ForFoxSake - The Post Match Analysis Thread

[StriderHiryu]

 

Hello Foxes Talk!

Over the years I've been posting content on here talking about the tactics, style of play and structure of the way we play under various coaches. A few of you on here said to me "you should make a You Tube channel  / Twitter and post your stuff there" and like the naive fool that I am, I decided that would be a good idea! So here we go!

 

On YouTube I have to use static screenshots, which don't do the topics discussed justice. So I am going to use this thread to post the detail, so you can see for yourself.

 

 

Leicester City 1 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

 

 

^ Facundo Buananotte had a really impressive debut. Pressing from the front, linking play, and being able to play under pressure. Brighton loaned this guy out to sign Rutter!? I don't know why, but I'm glad they did! Sadly the move broke down as Kristiansen and Reid were a bit under par in the first half, though improved drastically in the second.

 

 

^ Kick it long or play out from the back? In the Premier League sometimes you have to go long, but the issue is that the top teams will mop up those long balls and it puts you on the back foot.

 

 

^ Spurs attacking structure with 6 men forwards meant that James Maddison had plenty of time and space on the ball. He was able to find pockets and use that space for devestating effect. For the Spurs goal, we are structurally set up well, but Bobby Reid is beaten by Pedro Porro to the header. Reid does at least follow his man and stay close, but I feel he could have been a bit more physical here.

 

 

^ Spurs targeted Ndidi to win the ball back, causing us problems when trying to build out from the back.

 

 

^ But Ndidi overall had a good game. His physicality high up the pitch allowed him to help win the ball back, and working with Kristiansen allows us to score our goal after the ball arrives for Fatawu to cross to Vardy.

 

 

^ Vestergaard started instead of Okoli, but had a strong showing. Here he draws the press, allowing him to find Ndidi, who is now free to turn and drive forwards. He must do better with the ball to Kristiansen though!

 

 

^ In the second half, Cooper instructed the players to push up and be way more aggressive in the press. Early on Reid has a good opportunity after Ndidi pushes up to Bentancur before James Justin steps in on Brennan Johnson to feed the impressive Facundo Buananotte.

 

 

 

^ Under Cooper we are prepared to be more direct. Kristiansen supporting as an auxilary left wing position does his best Leif Davis impression with a great deep cross that finds Vardy. The young dane had a great second half.

 

 

^ Kristiansen and Reid getting more and more involved to generate attacking opportunities.

 

 

^ Is this what Leicester City under Steve Cooper will look like this season? Playing out from the back, through the lines, quick vertical transitions to create a breathtaking move that the GOAT really should have buried!

 

 

 

Overall after that second half I am feeling a lot more excited for the rest of the season. I was worried Cooper was a coach in name only, who didn't really know what he was on about. But there are clear structures, pressing triggers / traps and attacking patterns of play here to see. He's got a tune out of Buonanotte in just a week!

 

 

Please let me know what you think of the video, good and bad, and would appreciate liking / subscribing / sharing the content. But only if you found it to be worthy of doing so!

 

And finally, you can follow us on Twitter here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 21 August by StriderHiryu

[DesertFox]

Thanks Anil, really appreciate the analysis 

[lcfc_forever]

Brilliant analysis, the Youtube video was excellent as well!

[Greg2607]

Well this is my new favourite thread. 

[HighPeakFox]

Proper Anilysis. Well done my friend. 

[coolhandfox]

Great stuff, keep it up.

[StriderHiryu]

14 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Proper Anilysis. Well done my friend. 

Ha ha ha very good, I’m stealing that! 

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, StriderHiryu said:

Ha ha ha very good, I’m stealing that! 

I promise not to refer to you as Anal.... 

[SkidsFox]

Great stuff. May be tempted never to watch a game again (with all its frustrations) and just enjoy your post analysis videos!

[egg_fried_rice]

Kudos to you - clearly put a lot of work into that. Keep up the good work.

[sm1]

Excellent work. Only seen the Vardy chance back for the first time. What a thing of beauty the build was, elite level one touch football.

[Clever Fox]

This is what's been needed on this site for years, An analysis on each game and players after the game.

