a sell-by date and eventually will become too predictable.

As a result though, Vardy will be isolated at times. It’s ridiculous to argue this hasn’t happened because it simply has, but it doesn’t mean Vardy isn’t still contributing with movement and endeavour, it just means that we aren’t spear-heading most of our attacking moves through him - again, perhaps a more technical/European ethos to forwards working collective rather than ‘strikers’ and supporting players - a more natural and unpredictable ebb and flow with regard to positions and contributions at different points in play from an attacking perspective. Will this eventually mean Vardy becomes frustrated? Will it eventually show that a different type of striker is more suitable in the formation? I haven’t seen evidence to suggest this is likely, but only time will tell.

There is another dilemma with regard to Mahrez and Gray, particularly with Chilwell and Simpson both being asked to play higher up - can we afford both in the team long term or certainly against all opposition. Puel however has shown he is willing to adapt team selections though with Okazaki, but I do feel Mahrez and Gray is in his thoughts for the future so perhaps he will continue to think about their contribution defensively, hey, for all we know, this is constantly being hammered in on the training ground and I think it’s fair to concede that Mahrez has definitely improved in this area. Furthermore, with Ndidi improving again and putting in the most tackles in the Premier League, perhaps he feels Albrighton and Wilfred offer enough defensive security. After all, I think any negatives from last night relate more to us trying to over-pass in areas we shouldn’t rather than being caught out consistently because of team selection/formation which is a much easier problem to rectify.

The fact of the matter is, we have played quite well considering we are changing things around, and very well in patches over the last three games, with only a minor blip at the beginning and end of our fixture last night. Burnley and Spurs both beaten and coming back to take the lead twice and securing victory at Newcastle on their anniversary is not a simple task.

There are areas to work on, but less areas and areas which are more about progression and improving ‘even more’ rather than the ‘improving at all’ situation we were perhaps moving towards a month or so ago. Things are definitely better, but if you are going to concentrate on anything that isn’t yet better all the times you will always be disappointed.

8th, 5 points off Europa place, have just beaten two teams currently just above us who we could be chasing, Momentum going into what will be a lively match at Puel’s old gaff and a cup quarter final against Man City....that will do me Santa.

As always, apologies for the rant and any typos

Wow, what a GREAT post!

good one KTF of course Vardy will be isolated thats why after a recent game CP went up to him and explained whats happening.
We are getting goals from Marhez and Gray who now has three when he only had one before this season.
We have 62% possesion so we are going to lose the ball.
Our midfield was so strong Necastle went long ball to get round it.

KTF say it quielty but there are some who are not happy the world is changing and Puel is succeeding where clearly Shakey did not have a scubby.

TB Kaspers the reason the defence leaks goals from corners and set pieces and vunrable from 30 yards. whether you like or not and the Newcastle goal keeper was rubbish. Not like Pope last week who's better than Kasper.

"KTF say it quielty but there are some who are not happy the world is changing and Puel is succeeding where clearly Shakey did not have a scubby"

Complete tosh, you're the only one who has blinkered and bittered views on LCFC, on here anyway.

Complete tosh, you're the only one who has blinkered and bittered views on LCFC, on here anyway.

Yeh everone else is sane and understanding loves change

That about sums it up, there's only one in Nev's World!

Think we can all agree KTF has articulated his points very well and I agree with them in general.

What I don’t understand is the “moaning police”. Anytime someone offers a view that suggest we can improve isn’t moaning, it’s huat discussing our team, it’s strengths and weaknesses.

As KTF points out, there is a lot to be positive about, and we are a work in progress. Anyone who thinks we are the finished article and will call anyone who dares suggest we’re not Barcelona should offer debate and views. Not just pull out the negative moaning card. Because do you know what that is? It’s negative and moany.

Really good debate on here recently, let’s keep it going.

At least Puel’s interesting tactics have given us lots to think and talk about.

The interesting thing is that Newcastle set up to counter one threat: the swift break and the ball in behind. Vardy was somewhat isolated but, even so, the defence sat deep to counter his threat.

Now the team of 2015/16 would probably have still found a way and we'd have come away with a 1-0. But, let's face it, last season's team would not have known what to do. They'd have kept possession before punting a hopeful, or often hopeless, ball up field. This team was looking to be progressive in possession, which is a developing area for our team.

It's a work in progress. We need to find a way to move the ball quicker when playing through midfield and be more incisive, but this isn't easy. I've watched a few games this weekend where the bigger, higher quality, team has failed to break down a deep sitting, resolute, defence. So we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves after managing three goals. It's still the defence that appears to be our Achilles heel.