I am away in China and didn't see or here any of it, sounds like I was in the right place..

Analysis looks about right to me.

With Amartey out, us looking terrible in a back 3 (I think we probably would have scrapped a win without the injury), pedestrian/clumsy in midfield (worrying when one of our CMs is our best midfielder) and our continuation to isolate Vardy - Puel also has his hand forced to go 4-4-1-1 with Okazaki; which I see as a positive at least.

This will tape over things and possibly may even see is bundle across the line into 7th and who knows what will happen in the cup. But he MUST stop with the needless tinkering and changing where it isn’t needed and certainly isn’t a priority. I mentioned in another thread that the ‘leicester’ is being taken out of us bit by bit and that was a huge part of any success that we’ve had. Admittedly, some of our key players simply aren’t playing that well, but they genuinely don’t look particularly happy (a prime example, when Morgan was running away from Puel after the formation switch at the back: he, like everyone in the ground, appeared to be thinking ‘where the f*** is Simpson and why haven’t we just brought Dragovic on!?).

My hope at the moment moving forward, is that Chelsea sign Vidal and we can get Drinkwater on loan!

Also - almost

We always seem to forget there is another team we are playing who want to stop us doing what we want and trying to beat the drop. They wern't shabby.
Everyone calls for Silva and his first pass was inexplicly to a Bournmouth player?
The manager is finding what we know we have a group of players that can only play one way and despite 24 corners in the last two games we can't score from one two sitters missed by Morgan. If it had been up the other end mr flappy bird would of let about ten in.

There will be a few players leaving this summer and hopefully the manager can get players he want's not what he is lumbered with i will judge him when he's got his team playing the way he wants.

But hang on Nev, Puel had the same players a few weeks ago when we looked unstoppable, beating Spurs, killing Southampton etc.

Why doesn’t he try and get the balance right? If Puel doesn’t have the players to play the possession game then a good manager will play to the strengths of the team until he gets those players

Match of the Day Commentator got it right when he said Mahrez 'was a shadow of his former self' and Dunge has him as MOM, should have said Leicester City are shadows of their former selves!

The worry is as KTF said, we seem to be losing the Leicester out of Leicester in this desire to play Football, I can't accept any whinges or moans form those who thought Puel was the Messiah just a few weeks ago.

No calls of Puel out fro me, we're getting what was expected from past form, no pain no gain to move forward.

All plans never side first contact from the enermy how unlucky was it for Amarety to get injured? the lose of form from Albrighton? Sliva's poor passing Marhez has permently three markers.

Puel or any manager is going to be able to play 442 counter attack football against the last three teams we played at home are they when they set up on the edge of the penalty area for most of the game.
We have to play possession to create space and opportunity.
does it matter this season the great european push was hope over reality and finishing in the top half after being in the relegation zone will be good enough. Especially if he works out who wants to play for him or can do a job. then can the rest.

Agree with most of what you say Dunge apart from the Shinji bit, having him in the side has much positive impact in a number of ways, but one of them is certainly not enabling us to play like Arsenal!

I'd like to see Silva given more of an opportunity than just one hour before he is consigned to the scrap heap; particularly with Iborra in midfield instead of James.

Nev - I'm definitely not in the Puel out brigade - yet. That I am starting to see a situation where I might join up is in itself a worry to me. Let me ask you a question about yesterday. Everybody I spoke to, and several posters above were surprised when instead of making the searingly obvious straight switch of Dragovic for Amartey, allowing us to keep the formation they had presumably trained all week with, Claude bewilderingly brought on Chilwell and changed the shape which cost us two points (and nearly all three). Also he persists in playing James and Ndidi together despite ample evidence that, although as noted by Dunge above both had reasonable games (I agree), it results in an incredibly negative midfield offering little going forward. BS indicates that Puel could get more out of the existing players (again I concur). Do you not agree with these points, or are you seeing something else which means our current run of form is nothing to do with team selection or tactics?

No Puel our calls from me, but I’m losing patience with him fast.

He needs to accept that whatever he’s trying with the front 4 isn’t working with the current personel. We’re creating nothing, isolating Vardy and making ourselves too easy to play against.

We have to go back to finding a way of mixing it up between patient build up and playing direct. Currently, sit deep and narrow and we have zero answers.

Puel deserves the summer window to see what he can do, but right now, we’re looking like relegation fodder next year and that cannot continue. Step it up Mr Puel.