 

Now we need one to analysis the season as it's going. Are we getting better or worse, are some players not performing or doing brilliantly.

 

Well Done. 

[Chrysalis]

Watched pre match and post match videos, great job.  Love your content and your analysis posts.

[StriderHiryu]

Fulham (A) Match Preview Time!

 

 

After getting a point and having an impressive performance against Spurs, will Cooper keep the same lineup, or change it slightly?

 

 

I could see the manager drop Bobby Reid, who was probably our worst performer, to bring in Skipp next to Winks instead. This would allow Ndidi to push up higher where he could help press the opposition. Given Fulham love to play out from the back, having him up high has benefits, and in a game that could be a battle of who transitions better, it could be a difference maker.

 

 

A feature of Fulham's play is the use of triangles and rotations. Different players can attack down the wing, trying to draw players our of position so someone can get a run in behind for a cut back.

 

 

^ Here we can see Antonee Robinson combining with his team mates before driving down the line after attracting several players towards him who pressed him.

 

 

Assuming he keeps his place, Viktor Kristiansen vs Adama Traore will be a key battle in the game. Traore used to give Chilwell a torrid time when he played for Wolves, so we know full well what he can do. Given Kristiansen pushes up in our system, on the transition, Fulham will attack the space in behind him and he has the power and pace to give anyone a problem. Wout Faes may be crucial to move across and help out if needed.

 

 

^ Up against Noussair Mazraoui who had signed from Bayern Munich, Traore powered his way past him on multiple occasions and almost setup a goal several times.

 

 

^ Emile Smith-Rowe joined Fulham in the summer and has already looked good for him. He's acting as a real box-crasher, supporting the attack by arriving late. This is something Winks and whoever partners him will have to keep an eye on. However, he may also present an opportunity for us to explot. Fulham also like to use him to build the play, so if we can rob the ball from him, we can start our own attacks.

 

I'm going for a 2-2, but really I have no idea how this will go! I'd expect a pretty even game, and the way we played in the second hlaf against Spurs was really positive. I think the game will come down to who is better on transition, I think it's likely the goals will come from losing the ball when attacking rather than creating something organically, but both teams have quality to mean that might not be the case. Fulham losing Palinha is a big miss, and though they signed Sander Berge, he's nowhere near the same level of quality.

 

A win here would really make us optimistic for the season, despite the points deduction, as Fulham comfortably stayed up last season.

[StriderHiryu]

 

Fulham 2 - 1 Leicester City Post Match Analysis

 

The video above does the best job of explaining my breakdown of the match today. However, as YouTube doesn't allow me to show video clips, I am using GIFs in this thread to make it a bit clearer.

 

I felt that today's game was won and lost by a tactical decision by Marco Silva. He played 4231 against Man United, but pushed Andres Pereira up to almost make a 4141 at times against us.

 

 

^ This was done to set a pressing trap against Ndidi. Here we see two men nearby Winks, making it hard to use him to build with. Fulham are deliberately making it look like Ndidi is a safe passing option, because they plan to press him when the ball is played to him.

 

 

 

^ And here is an example of that. This would be a difficult ball for anyone to deal with, but in this case, even Fulham's CDM knows that Ndidi is the trigger to press to win the ball back.

 

 

^ Another example of Fulham luring Ndidi into a pressing trap. However, despite initially giving the ball away with a bad pass, after being helped out by Reid, he makes a great pass out to Fatawu that leads to a decent opportunity and move for Reid.

 

 

^ Speaking of Bobby Reid, he didn't have the best game, losing possesion 5 times overall.

 

 

^ He may have been offside here, but is rather disapointing in terms of his output in the final third. Given that he is starting ahead of Mavididi, you have to question why.

 

 

^ Smith Rowe's goal. This is a bit unfortunate as it's a moment of transition. Neither Winks, Justin nor Fatawu cover themselves in glory here, and Vestergaard again shows that he isn't decisive enough in aerial battles for a player with his height.

