Leicester 1-0 Wolves: Verdict Thread

[Alan]

Its not a question of losing its how you lose.

We were powderpuff today
We didnt turn up at West Ham
We gave City everything for an hour and lost
We let an awful goal in v Newcastle
We had a miss of the season to thank for beating Fulham
We got the worlds biggest deflection to beat Leeds

We were good against Palace and Sheffield United particularly at the start. So, 8 games 2 good performances 3 ok perfromances and 3 poor performances so far this season the best games involved starting fast. If thats how we are doing well , scoring first and protecting it more often than not am I the only one who gets thoroughly frustrated when we revert to dullball and lose games?

Good thing it's wins, draws, and losses that count and not "performances" then, ay?

We weren't great today but we weren't "powderpuff" ffs.

 

[Norman Deeley]

I have this nagging feeling that Nuno has reached his ceiling with us, we can't hope to progress unless we approach these games in the right way. I don't mean attacking, I mean having the confidence to play our own way and at least keep possession of the ball.

First half was shocking, again and it's becoming such a regular, routine thing for us to look lethargic and leggy in the first half - this has to stop. We invite pressure onto ourselves and don't give the opposition anything to think about.

We don't create enough chances to give ourselves opportunities to win games, even in games where we dominate the ball we don't create much and against better teams it's backs to the wall until they tire.

I think that's why Jota and now Jimenez sometimes look so frustrated and selfish with the ball. We create so little that they don't know the next time they'll get a decent opportunity.

We never really do ourselves justice with the players we have and are rightly picking up a reputation for being boring and negative.

That's - re Nuno - is a worry I have as well. I simply cannot understand why we start so slowly in every game. And we're in the bottom 3 for xG. If that continues through the season we'll be nowhere near the top six or seven.

 

[Alan]

Funnily enough all of our wins have been to nil since Spurs away, which was pre-lockdown. It hadn't really occurred to me before.

I suppose that could be seen as a positive or a negative, depending on how you want to look at it.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

We had a miss of the season to thank for beating Fulham

Crikey, have a word.

How about their keeper saving a shot from four yards, or does that not enter into the thinking now?

All of the four wins we've got have been fully deserved and we should have beaten Newcastle too, they just happen to be the spawniest team this side of Frog FC from Pondland.

 

[Paul]

Sorry mate, but Paul says the table doesn't mean anything at this stage

And Paul is correct

 

[Tony Towner]

Sorry mate, that’s rubbish - the club have been really clear that he’s not coming in to start every game like a normal record signing would, he’s a massive prospect we wanted enough to pay big money for, who we can develop for the future, who can also be cover for Raul now.

you can’t just see the price tag - all that shows is that his old club didn’t really want to sell him, but we really wanted to buy him.

he’s a “generational talent” - but he’s also an inexperienced 18 year old in a new country playing a new system. Expecting him to be super amazing already is insane.

The club can say what they like, it doesn't get away from the way he will be viewed. I'm not even saying it, just replied originally to the question as to why he's getting criticism which as as I said earlier I think is through the prism of being our record signing and not being an 18 year old with potential. It's not his fault, but that fee will get him held to a higher standard, particularly as that £35m could have been used on a player who could improve the team now

 

[prawnking]

That's - re Nuno - is a worry I have as well. I simply cannot understand why we start so slowly in every game. And we're in the bottom 3 for xG. If that continues through the season we'll be nowhere near the top six or seven.

It's strange because Nuno has spoken very plainly about how our performances haven't been great this season, so it's not like he's blissfully unaware we aren't clicking.

We're just not flowing, I can't put my finger on it but it's like once we have the ball and have a chance to put a move together more often than not it's not natural, like we're thinking about it too much. It looks awkward and unconvincing.

I wonder whether integrating two wing backs at a time (which we can't help, whoever they are) is leading to this hesitancy

 

[Alan]

The club can say what they like, it doesn't get away from the way he will be viewed. I'm not even saying it, just replied originally to the question as to why he's getting criticism which as as I said earlier I think is through the prism of being our record signing and not being an 18 year old with potential. It's not his fault, but that fee will get him held to a higher standard, particularly as that £35m could have been used on a player who could improve the team now

Appreciate that you're playing the Devil's Advocate role here and not necessarily given your own view, just felt it necessary to point out that there's no guarantee at all that the 35m could have been spent that way. Every purchase is a risk. We could have spent it on someone older and had them go exactly the way Cutrone did.

