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jonthefox

The "do they mean us?" thread

By jonthefox, in Leicester City Forum

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MC Prussian

MC Prussian

Posted
Posted (edited)

So bitter

 

Rather desperate to remind us all that Nottingham Forest still exists today.

 

I'll give them their trophies under Clough, but they do wish they had the same media and fans' exposure and the chance of going Europe like we do at the moment and would swap our league position for theirs any day. League One to the Premier League in five years - even Clough didn't manage that. :ph34r:

Edited by MC Prussian
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MC Prussian

MC Prussian

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Why Leicester City are so hard to break down - by Danny Murphy:

 

 

Leicester have lost only two out of 25 Premier League games this season, and what has been really refreshing about their success is they have simply stuck to what they are good at.

The reason so few sides have been able to deal with their tactics is not because they do not know how to cope with counter-attacks and an old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation, more that not many of them have even tried.

By that, I mean when teams have played the Foxes, they have believed they could beat them playing their way - and paid the price. 

Foxes' formation is a perfect fit

Some people think the 4-4-2 formation Leicester use is a bit prehistoric but they are showing it is a great system when your players know how to play it perfectly.

That is mostly down to coaching and the work they have done as a team in training, but it also relies on the intelligence of individuals to know they are all defending when they have not got the ball - which is a lot of the time.

Unlike the rest of the top teams, they are not bothered about possession - Leicester's passing statistics are among the worst in the top flight.

Premier League 2015-16 (and rank) Team Average possession Passes per game (average) Passing accuracy 1. Leicester 41% (19) 336 (19) 69% (20) 2. Tottenham 57% (4) 486 (7) 80% (7) 3. Arsenal 56% (6) 536 (2) 84% (1) 4. Man City 58% (2) 538 (1) 83.5% (2) 5. Man Utd 58% (1) 529 (3) 83% (3)

Instead, they defend well, do not over-play at the back and get the ball upfield quickly, using the pace and efficiency of their forward players to punish teams.

They give the ball away a lot because they play a lot of quick, long passes forward into final third of the pitch.

_88230685_leicester_passing_finishing_2.
West Brom are the only top-flight team to play a higher percentage of long passes and a lower percentage of short passes than Leicester

It is not always pretty, and is totally different to the way the rest of the leading teams play. 

Those sides expect to dominate possession because, in most matches, they have the better players and they trust in their attacking quality and strength.

No-one can match their intensity Leicester City 5,000-1? So are all these things...

Nobody has been in awe of Leicester or given them respect and tried to shut up shop - and nobody, apart from Arsenal in September, seems to have been able to match their intensity and their attacking play.

That is going to change, although it will not happen this weekend.

Arsenal whacked Leicester 5-2 at the King Power Stadium, so I would be gobsmacked if the Gunners alter their possession-based attacking approach when they play them again at Emirates Stadium on Sunday (12:00 GMT).

But when teams like Norwich and West Brom visit the King Power in the next few weeks, I think we will find out how Leicester get on against totally defensive-minded opponents in games they will need to win if they are going to be champions.

Foxes play without pressure - Ranieri

To stop the Foxes, those teams will just drop off like Claudio Ranieri's side do, crowd the midfield to condense the play, and sit so deep Leicester cannot play long balls over the top.

They will deny them space to break into and make them pass their way through a packed defence, rather than let them run at a stretched defence - which is how many of their goals have come so far.

Fitness levels make Leicester harder to beat

Leicester are not the only Premier League team who play counter-attacking football - in October I looked at how West Ham and Crystal Palace have had some success playing that way too.

It is the Foxes who have been by far the most impressive, though, because they have been able to keep playing at a high tempo from the start to the finish of matches.

_88228416_gestedescoresforvilla.jpg
Leicester have scored 10 goals in the final 15 minutes of Premier League matches this season, which have earned them 12 points. The Foxes have also conceded nine goals in the final 15 minutes but only one of them has cost them points - Rudy Gestede's equaliser for Aston Villa in January

Again, that shows whatever they are doing in training is right, because I know from experience you do not just stay that fit over many months of the season.

Some people have said they have been fortunate not having many injuries.But is it luck, or is it down to a really good medical staff and a training regime that keeps the players fit and at the level of fitness required to play the way they do? I don't think it is a coincidence they have managed both.

Sure, you need some luck along the way too but I certainly think their fitness levels are far above most of the other top-flight teams.

That has made their style of play more effective, which has made them harder to beat. You cannot wear them down or just wait for them to tire.

No tinkering means team has gelled
_88227277_simpson-mahrez.jpg
Danny Simpson and Riyad Mahrez have played together down the right flank in Leicester's past 17 Premier League games

I was brought up playing 4-4-2 and for it to work well, you need to develop little partnerships all over the pitch.

For example, the relationship between the right-back and right-midfielder has to be spot on. The best example I can think of that in the past 25 years is at Manchester United, when they had Gary Neville and David Beckham.