 

 

^ One positive this season is that we look better both offensively and defensively from set pieces. Andrew Hughers, is doing a good job! Whilst this corner looks simple, Buonanotte finds his target (a big improvement for Leicester!) and Vardy cleverly blocks Leno to stop him coming out to punch it. Teams near the bottom give themselves a good chance to survive if they are good at set pieces!

 

 

^ Vintage Vardy might have been away at the races with a ball over the top to him like this. But understandably a 37 year old is not going to be as quick as someone in their physical prime.

 

 

^ Vardy's lack of match fitness resulted in him making some sub-optimal decisions with poor execution. He initally does well to keep the move alive, but I feel on another day he finds Fatawu to create a scoring opportunity. I might be being a bit harsh here though.

 

 

^ James Justin makes a suicidal "jump" from his RCB position to try and close Robinson, leaving acres of space behind him for Iwobi to explit, as Marco Silva's triangles pay off. Vestergaard's lack of pace, Winks not being goalside and JJ being too ken result in a disapointing goal to concede, and another example of getting caught out on transition in the Premier League.

 

 

^ Could Oliver Skipp help us improve our building out from the back by playing alongside Harry Winks? I think he could help. He showed some nice turns, touches and passes under pressure.

 

 

Overall Thoughts

 

• Teams continue to target Ndidi in build-up, which prevents us from getting going.
  • Ndidi wins a lot of duels though, so probably should be in the team in some capacity.
     
• I think it's likely Skipp will start next to Winks to resolve this in the next Premier League game.
   
• Vardy is not match fit, and a lack of a striker will cost us if we can't bring one in.
   
• Bobby Reid shouldn’t be starting based off his first two appearances.
   
• We haven’t looked awful so far, but the gulf in class / quality between Championship and Premier League has never been so big.

Edited 25 August by StriderHiryu

[Tom12345]

Many thanks @StriderHiryu. Great work.

 

It would be great if you also consider Ndidi’s positioning and what he does off the ball when in the DM role during our “in possession” game as part of your further ongoing analysis, as you do this much more professionally: 

 

Agree with your overall thoughts above.

 

The only one I would add (though it is unlikely going to happen) is to replace Kristiansen with Ricardo and try to use Ricardo as another player who can help move the ball up (akin to what he was doing last season as you say).

 

 

Edited 25 August by Tom12345

[DJ Barry Hammond]

Interesting thoughts @StriderHiryu

 

One thing I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on with the first goal… where exactly was Faes to begin with - because in theory, he should have been in the spot Vestagaard was.

 

Now I can tell you - if you watch the ball into Traore that came from Fulham’s right back position, you’ll spot that Faes is quite a way inside Fulham’s half.
 

That is not where you want your centre half going?!?

 

Yet strangely, someone on Twitter posted some Faes highlights from the game and it seemed he was doing this sort of thing regularly? Strange!?! 
 

Anyway, it’s something you may want to keep an eye on to see if that’s something he continue to does - and whether it’s intentional! 
 

The second goal is also interesting because your still image shows quite a high line.

 

 

Finally - a key reason we’re struggling to play out from the back is because we lack any credible threat going long.

 

If teams don’t think you can beat them over the top - it makes it a lot easier to go all in on the press.

 

Good stuff though, always interesting analysis 👍

Edited 25 August by DJ Barry Hammond

[Collymore]

Ndidi picking the ball up in that press area is a big one. I'm not sure there is a place for him unless we are going to change the style of play completely. Ndidi should not be allowed any where near that ball when under pressure.

 

Hopefully Skipp can come and help in that capacity but not sure where we get Ndidi in if Skipp comes into the side.

 

The modern game requires you to be good on the ball and be an all rounder. Problem is, Ndidi is an amazing ball winner and athlete but lacks the ability on the ball which is going to be tricky to get him in the side with the way we want to play. 

 

He might be useful when we play against the better teams and perhaps bypass the press and require a ball winner, but there will be times like yesterday where we should be doing better against more average opposition. 

 

It almost seems like the modern game has caught up with him and his ability isn't suited to this league anymore. 

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, Collymore said:

Ndidi picking the ball up in that press area is a big one. I'm not sure there is a place for him unless we are going to change the style of play completely. Ndidi should not be allowed any where near that ball when under pressure.

