Leicester City 3-0 Preston North End - Post Match Thread

[Happy Fox]

4 minutes ago, John12345 said:

I haven't followed the championship for years. Is there normally a gulf like this between the best demoted team. I didn't think so.

Newcastle with Rafa in charge I can recall although they didn’t have the points total.

[MGLCFC]

It may well have been said already but I think we will have to become accustomed to teams playing like PNE at the KP. Whilst the first half was poor entertainment wise, it is more the process of pulling the opponents all over the pitch, tiring them out in preparation for the last 30 minute onslaught. Enzo is excellent at working things out, like a grand chess master, very rarely getting things wrong. He, the players and most of the crowd have bought into this style and firmly believe in it. Yes, there will be the odd game when we don't win, not because the opposition are better, but because we don't take our chances, like v Hull.

On a separate note, I don't mind other clubs' fans having a go at us, it's no different to some on here who whinge at the top 6 and all their money and how they buy the league. It must feel the case for most opposing teams in the Championship. 

Edited 5 October 2023 by MGLCFC

[justfoxes]

Got to say last night performance, not only by the team in the second half, but the whole game. The fans were absolutely bloody amazing and it’s great for Enzo to acknowledge that, same again Saturday I think we can beat Stoke. Hopefully another three points and March on even more But ithe atmosphere at the KP lately is amazing let’s keep it up. 

[dynamark]

Nacho was super sharp 

[RowlattsFox]

The bitterness from Preston fans is because they went in to the game thinking they were competitive 

[Lonsdalefox]

What was the attendance last night?

[Guest Mee-9]

Must have been one of the only ones who thought we controlled the game but played poorly yesterday, and the fans were terrible.

[Blarmy]

2 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

The bitterness from Preston fans is because they went in to the game thinking they were competitive 

Yep, just said the same to the missus. They really weren’t expecting that. 

[Spudulike]

6 hours ago, Drink Water said:

These Preston fans have me rolling laughing 

The faux cockney is an Ipswich fan so that's most likely a Suffolk accent. 

[RumbleFox]

For any other team’s supporters reading this forum and feeding back to your fellow fans I’d like to take this opportunity to sum up the collective thoughts of Foxestalk.....

 

We’re better than you. We’re massive and we’re too good for this league. It’s demeaning to us to even be here and to play clubs like yours. You try your best but your feeble attempts are embarrassing. We are going to walk the league and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. We, as a collective, expect to win every game and we’re very arrogant. Our club is better than yours. Our city is better than yours. Not only do we laugh at and pity your so called football club but we hate you as fans and as individuals. It sickens us to even be associated with you. We feel dirty having to visit your grounds. Also, we’re better than you as people. Not just a fans. As actual humans. 

Edited 5 October 2023 by RumbleFox

[Stuntman_Mike]

12 minutes ago, Lonsdalefox said:

What was the attendance last night?

30k something. Really good effort 

[Spudulike]

Haven't seen the angle to confirm if Nacho was onside for his goal. Three Preston defenders had their hands up, but they would, wouldn't they. Did they show a better angle on Sky to confirm? 

 

Another one where celebrations would've been muted expecting VAR to be all over it for 3 minutes before ruling it out. 

[Blarmy]

6 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Haven't seen the angle to confirm if Nacho was onside for his goal. Three Preston defenders had their hands up, but they would, wouldn't they. Did they show a better angle on Sky to confirm? 

 

Another one where celebrations would've been muted expecting VAR to be all over it for 3 minutes before ruling it out. 

I didn’t celebrate it when it went in -  VAR trauma kicked in. 

[CosbehFox]

7 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Haven't seen the angle to confirm if Nacho was onside for his goal. Three Preston defenders had their hands up, but they would, wouldn't they. Did they show a better angle on Sky to confirm? 

 

Another one where celebrations would've been muted expecting VAR to be all over it for 3 minutes before ruling it out. 

The red button on Sky's coverage doesn't stretch as far as that 

[Bordersfox]

15 minutes ago, RumbleFox said:

For any other team’s supporters reading this forum and feeding back to your fellow fans I’d like to take this opportunity to sum up the collective thoughts of Foxestalk.....

 

We’re better than you. We’re massive and we’re too good for this league. It’s demeaning to us to even be here and to play clubs like yours. You try your best but your feeble attempts are embarrassing. We are going to walk the league and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. We, as a collective, expect to win every game and we’re very arrogant. Our club is better than yours. Our city is better than yours. Not only do we laugh at and pity your so called football club but we hate you as fans and as individuals. It sickens us to even be associated with you. We feel dirty having to visit your grounds. Also, we’re better than you as people. Not just a fans. As actual humans. 

Cheers, good summary.  When we lose our next game I think it's only fair you provide a similar summary of this forums collective thoughts for the benefit of other fans.  