 

[prawnking]

We cud ov brought Ollie Watkins!!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

The club can say what they like, it doesn't get away from the way he will be viewed. I'm not even saying it, just replied originally to the question as to why he's getting criticism which as as I said earlier I think is through the prism of being our record signing and not being an 18 year old with potential. It's not his fault, but that fee will get him held to a higher standard, particularly as that £35m could have been used on a player who could improve the team now

Ah, I wasn't trying to white knight the kid. Just he came on and did ok. Seems a strange target to me on this specific occasion. The particulars of his transfer are another subject.

 

[prawnking]

I think Fabio did perfectly well all things considered.

I don't expect any of those kids we bought to do the business this season (perhaps sporadically), I can live with it, but I can understand someone questioning the wisdom of buying so much 'for the future' and only really Nelson for now

 

[Alan]

I think Fabio did perfectly well all things considered.

I don't expect any of those kids we bought to do the business this season (perhaps sporadically), I can live with it, but I can understand someone questioning the wisdom of buying so much 'for the future' and only really Nelson for now

As we're run by an investment firm (in so many words), I'm afraid it's something people may have to get used to.

I don't know how many of us expected to add three legitimate first team players this summer (RAN, Marcal, Semedo), but IMO that's not going to be the norm for us.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I think Fabio did perfectly well all things considered.

I don't expect any of those kids we bought to do the business this season (perhaps sporadically), I can live with it, but I can understand someone questioning the wisdom of buying so much 'for the future' and only really Nelson for now

I suppose Marçal is for now too but then not that many people would have him in a first choice XI, not to say he hasn't got his merits.

Don't get me wrong, I can't be doing with us playing like we did in the first half, it isn't acceptable when we have so many good footballers on the park and we can't put three passes together and don't have a serious attempt on goal. Let's not put this in the same bracket as West Ham though. We could and should have had something today.

 

[prawnking]

Investment firm or not, doing what's best for the team is surely paramount. Obviously it's too early to definitively assess this summer's business.

After today we might have to move RAN into the Fabio/Vitinha/Hoever category btw!

 

[Alan]

He wasn't horrendous, IMO, but you have to accept some inconsistency from a kid his age.

I can't believe I'm ten years older than him...

 

[prawnking]

I suppose Marçal is for now too but then not that many people would have him in a first choice XI, not to say he hasn't got his merits.

Don't get me wrong, I can't be doing with us playing like we did in the first half, it isn't acceptable when we have so many good footballers on the park and we can't put three passes together and don't have a serious attempt on goal. Let's not put this in the same bracket as West Ham though. We could and should have had something today.

I think today might have sobered some perspectives of RAN, not in that estimations of him go down, more that there's a time when Marcal might be a better option

 

[prawnking]

He wasn't horrendous, IMO, but you have to accept some inconsistency from a kid his age.

I can't believe I'm ten years older than him...

Certainly, I said as much on the matchday thread. Today will do him more good than harm.

 

[Alan]

Certainly, I said as much on the matchday thread. Today will do him more good than harm.

100% agree with you. Someone take a screenshot for posterity!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I think today might have sobered some perspectives of RAN, not in that estimations of him go down, more that there's a time when Marcal might be a better option

He's not always going to have the freedom that Palace proffered him. I can see how the penalty happens but I don't think Marçal makes the same error.

I think the biggest thing today was if two of your front three are horrendously off form (as they were) and they're pretty much the only attacking players you have on the pitch, you're up against it. These things happen, you could argue that Podence could have come off at HT as absolutely nothing went right for him today, when it's not your game then it's not your game.

I think we've only ever played Adama on the left once - Brighton away when we lost 1-0. Now he was shit that day but I think it's worth a go to have him driving inside. We can't play him actually up front as he hardly ever scores but I want him in more central areas and linking properly rather than being a crossing machine.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Oh aye, while I'm at it - Neto's set pieces today were horrific. I think there were three that didn't even get close to beating the first man. He played ok otherwise but we need him to do that bit, it's important (especially if Joao isn't playing).