 

Hopefully Skipp can come and help in that capacity but not sure where we get Ndidi in if Skipp comes into the side.

 

The modern game requires you to be good on the ball and be an all rounder. Problem is, Ndidi is an amazing ball winner and athlete but lacks the ability on the ball which is going to be tricky to get him in the side with the way we want to play. 

 

He might be useful when we play against the better teams and perhaps bypass the press and require a ball winner, but there will be times like yesterday where we should be doing better against more average opposition. 

 

It almost seems like the modern game has caught up with him and his ability isn't suited to this league anymore. 

 

Whilst in general I agree with your point, I think you are being unfair on Ndidi here. Many on people claim that Ndidi couldn't trap a bag of cement, when that's not true at all. In terms of stats he's quite good on the ball, and whilst he lost the ball 8 times, Harry Winks lost it 7 times himself. Where he does have an issue is recieving the ball and having to turn when under pressure, and it's obvious that when he doesn't have to do so much of that, but is facing the opposition goal and win the ball back and spray passes, that he's a much better player. However, even saying that, Ndidi is one of the better performers for us over the last two games:

 

 

 

One difference between Cooper and Maresca is that Cooper wants one of the double pivot to push forwards a lot, whereas Maresca in general told them to hold back. When Ndidi pushes forwards he's good, but not so good when facing his own goal. Maresca worked that out in preseason which is why Ricardo played next to Winks and Ndidi played higher up with KDH.

 

 

 

 

 

[FoxTimmy2]

Quality stuff this.

[when_you're_smiling]

17 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

 

Fulham 2 - 1 Leicester City Post Match Analysis

 

The video above does the best job of explaining my breakdown of the match today. However, as YouTube doesn't allow me to show video clips, I am using GIFs in this thread to make it a bit clearer.

 

I felt that today's game was won and lost by a tactical decision by Marco Silva. He played 4231 against Man United, but pushed Andres Pereira up to almost make a 4141 at times against us.

 

 

^ This was done to set a pressing trap against Ndidi. Here we see two men nearby Winks, making it hard to use him to build with. Fulham are deliberately making it look like Ndidi is a safe passing option, because they plan to press him when the ball is played to him.

 

 

 

^ And here is an example of that. This would be a difficult ball for anyone to deal with, but in this case, even Fulham's CDM knows that Ndidi is the trigger to press to win the ball back.

 

 

^ Another example of Fulham luring Ndidi into a pressing trap. However, despite initially giving the ball away with a bad pass, after being helped out by Reid, he makes a great pass out to Fatawu that leads to a decent opportunity and move for Reid.

 

 

^ Speaking of Bobby Reid, he didn't have the best game, losing possesion 5 times overall.

 

 

^ He may have been offside here, but is rather disapointing in terms of his output in the final third. Given that he is starting ahead of Mavididi, you have to question why.

 

 

^ Smith Rowe's goal. This is a bit unfortunate as it's a moment of transition. Neither Winks, Justin nor Fatawu cover themselves in glory here, and Vestergaard again shows that he isn't decisive enough in aerial battles for a player with his height.

 

 

^ One positive this season is that we look better both offensively and defensively from set pieces. Andrew Hughers, is doing a good job! Whilst this corner looks simple, Buonanotte finds his target (a big improvement for Leicester!) and Vardy cleverly blocks Leno to stop him coming out to punch it. Teams near the bottom give themselves a good chance to survive if they are good at set pieces!

 

 

^ Vintage Vardy might have been away at the races with a ball over the top to him like this. But understandably a 37 year old is not going to be as quick as someone in their physical prime.

 

 

^ Vardy's lack of match fitness resulted in him making some sub-optimal decisions with poor execution. He initally does well to keep the move alive, but I feel on another day he finds Fatawu to create a scoring opportunity. I might be being a bit harsh here though.

 

 

^ James Justin makes a suicidal "jump" from his RCB position to try and close Robinson, leaving acres of space behind him for Iwobi to explit, as Marco Silva's triangles pay off. Vestergaard's lack of pace, Winks not being goalside and JJ being too ken result in a disapointing goal to concede, and another example of getting caught out on transition in the Premier League.