 

[st albans fox]

7 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Leicester City 3 - 0 Preston North End Post Match

 

 

Although the pre-match prediction did pan out as such, more happened in this game than you might first have thought, which is why it was a classic case of "a tale of two halves"

 

First Half

 

• Preston came to defend but sprung a surprise. They didn't defend 541, but 4411, as seen in the picture.
  • Enzo made a change, he pushed Ricardo up as an auxiliary additional CAM to complement Ndidi and KDH. This is because he wanted a superiority in the final phase to make it 6 vs 5.
  • However, Ryan Lowe second guessed this and had Duane Brown man-mark Harry Winks.
  • This is why we were so lethargic in the first half, and why Winks (who was one yellow away from missing the next match) was restricted. He didn't have the bounce pass on to play around the corner like he would do usually.
  • The net effect was that KDH and Ndidi didn't receive the ball much. A problem of our own making... there was too much traffic! Wilf got it just 10 times in the first half!
    • Take a look at the average pitch positions, all of our players got in each others way. We were playing too centrally and right into Preston's hands.
• When we tried to force play in the first half, this is where we turned the ball over and gave chances away.
  • Coady was a prime offender in doing this. On current form you would play Vestergaard ahead of him for the CD quarterback role. Of course he is recovering from a fairly serious injury!

 

 

 

Second Half

 

 

• We made one very simple change. We moved Ricardo back to deeper on the pitch in his usual double pivot role with Winks.
• At the same time, Preston were tired, they were chasing us the entire game, and had just 22% possession.
• Ndidi and KDH started to receive the ball and began to run the game.
• We scored with our first real opportunity, but it was a tired lunge from McCann who was tired. If we didn't score then, we had 30 minutes plus stoppages... it would have been hard for them to hold out for that long.
  • This is especially true when the cavalry from the bench were sent on, with Iheanacho now free to drift between the lines as a false 9 having the freedom of the king Power.

 

Overall

 

This was the most defensive display a team has played against us for years. Tony Pulis for WBA during the home match against them in 2016 is the last time I remember something like this. Despite that, we kept it patient and found the answer. It's funny, as @cityfanlee23 and I were disappointed that we weren't going for it enough in the first half, but ironically we were poor in the first half because we were going for it too much! Actually, moving Ricardo BACKWARDS meant we were better at going forwards. Funny how football can work like that.

 

Enzo Maresca is a top, top, TOP manager. This era is going to be really enjoyable. Forza Enzo!

 

 

I mentioned the Ricky thing at HT on the md thread 

Ricky is a player who needs to be on the front foot - this is why he never worked as a wide midfielder when he was played ahead of Castagne.  He needs to be marauding forwards either with the ball or running onto a pass.  Static in the midfield during the first half yesterday- he was lost.  I wasn’t aware that this was a deliberate tactic though  - I assumed he was stuck there because we had the ball all the time so he had almost no defensive responsibilities and was effectively permanently inverted.
 

the cross field ball to mavadidi was the out ball first half. Unfortunately his first touch was not mahrezsque enough which enabled the full back to track across - in addition wilf breaking ahead of him into the box didn’t work because wilf couldn’t cross on his left foot. needed kdh that side as per normal.   After kdh scored and we made a couple subs, wilf and Kiernan changed sides.  We flowed much better after that. 

[st albans fox]

20 minutes ago, RumbleFox said:

For any other team’s supporters reading this forum and feeding back to your fellow fans I’d like to take this opportunity to sum up the collective thoughts of Foxestalk.....

 

We’re better than you. We’re massive and we’re too good for this league. It’s demeaning to us to even be here and to play clubs like yours. You try your best but your feeble attempts are embarrassing. We are going to walk the league and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. We, as a collective, expect to win every game and we’re very arrogant. Our club is better than yours. Our city is better than yours. Not only do we laugh at and pity your so called football club but we hate you as fans and as individuals. It sickens us to even be associated with you. We feel dirty having to visit your grounds. Also, we’re better than you as people. Not just a fans. As actual humans. 

We should have a sweep on which club would actually be triggered by this parody - ‘nowt so queer as folk’. 

[RowlattsFox]

A lot of people were praising Wilfs runs in the first half but for me he was getting in Madvididi's way meaning he was forced into a little pass in the channel rather than taking his man on or playing a one two.

[OntarioFox]

2 hours ago, AmyLGK said:

I've just woken up with this horrible thought we're going to lose key players in January and it'll all go to shit ....

Relax, we'll have won it by then 

[FoyleFox]

7 hours ago, MPH said:

So the last team to get more than 100 points in the championship was us in 13-14 with 102 points. The record is Reading in  05-06 with 106 points….

 

 

Just sayin’

 

1 hour ago, The Doctor said:

Didn't Burnley win it with 101 last season?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_EFL_Championship_seasons

 

Yes, Burnley got 101 last year. Although, not on the Wiki.

[AKCJ]

Only just realised their number 3 was Greg Cunningham.