Nuneaton - What I mean by that Okazaki comment is that he provides link-up play with his back to goal, getting the ball to feet and moving it on. It's an area where he doesn't get enough credit. At the moment Vardy's been given this task and it means that we have nobody to ultimately benefit further along the move even if the initial lay off does work.

As for Bournemouth, they did ok and were dangerous on the counter but I wasn't that impressed. In the first half in particular, they clumsily conceded possession any number of times in their own half but we didn't take advantage of it once. We made ourselves too easy to play and defend against.

Great summary DM.

I try to avoid getting on bandwagons of manager in or manager out until I have sufficient evidence of more than a few months. This, however, was Puel's worst performance to date.

Whilst the Stoke game was incredibly uninspiring I did get the semblance of a plan. It just didn't work. I was completely confused what the plan was here and, as it was ripped up as soon as Amartey got injured, I think the manager was confused too. So the players had no chance.

The Amartey pick was a bit left field to start off with, but is somewhat forgiven based on the form of Simpson. I was confused, however, what the instructions were for the players up the field. I guess it was supposed to be Silva's job to get up field to support Vardy (again confusing given Puel's comments after the last game), but he instead spent the whole game running around fairly aimlessly.

There were other questions:
Where was Mahrez supposed to be playing? Especially after the change in shape he was our only creative outlet.
What was the plan to support Vardy? We'd made virtually every attacking threat redundant.
Why were James and Ndidi in a 3, at home, against Bournemouth? It's hardly creative and even Ndidi had a rare bad game.
Will he now see that Fuchs can't play in a back 3?
Albrighton might be ok with sufficient cover behind, but his limitations are easily exposed as a full back.

Poor balance, no creativity, strange selection and confusing tactics. I think we'll hopefully put this one away as past experience and move on.

We have seen before, how a good or bad end to a season can affect the start to the following.

If Okazaki comes back in, I think this will provide an opportunity for him to not feel the restriction to play James. He clearly sees a different path going forward to next season in terms of tactics and formation but let’s try to finish strong and I see our best chance of getting 7th and any chance of extending our cup run through what we know - 4-4-1-1. It seemed, originally, he was keeping a similar template, tweaking it slightly by adding a little more possession which seemed to be working. I said a few weeks ago it’s abojt adding to our arsenal not abandoning the current weaponary that we have in terms of personnel and tactics/formation, particularly as it still hasn’t been proven to not work.

I’m all for us controlling games more and in particular, working on ways to break teams down who sit back, but quick, attacking football in a 4-4-1-1 and a higher possession stat don’t necessarily have to be antonyms and more importantly, the latter should be for some purpose or what’s the point? I really hope Puel sees this too over the forthcoming games when Okazaki presumably comes back and during I period where I expect us to look better

The midfield for me in the first half all wanted to attack and no defending. Bournmouth crowded Marhez out and created oppertunities for others they did not take.
I don't except that the Puel's sub as confusing as it was cost us the match. No one seems to be mentioning the poor foul from Albrighton which cost the goal and meant that Bournmouth could see the rest of the game out.
Or the misses from Morgan the great save from Marhez by the keeper 12 corners to no one and 37 ineffective crosses hows that's the manager fault?

We have known for two seasons things have to change are we going to dump another manager because he's trying that. Would we also be commenting on him if it wasn't for the Southampton fans there club has not been tearing up trees since they got rid have they?

So it's nothing to do with Claude then Nev, only the players? Who put Albrighton into a position he is clearly inexperienced and uncomfortable in? That was a direct result of the frankly ridiculous substitution of Amartey with Chilwell. Substitute instead with a direct swap of Dragovic and Albrighton never gets to have to make that poor decision in the penalty area. Or are you going to claim that it's one of the players who miraculously managed to influence Claude into making that change? Who chose the incredibly negative pairing of James and Ndidi in midfield? Kasper?

I agree that with better performances from the players we might even have won the game, but they would have had a much improved opportunity to do so without the confusing change in tactics. There Nev, I can acknowledge your points have some merit, why are you incapable of recognising that yesterday's result was at least in part due to Claude's decisions?

“ don't except that the Puel's sub as confusing as it was cost us the match. “

Whether you accept it or not, it isn’t going to change anything.


“No one seems to be mentioning the poor foul from Albrighton which cost the goal and meant that Bournmouth could see the rest of the game out.”

You mean the penalty which happened as a change of personnel in defence? I’m pretty sure people have spoken about that a lot.

“Or the misses from Morgan the great save from Marhez by the keeper”

I have to admit, I couldn’t bring myself to watch back the highlights but don’t remember these obvious misses or great save. But I’m unsure, how that is relevant to why we conceded??