 

 

^ Could Oliver Skipp help us improve our building out from the back by playing alongside Harry Winks? I think he could help. He showed some nice turns, touches and passes under pressure.

 

 

Overall Thoughts

 

• Teams continue to target Ndidi in build-up, which prevents us from getting going.
  • Ndidi wins a lot of duels though, so probably should be in the team in some capacity.
     
• I think it's likely Skipp will start next to Winks to resolve this in the next Premier League game.
   
• Vardy is not match fit, and a lack of a striker will cost us if we can't bring one in.
   
• Bobby Reid shouldn’t be starting based off his first two appearances.
   
• We haven’t looked awful so far, but the gulf in class / quality between Championship and Premier League has never been so big.

So nice to read a thorough break down and not just the non-nuanced knee jerk stuff that seems to be in every other thread at the minute.

[Pita]

Well thought out and put together 

[Collymore]

40 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

 

Whilst in general I agree with your point, I think you are being unfair on Ndidi here. Many on people claim that Ndidi couldn't trap a bag of cement, when that's not true at all. In terms of stats he's quite good on the ball, and whilst he lost the ball 8 times, Harry Winks lost it 7 times himself. Where he does have an issue is recieving the ball and having to turn when under pressure, and it's obvious that when he doesn't have to do so much of that, but is facing the opposition goal and win the ball back and spray passes, that he's a much better player. However, even saying that, Ndidi is one of the better performers for us over the last two games:

 

 

 

One difference between Cooper and Maresca is that Cooper wants one of the double pivot to push forwards a lot, whereas Maresca in general told them to hold back. When Ndidi pushes forwards he's good, but not so good when facing his own goal. Maresca worked that out in preseason which is why Ricardo played next to Winks and Ndidi played higher up with KDH.

 

 

 

 

 

Trouble is I don't think those stats take in to account when players nearly f-up or if they choose the right pass at the right time. Ndidi looked uncomfortable yesterday and against Spurs IMO. 

Edited 25 August by Collymore

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/match-reports/ricardo-pereira-not-playing-leicester-9509252

 

Why Ricardo Pereira is not playing as Leicester City chant shows transfers needed to save window
Analysis from Leicester City's 2-1 defeat to Fulham, looking at the attacking transfers required, James Justin's performance, Stephy Mavididi, and Steve Cooper's away record

 

ByJordan Blackwell
14:34, 25 AUG 2024
S

Chasing the game with 20 minutes to play, leading the line for Leicester City was a striker who has averaged one goal every 12 games over the past four seasons and an attacking midfielder who is, by trade, a defensive midfielder.

It didn’t inspire confidence among the supporters at Craven Cottage, nor was it a combination that gave Fulham much trouble. City had one half-chance in the final quarter of the match, Wilfred Ndidi stabbing a shot through the bodies into Bernd Leno’s hands, a moment not deemed worthy of making the Match of the Day highlights package.

And so, with a few days to go in the transfer window, it feels like City are short of a creative attacking midfielder and a goal-hungry striker. Facundo Buonanotte and Jamie Vardy cannot play every second of every game, and if City want to pose a threat for 90 minutes each week, it feels like they need reinforcements.

 

While it seems City are in the market for both of those signings, budget constraints may restrict how prolific the new recruits are. City may not be able to afford the brilliance that fans are craving.

 

If that’s the case, they at least need to be players who can develop over this season and beyond, so that fans can be excited for their futures. That would help save the reputation of the transfer department.

 

 

The moment Jordan Ayew came onto the pitch for his debut, City fans started chanting for director of football Jon Rudkin to leave the club, a response that showed they’re not satisfied with the club’s business. Transfers are a collaborative process involving many different people and departments, but the director of football is always going to be the face of the deals and bear the brunt of the criticism.