Those link-ups are working for Leicester too. Riyad Mahrez does have some defensive responsibilities down the right, but he can also go wandering over to the left in the way he did to score against Manchester City because he knows that, behind him, Danny Simpson is going to keep his position - he is not expected to go past the halfway line much.

Touches against Man City Danny Simpson Riyad Mahrez
_88245229_untitled-2.png

What has helped Leicester develop those sort of partnerships so effectively is having such consistent team selections.

_88232787_leicester_graphic2.png

Claudio Ranieri has picked the same team for the past five league matches and has made only 21 changes in 25 games, the fewest in the Premier League. 

It means the team has gelled in lots of areas, and is another reason they have got better as the season has gone on.

Scoring first does not help either

When counter-attacking teams concede the first goal, they obviously have to respond by altering their tactics and are often less successful. 

But you cannot say it is crucial to score first against Leicester because of how they reacted when that happened earlier in the season. We know they will still come at you.

Until the end of October, Leicester leaked a lot of goals and had to come from behind a lot - they did it six times in their first 11 games to gain 10 points, which gave them a reputation for having a never-say-die attitude.

Their defensive improvement means that has not happened much recently - they have conceded only eight goals in their past 14 league games, and have been behind only once in that time - when they lost to Liverpool on Boxing Day.

It is still important to score first in any game - statistically you have a much better chance of winning. 

_88229435_teamsthatscorefirst.png

But the problem is if you go after Leicester early to try to get the first goal, that is when you are at your most vulnerable. 

It is a Catch-22 situation, and Arsenal are the next team who must decide how to handle it.

I do not see the Gunners changing their attacking approach on Sunday because Arsene Wenger is the type of manager who does not worry too much about the opposition.

He believes in his team, believes they will dominate and believes they will create chances. 

I totally understand why, and I am not suggesting they need to change anything because I actually think they will win playing that way, but it will be fascinating to see if Leicester can prove people wrong yet again.

Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

 

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/35553082

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kristianity77

kristianity77

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On BT sport they have just said that its quite possible that we could win the league this season and get relegated the next because of squad size. It's almost like they dont consider the fact we might buy extra players in the summer.

Having said that though, if you could win it but it meant going down the following year, surely we would all take that anyway wouldnt we?

Edited by kristianity77
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Babylon

Babylon

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On BT sport they have just said that its quite possible that we could win the league this season and get relegated the next because of squad size. It's almost like they dont consider the fact we might buy extra players in the summer.

Having said that though, if you could win it but it meant going down the following year, surely we would all take that anyway wouldnt we?

Owen "they don't have a Liverpool squad". Yep... Ninth place Liverpool.
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Webbo

Webbo

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On BT sport they have just said that its quite possible that we could win the league this season and get relegated the next because of squad size. It's almost like they dont consider the fact we might buy extra players in the summer.

Having said that though, if you could win it but it meant going down the following year, surely we would all take that anyway wouldnt we?

I would.

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LJS

LJS

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If we win the league I doubt I'd really care what happens on the pitch in future. We would have that forever. Not to mention the resulting memories of European Cup football.

We will be relegated at some point anyway and for a club our size the chances are that it will happen relatively soon. I'm under no illusion that this is us becoming one of the big boys. This is giving us something fantastic to remember to sustain us through the years of being a mid table second tier side again.

Edited by LJS
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ScouseFox

ScouseFox

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just watched a bit of that savage programme on bt. they keep saying we're going to win "a poor league". 

 

does anyone give a fu ck? i couldn't care less if we were the only team in the league as long as we win it. 

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Ric Flair

Ric Flair

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What they fail to mention is this league has been poor for years, points wise we aren't far off what other teams were when leading after 25 games and also the teams below us this season, what does it say of them? If they are using its a poor league as a reason why someone dog shit like us can win it then the supposed big clubs should never be forgiven. But fear not, tongues will well and truly be up garryholes again for the top clubs next season when Pep arrives. Wankers.

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Corky

Corky

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just watched a bit of that savage programme on bt. they keep saying we're going to win "a poor league". 

 

does anyone give a fu ck? i couldn't care less if we were the only team in the league as long as we win it. 

 

Maybe they could **** off and watch another league then? Seriously, they have an open title race and half the sides in it aren't usually that close. No doubt when Man United and Chelsea were dominating and winning it comfortably it was exciting and a proper contest or some such bollocks?

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foxes_rule1978

foxes_rule1978

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Arguably it is in fact a stronger league on the basis that the usual suspects aren't doing so well because the mid ranking teams are now better than in previous seasons.

Indeed, it is funny if you swapped Leicester with Chelsea no one would be questioning the strength of the league ...

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Spudulike

Spudulike

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just watched a bit of that savage programme on bt. they keep saying we're going to win "a poor league". 

 

does anyone give a fu ck? i couldn't care less if we were the only team in the league as long as we win it. 

 

The League Cup was 'Micky Mouse' when we won it. It then became a 'Major Trophy' when Spurs won it.

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