[Rain King]

8 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Leicester City 3 - 0 Preston North End Post Match

 

 

Although the pre-match prediction did pan out as such, more happened in this game than you might first have thought, which is why it was a classic case of "a tale of two halves"

 

First Half

 

• Preston came to defend but sprung a surprise. They didn't defend 541, but 4411, as seen in the picture.
  • Enzo made a change, he pushed Ricardo up as an auxiliary additional CAM to complement Ndidi and KDH. This is because he wanted a superiority in the final phase to make it 6 vs 5.
  • However, Ryan Lowe second guessed this and had Duane Brown man-mark Harry Winks.
  • This is why we were so lethargic in the first half, and why Winks (who was one yellow away from missing the next match) was restricted. He didn't have the bounce pass on to play around the corner like he would do usually.
  • The net effect was that KDH and Ndidi didn't receive the ball much. A problem of our own making... there was too much traffic! Wilf got it just 10 times in the first half!
    • Take a look at the average pitch positions, all of our players got in each others way. We were playing too centrally and right into Preston's hands.
• When we tried to force play in the first half, this is where we turned the ball over and gave chances away.
  • Coady was a prime offender in doing this. On current form you would play Vestergaard ahead of him for the CD quarterback role. Of course he is recovering from a fairly serious injury!

 

 

Bit racist 😯

 

Duane Holmes? 

 

P.s. hope you realise I'm kidding. I've always found tactics talk incredibly dull but actually enjoy your threads.

Edited 5 October 2023 by Rain King

[StriderHiryu]

28 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I mentioned the Ricky thing at HT on the md thread 

Ricky is a player who needs to be on the front foot - this is why he never worked as a wide midfielder when he was played ahead of Castagne.  He needs to be marauding forwards either with the ball or running onto a pass.  Static in the midfield during the first half yesterday- he was lost.  I wasn’t aware that this was a deliberate tactic though  - I assumed he was stuck there because we had the ball all the time so he had almost no defensive responsibilities and was effectively permanently inverted.
 

the cross field ball to mavadidi was the out ball first half. Unfortunately his first touch was not mahrezsque enough which enabled the full back to track across - in addition wilf breaking ahead of him into the box didn’t work because wilf couldn’t cross on his left foot. needed kdh that side as per normal.   After kdh scored and we made a couple subs, wilf and Kiernan changed sides.  We flowed much better after that. 

I think you're getting a bit confused. First half he wasn't playing wide, he was a CAM, Fatawu was wide of him, KDH was more central. He was static because there was no room for anyone. It wasn't because he was lost. The formation was essentially 3-1-5-1 instead of the usual 3-2-4-1.

 

When he got moved backwards, he was still in midfield as he has been all season, but was able to recieve the ball, turn and free up Winks, which in turn gave Ndidi and KDH space. He wasn't marauding, he was manipualting space with clever passes and reading the game. Nacho's first goal comes from Ricardo playing an excellent first time pass blind - IE without even looking. He is so positionaly aware of himself and his team mate he could play it that way.

 

 

[StriderHiryu]

9 minutes ago, Rain King said:

Bit racist 😯

 

Duane Holmes? 

That is a mistake from my end, I'll fix that up. 

The result of midnight analysis 

 

EDIT: Now fixed, thanks for pointing that out. Needless to say, it wasn't intentional.

 

 

Edited 5 October 2023 by StriderHiryu

[Babylon]

4 hours ago, Tom12345 said:

I think it is right to have parachute money. Otherwise, relegation for any Premier League team would be so catastrophic that no one below the top 6 would spend much money because the risk becomes too great. It would mean an even less even competition. What makes English PL great is that any team on their day can beat any team.

 

But given we were not meant to be relegated with the squad we had, it is natural that we should be better. This is not communism where we need a complete reshuffling every season. We are meant to be better and this is why we were in the Premier League and especially for us.

 

Look at Southampton and Leeds though, they are not doing as well because they were truly deserving of their relegation.

 

Relegation is bad enough, we shouldn’t be required to dismantle everything that made up the Leicester team - if we have to we may as well be a different club? 

 

Imagine Rodgers was appointed to the Man U role and took them down to the Championship. It would seem sensible for Man U to be able to maintain their better squad to get themselves up.

 

Having said this, there should be more support to the rest of this league to narrow the gap with the Premier League. At the same time, there should really be some sort of cap on the top clubs because this gap and related problems will only get bigger and bigger if they are allowed to spend so so much money. How do they satisfy the FFP rules??? I mean Declan Rice is good but £100m? Just one player? That is the real problem.

 

Yes, as we are sitting pretty this is biased, but other fans should not target us. The real problem is further up top. If their spending is much more modest, the rest would not be so far apart. 

 

 

It could rightly be argued that the laws of the game should stipulate EVERY player has a relegation release clause in place, so that the wage bills are kept under control correctly. It's a pretty easy calculation.