At £15m for Caleb Okoli, at £20m rising to £25m for Oliver Skipp, and at £5m rising to £8m for Ayew, fans at Atalanta, Spurs, and Crystal Palace were surprised by how much their clubs were receiving, claiming the offers were too good to turn down. City supporters have been given the impression that their club has overpaid for their summer signings. And it’s not as if City are buying other clubs’ star men. These are rotation options at best.

Neither does it feel like many of City’s signings have improved the starting line-up. In supporters’ preferred teams, there may only be two of the seven new recruits. One is Abdul Fatawu, who was here last season anyway, and the other is Buonanotte, who wouldn’t be in the team if the club had not sold Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

City have also watched fellow promoted club Ipswich make exciting signings, bringing in Jack Clarke and Sammie Szmodics, the two best opposition players to visit the King Power Stadium last season, for under £25m combined. There may have been concern over Szmodics’ age and resale value, but £9m for a 28-year-old looks better business than the £8m City spent on 32-year-old Ayew.

What Ayew has and what Szmodics doesn’t is Premier League experience and that seems to be the route City are taking. It’s perhaps why Will Alves and Tom Cannon have not had a look-in.

Cooper is cramming his squad full of players who understand the league. It could be a shrewd move. Certainly, the usual criticism levelled at promoted clubs, that they lack Premier League know-how, can’t be directed at City.

But it also means there’s no grace period for these new recruits. Fans will give leeway to new signings from overseas or without top-flight experience, but the players City have signed need to hit the ground running.

If those that do the buying and selling at City are to regain the faith of supporters and stop the chants, they need the likes of Ayew, Skipp, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid to start making an impact, and they need two more promising attacking signings before the deadline. It’s a big week for the club.

 

 

Why Ricardo isn't playing with Justin not wholly to blame for goals
That Ricardo Pereira has played zero minutes so far this season was a point of contention among supporters even before City conceded twice from their right-back position against Fulham. Now it’s a huge focus of frustration.

But while James Justin received much of the blame, he was not the only player at fault. For a start, both Emile Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi’s finishes came from Fulham goal kicks. In those moments, City should be organised. They weren’t.

The first goal was a defensive disaster all around. Wout Faes ran high into the midfield to press Andreas Pereira, only for a chipped ball to take him out of the game. So when Jannik Vestergaard charged out to the left to challenge Rodrigo Muniz, he had to win his duel. He didn’t.

That left Adama Traore on the ball in the centre of the pitch with both of City’s centre-backs out of the game. In that moment, Justin has a lot of space to marshall, and it is natural for him to shuffle into the middle, where the danger usually is, and concede more space on his flank.

Justin’s error came from being too eager. When Adama played the pass out to the Fulham left, the City right-back made a slight step forwards, as if to attempt the interception. He quickly realised that wasn’t on, but even one step in the wrong direction put him on the back foot, and he could not get back to shut down Smith Rowe, with Iwobi’s dummy run obstructing him too.

That eagerness was a problem for the second goal too. Nobody was covering Antonee Robinson on the halfway line, so Justin made the jump and tried to press him, perhaps not thinking he was capable of a first-time ball around the defence with his weaker right foot. Justin left a gap for Iwobi that neither Harry Winks nor Vestergaard were ready to cover, and the Nigerian streaked away.

Even before those goals, fans thought there should be a place in the 11 for Ricardo. Now those calls are deafening, with many questioning what Cooper is not seeing. Ricardo is one of the best technicians in the City squad and was integral to their success last season, and yet he’s not been given an opportunity so far.

Cooper sat down with Ricardo ahead of the first game of the season to tell him he was selecting Justin as his right-back for now. The manager gave the impression that it is a choice between the two, and that he won’t consider either in place of Victor Kristiansen on the left.

Right now, it feels like it’s Justin’s greater physical attributes that are getting him the nod. He is a proper athlete. He’s stronger and more suited to dropping in to form a back three, while he’s got the stamina and legs to do lots of running, something that is required now City aren’t dominating possession, and something that is no longer one of Ricardo’s strong suits.

Plus, one bad game does not make Justin a bad defender. Last Monday, he held his own against Son Heung-min, one of the most difficult opponents any full-back can face in the Premier League.

