You can only win what's in front of you and it was a very Professional performance today.

I thought Amartey was very good at right back and is cementing his position there.

Saying that he'll probably be dropped next week.

I didn’t watch the game and have only got BBC Radio Leicester’s commentary to go on.

Interesting that Matt Piper’s shortlist for MOTM was Mendy, Morgan and Chilwell with Mendy getting the nod. Proving the point I guess that’s it’s a game of opinions.

Mendy was rubbish. I know that without being there 😉.

Dunge, in your expert opinion, how did the front 3 work?

I don't get to many away games these days but I was at St James' this afternoon and thoroughly enjoying that. Newcastle looked like a poor Championship team to be fair and we really should have taken that game by the scruff of the neck and stuck it to them. Saying that, I thought Mendy had a great game, intercepting play and setting attacks up, and the much maligned Amarty suddenly looked assured and confident in defence. That should have been an easier game than it was but three points away without really getting into third gear is very welcome.

About to hit the toon for a night out now, remembering to say Aye and Man at the end of every sentence so we blend in...!

* I mean the front 4 including Vardy.

Mendy definitely had a good game looked good going forward and breaking up attacks,
A dominant team would have have put 4/5 past toon today
But a win is a ,,,,,,,,,
Still not convinced yet 😨

i thought Chilwell was awful. his crossing .... 5 not a 7

Not a good week for the Puel out brigade. We can only beat whats in front of us watched on line between buffering and i thought we really move the ball well quickly in Liverpool triangles.
Mendy is really playing well despite the accusations of being teachers pet.
Maguire did well looked for kasper to come out did not but held the player up well.

The ball for Maguires goal a keepers nightmare hit at paced curling away from the six yard box salmon like rise and header nice goal.

Newcastle are really gong to struggle. The only issue fro me is crosses in from the left Chilwell not doing it and Albrightons % play could be an opportunity for Fuchs.

All those bleating on about Simpson you have as much chase of him starting as Nigel taking over again.
He wasn't in Puels last season so why is he going to pick him this season?
Up the foxes

I agree that we can’t really go on too much about who we play as we still have to perform and score to get 3 points. Although to be fair, I’m not sure many people are.

Mendy had a decent game and I think it’s difficult because he is never probably going to stand out too much in the role he plays. For Ndidi and Mendy to be a regular pairing for every game, we are going to have to be brilliantly creative from other areas or one of them is going to have to look up and play more forward passes. However, I think the duo is great pair to have against the top teams and hopefully Iborra will kick on in training/cup games, etc and we will see him as another option, if needed, against poor teams where he can control the midfield and ping a ball. To be fair, he wasn’t needed today so it isn’t an immediate issue.

Superb corner from Maddison and even in games where he isn’t on fire, he is often a creative outlet which is vital in our current team.

Off day for Chilwell in relation to balls into the box but categorically should not be dropped! He has come on so much defensively which, of course, is his main job in this formation.

Nev, what did you mean about Albrighton’s percentages?

Is anyone talking about Simpson starting!? He’s not in our squad - he can’t start!?!?

Well done Puel, he could have reverted to Ricardo right back, but fair play to him - he is recognising what didn’t work within his formation/tactics and with a more traditional right back (at least from a positioning perspective) and RW who attacks/dribbles at pace, we look much better on that side.

I can see Maddison still coming back into the centre as I can’t, at the minute, see Iheanacho being consistent enough to play with Vardy and still see him as being competition for Vardy. That then will mean that there is that other slot open for Albrighton/Ghezzal on the left to battle for.

Without both Gray and Ghezzzal playing together and bunching in and behind Vardy, we have more space for Maddison and a little more for Vardy and more space that is being utilised down the flanks. I have optimism/ confidence that Puel probably won’t look back now to that sort of narrow, bunched up 3 behind Vardy and Ghezzal and Gray will be battling it out for one spot, although if Ghezzal kicks on, I think Gray may really struggle for pitch time upon his return

I do like your posts KTF1, but have you ever been accused of verbosity?

Amongst other things...

As Dungeon has left his station and is probably in a Newcastle gutter after 1 too many Newky Browns last night, can anyone else tell me how our front 4 looked?

Blunt !

Pretty,
Photogenic,
Artistic,

Mersey - to answer your question:
Firstly, it’s not really a front 3. I know MOTD had the formation down as a 4-3-1-2, but really it’s a 4-4-2 where Maddison is allowed to roam. He’s doing it very well and helped to retain possession in tight spots. He helped out his teammates no end by making himself available in tight spots and smartly keeping possession.

As for how he combined with Iheanacho and Vardy, the simple answer is not as well as against Huddersfield. Maddison was playing deeper and Vardy didn’t have the best of games in holding the ball up, conceding possession a lot. Newcastle were also fairly well drilled defensively in open play. Their problems were defending set pieces and a total lack of confidence on the ball. A friend of mine commented that he’d never seen a Prem team hoof it so much.

We still look better for having the 3 there and ready to interact, although accepted the opposition recently has proven weak. Whether the 4-4-2 will remain the correct option when we get to tougher fixtures in December is another matter, but frankly if that’s the main concern then there’s not a lot to complain about with it right now.

Thanks Dunge - appreciate your viewpoint.

So it looked more like 4-4-2 this week? I still felt it was a 4-2-3-1 against Hudd which I think you didn’t see.

So are we trying to play 4-2-3-1 which is actually becoming 4-2-2-1-1?

I think they amount to a similar thing, but for me Iheanacho isn’t dropping back enough to call it a 4-2-3-1. It looks like a front 2 to me.

Got it Dunge, so it’s 4-2-2-2.

Interesting formation and I guess it’s novel and new.

For me, how defensively sound we are against Better opposition will be telling. Puel seems happy with our discipline and work off the ball on Saturday but Newcastle still has two clear goal scoring opportunities despite being the worst attacking side in the world currently.

I think Everton will be the perfect barometer for us to judge. Win that and I think Nev has every right to remain smug. Lose, and the questions remain.

The fact that Puel is getting results currently is enough for me. For the avoidance of doubt, he should be given at least the full season to prove his methods if we’re nowhere near relegation. Then we can assess progress with plenty of evidence.