“12 corners to no one and 37 ineffective crosses hows that's the manager fault?”

We are suddenly atrocious on the whole with crossing and corners. Last week you accept it as a one-off, but then to have a week of training and still look so poor with balls into the box. Players and manager should take responsibility for this.


Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Puel should be sacked or everything is down to him, but I absolutely believe we conceded that goal because of him

What True Blues response shows is that he’s logging out of his 606 account just to see what I’m writing and then commenting on it

I’m not calling for Puel out - I’ve said so many tones before that the buck stops with the owners and the DoF when it comes to the footballing side. Do I think they have made the right appointment in bringing in Puel? Probably not if I’m honest and I championed him when he first came in

But time is a great revealer of all things - and you have to re-assess your opinions when time passes. The fact is, the real Claude Puel appears to be revealing himself. The slow build up, sideways passing, constant tinkering. The Puel that Southampton fans couldn’t stand. His football was described by them as a ‘form of torture’. The first few games seemed to be a new manager bounce and bit by bit he’s implementing what he wants.

The owners for me have to lie in the bed they have made through poor decision making. Sacking Puel would look ridiculous and who else are we going to get. Time for them to back their man (even though he concerns me) and undertake an overhaul of the squad.

If they get it wrong - we are getting relegated next season. If they get it right, it’s pushing for europe. Time, once again, will reveal all

I except that the manager selects the team makes the changes and selects the formation therefore bears responsibility, but to say he was directly responsible for our wing back at the time Albrightons challenge is ludicrous imo, he is a an experience professional.

s for the corners last week i though yes its a one off but 48 corners in two games with the same outcome just reminds me how thick footballers can be just doing the same thing expecting a different result.
Just to remind you Marhez was through and tried to chip the keeper who got a poor to it. Morgan had two free headers and got neither on target.

Nev - Something I haven't seen spoken about yet is how Begovic cost his team two points by setting his wall in the wrong place.

I think all that’s happening on this board is a return to business as usual

Nev will defend any foreign manager we appoint to the absolute hilt - he would rather blame the players.

True Blue wants Shakespeare or Pearson back. Preferably both. And a 3-5-2

I’ll swing from high to low but in the end think the owners can’t really get the footballing decisions right

Dunge will sit on the fence and do it in a very gentlemanly way

Mersey will want Puel out (don’t blame him) and Gray to be sold (don’t blame him)

John Gee will continue to support Derby County

The earth will continue to spin on its axis

Leicester will eventually get relegated having mis-managed the opportunity handed to them. And we go back to being a yo-yo club playing on Tuesday nights.

Nev will still be drinking Bovril.

Haha Dung if he had put the wall to block the curl on the shot then Marhez it would of been nearer the corner flag.
He would of probable got to it if had not bounced in front of him and skidded off the ground.
Like the work Vardy did making the gap for the free kick obviously unlike the corners something worked on in training

Oh yes never give up on my team or my Bovril !
But all i could think of yesterday in my many years of watching the city. Its just the same teams we should expect to beat come to stop us playing and we don't have the gifted midfield general to unlock the opposition defense. If teams come at us we beat them.

comment by Nevsaysagoal2city (U5194)
posted 16 minutes ago
Oh yes never give up on my team or my Bovril !
But all i could think of yesterday in my many years of watching the city. Its just the same teams we should expect to beat come to stop us playing and we don't have the gifted midfield general to unlock the opposition defense. If teams come at us we beat them.


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I think we could have beaten Stoke and Bournemouth had we performed like we were a few weeks ago. Had the startling line been right. Had the players played to their strengths

I like the typo of a startling line-up, BS.

Maybe it needs a startling line up Dunge!! Something it’s surprise everyone......in a good way!

comment by Black Starr (U12353)
posted 1 hour, 3 minutes ago
I think all that’s happening on this board is a return to business as usual

Nev will defend any foreign manager we appoint to the absolute hilt - he would rather blame the players.

True Blue wants Shakespeare or Pearson back. Preferably both. And a 3-5-2

I’ll swing from high to low but in the end think the owners can’t really get the footballing decisions right

Dunge will sit on the fence and do it in a very gentlemanly way

Mersey will want Puel out (don’t blame him) and Gray to be sold (don’t blame him)

John Gee will continue to support Derby County

The earth will continue to spin on its axis

Leicester will eventually get relegated having mis-managed the opportunity handed to them. And we go back to being a yo-yo club playing on Tuesday nights.

Nev will still be drinking Bovril.
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😂 Spot on BS