While doing exactly what the fans want is not going to be at the forefront of Cooper’s mind, it does feel like Ricardo needs a chance, given what he showed last season. Him and Winks built up a great partnership in midfield last season and it feels like City would retain possession much more comfortably if that combination was utilised again.

Equally, Victor Kristiansen had a tough time at left-back at Fulham, and so it does feel like it shouldn’t be ruled out that Justin can swap flanks. Really, fans need to see Ricardo in a competitive game to understand why Cooper might not be picking him, because the evidence of last year and the seasons before suggest he would make this team better.

 

 

Efficiency needed in attack if possession football not possible
Scoring and creating chances from set-pieces is a big plus for City, but they need to be as an addition to, rather than instead of, opportunities from open play. At Fulham, City had six shots from inside the area, and Faes had three of them. Vestergaard and Ndidi had one each from a set-piece too, leaving just one effort from open play inside the 18-yard-area.

That’s not a recipe for success. City had 45 per cent of the ball at Fulham compared to 30 per cent against Tottenham, but had fewer touches inside the final third and the opposition’s penalty area. If they’re not going to dominate the ball as they did last season, they have to be more efficient in attack.

Against Spurs, in the second half, they did that. Excluding set-pieces, they completed 11 passes and crosses into the penalty area in their opening match. At Fulham, they did it just twice.

There were some poor decisions at the top end, with players trying overly-audacious passes or shots, while there were a couple of swift attacks that didn’t lead to a chance. Twice in two second-half minutes, Vardy had the opportunity to find Fatawu in space in the box, but couldn’t squeeze the pass through.

It’s a clear area for improvement. Because of the level of the opposition City will face this season, it may be unreasonable to expect their rates of possession to rise, so what they need to work on is ensuring that in the moments they do have the ball, they are able to get it into the final third, and into the penalty area, on a greater number of occasions.

 

Mavididi needs to win over Cooper to oust De Cordova-Reid
Cooper was giving little away on transfers in his post-match press conference, insisting the priority of the final week of the window is to prepare for the games against Tranmere and Aston Villa, and to show faith in the players currently in the squad. He can’t pin his hopes on players who aren’t at the club.

The manager has been trying to strike a balance when it comes to transfers, making it clear that signings are a natural part of making the step up to the Premier League, but also wanting to show that he has confidence in those that won the Championship and will give them their chance. Aside from Ricardo, there’s perhaps one other promotion winner that has been overlooked so far and that’s Stephy Mavididi.

The winger could, admittedly, be frustrating at times. Enzo Maresca pointed out that you could tell whether he was going to put in a good performance based on how he did in the first few minutes. That’s not a great look.

But he still delivered 20 goals and assists and a handful of games where he looked unstoppable. City haven’t really seen anything like that from his replacement in the first two games, De Cordova-Reid.

For Cooper, it appears Mavididi needs to work to win the spot back. For supporters, it’s a case of De Cordova-Reid proving he is worthy of starting on the left. Bar a couple of nice touches and interplay in the second half against Spurs, fans haven’t seen that yet.

Because although the Fulham goals came down City’s right, it didn’t mean their left flank performed much better. As part of the gameplan, De Cordova-Reid drifts into a central position when City have the ball, becoming a second attacking midfielder alongside Buonanotte, so that Kristiansen can advance into a left-wing role and giving City four forward players behind Vardy.

But at Craven Cottage, De Cordova-Reid was drifting inside far too early. It meant Kristiansen, who looked uncomfortable throughout, had no options up the line, and was forced to turn backwards every time he received the ball.

They are two players who have never played with each other, and two players who weren’t in the team last season, so teething problems are natural. But the longer they go on, the louder the calls for Mavididi to start will become.

 

Away result needed sharpish to avoid Forest repeat
Because of the second-half performance against Spurs, City fans went into the first away game of the season with belief. To do so, they had to overlook Cooper’s record on the road in the Premier League.

In 28 away games with Forest, he won two. They earned 13 points from those matches, less than half a point a game, scoring 18 and conceding 63. Their survival under him was very dependent on their form at the City Ground.

The King Power Stadium could become a fortress for City, but to ease the burden on their home form, the club need to feel they are capable of picking up the odd point here and there when on their travels. City’s performance at Craven Cottage was nowhere near as calamitous as their last visit there 15 months ago, but they were second-best throughout.

City had the best away form of any English club last season. They rewarded those supporters who regularly travelled the hundreds of miles around the country. To do so this season, Cooper needs to have learned from his away days with Forest and find a solution that allows City earn points away from the King Power.

The comeback against Spurs will give City belief that they can take something from every home game. They now need a similar moment on the road. Otherwise, confidence will drop the moment City get on the team bus and head for the motorway, knowing they are easy pickings.

 

[Bordersfox]

18 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

 

Fulham 2 - 1 Leicester City Post Match Analysis

 

The video above does the best job of explaining my breakdown of the match today. However, as YouTube doesn't allow me to show video clips, I am using GIFs in this thread to make it a bit clearer.

 

I felt that today's game was won and lost by a tactical decision by Marco Silva. He played 4231 against Man United, but pushed Andres Pereira up to almost make a 4141 at times against us.

 

 

^ This was done to set a pressing trap against Ndidi. Here we see two men nearby Winks, making it hard to use him to build with. Fulham are deliberately making it look like Ndidi is a safe passing option, because they plan to press him when the ball is played to him.

 

 

 

^ And here is an example of that. This would be a difficult ball for anyone to deal with, but in this case, even Fulham's CDM knows that Ndidi is the trigger to press to win the ball back.

 

 

^ Another example of Fulham luring Ndidi into a pressing trap. However, despite initially giving the ball away with a bad pass, after being helped out by Reid, he makes a great pass out to Fatawu that leads to a decent opportunity and move for Reid.

 

 

^ Speaking of Bobby Reid, he didn't have the best game, losing possesion 5 times overall.

 

 

^ He may have been offside here, but is rather disapointing in terms of his output in the final third. Given that he is starting ahead of Mavididi, you have to question why.

 

 

^ Smith Rowe's goal. This is a bit unfortunate as it's a moment of transition. Neither Winks, Justin nor Fatawu cover themselves in glory here, and Vestergaard again shows that he isn't decisive enough in aerial battles for a player with his height.

 

 

^ One positive this season is that we look better both offensively and defensively from set pieces. Andrew Hughers, is doing a good job! Whilst this corner looks simple, Buonanotte finds his target (a big improvement for Leicester!) and Vardy cleverly blocks Leno to stop him coming out to punch it. Teams near the bottom give themselves a good chance to survive if they are good at set pieces!

 

 

^ Vintage Vardy might have been away at the races with a ball over the top to him like this. But understandably a 37 year old is not going to be as quick as someone in their physical prime.

 

 

^ Vardy's lack of match fitness resulted in him making some sub-optimal decisions with poor execution. He initally does well to keep the move alive, but I feel on another day he finds Fatawu to create a scoring opportunity. I might be being a bit harsh here though.

 

 

^ James Justin makes a suicidal "jump" from his RCB position to try and close Robinson, leaving acres of space behind him for Iwobi to explit, as Marco Silva's triangles pay off. Vestergaard's lack of pace, Winks not being goalside and JJ being too ken result in a disapointing goal to concede, and another example of getting caught out on transition in the Premier League.

 

 

^ Could Oliver Skipp help us improve our building out from the back by playing alongside Harry Winks? I think he could help. He showed some nice turns, touches and passes under pressure.

 

 

Overall Thoughts

 

• Teams continue to target Ndidi in build-up, which prevents us from getting going.
  • Ndidi wins a lot of duels though, so probably should be in the team in some capacity.
     
• I think it's likely Skipp will start next to Winks to resolve this in the next Premier League game.
   
• Vardy is not match fit, and a lack of a striker will cost us if we can't bring one in.
   
• Bobby Reid shouldn’t be starting based off his first two appearances.
   
• We haven’t looked awful so far, but the gulf in class / quality between Championship and Premier League has never been so big.

Echoing others, thank you for doing this, doubtless takes a significant amount of time and effort. I have also been watching the associated tubes.  Great work.