[simonhch]

Don't get all the complaining. We played a few days ago, while Leicester didn't. They are a very good side. To get a 2-2 draw, away, to the side in second, having played 72 hours before, and needing heavy rotation, is a good result. Disappointed not to win based on the late lead and chances created, but all in all, it's a good result. It's been a season of some ups and downs for sure; but if we hadn't been handicapped at the start of the season because of the ridiculously late finish to last season that we were one of the few sides to suffer, we'd be close to level on points with Liverpool. We played a fully fit Spurs and Palace without any pre-season, and that's the difference in our league placing right now. Since then our results have been excellent. This is also a season where form will suffer for everyone. With so much fixture congestion, lots of rotation and tired players will be obvious. Inconsistency is to be expected.

I was pretty furious after the CL exit, and after winning the first two games, it never should've happened. But it did and here we are. Nevertheless, the league form has been superb from around week 4, and if we are going to give Ole shit for the CL exit, I think we need to give him credit for the league form. In 2020 only Liverpool have picked up more points than us. That is progress. He's also rebuilt the squad into something much more functional and long term, and I think given 3 to 4 more windows, we will be looking very good from a squad perspective. Even if Ole goes, the next manager will be bequeathed an excellent squad. I have complete faith from that perspective. And if he is allowed to bring in a top quality CB at some point soon, to compliment Maguire, we will take that next step.

 

[utdalltheway]

This ^.
We dropped 2 pts today but that in itself is telling, that we could have had all 3 against stellar opponents.
We’re doing alright.

 

[Borys]

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Sums up their 2nd. Stay with your man and stop ball watching

Actually the only way to stop that goal was if Bailly blocked it. The defender behind Vardy had no chance to react to his movement in a split of a second.

Very very little chance to avoid that goal, fantastic movement from Vardy but quite a bit of luck too.

 

[VidaRed]

Still bitter about this. This game should have been 1-3 in fairness.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I was impressed. We should have won. Leicester looked afraid of us at times.

 

[Dante]

I'm not too disappointed by that.

Leicester are 2nd in the table and have one of the deadliest strikers in Europe against big teams. Getting a point away at the King Power is a good result no matter who you are. The fact we expect to be clear of them tells you how much our standards have risen in only a few weeks.

According to the xG, we could have won 1.04 to 2.08. That's enough to tell you we were the better team on paper. In a low scoring sport like football, unfair scorelines like this are always liable to happen. All we can do is try and be better than the opposition (which we were) and hope that that dominance translates into a win.

If we play to this level in every game between now and the end of the season, we'll finish on similar-ish totals to Liverpool and City. That's progress by anyone's measure.

 

[theklr]

Satisfied that im dissatisfied with a draw against Leicester away. And that we deserved better. But really important that we dont lose momentum against Wolves now...

 

[reelworld]

Absolutely. There’s a bit of a defeatist attitude by some on here, this season is nowhere near a foregone conclusion.

People just prefer to be pessimistic I guess.
Like many have said, this is a strange season as nobody really dominate like previous seasons.
Even Liverpool had some uncharacteristic results, like 7-2 against Villa., 2-2 against Fulham

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

We should have won this comfortably.

Annoying to drop 2 points.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Starting Fred, McTominay, James & Rashford all in the same team isn’t sustainable. The level of technical ability is far too low. The technical ability on the bench with Matic, Pogba, van de Beek & Cavani was greater than the technical ability of their starting counterparts.

Rashford is literally our 2nd best player. Stop wumming.

 

[MZX7]

Felt gutted when Vardy equalized. Winnable game. Would have put us in the No.2 spot.

We played well and created good chances. Wasteful in front of goal. Rashford needs to add a bit of finesse to his finishing.

Lost hope in our defense. We cannot win titles with such a poor defensive unit.

 

[bond19821982]

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Sums up their 2nd. Stay with your man and stop ball watching

Thats on Bailly. Also, why is Maguire no where seen whenever we concede ? I mean, either he makes a mistake or he is nowhere to be seen thinking it's not my area of concern.

 

[bond19821982]

I'm not too disappointed by that.

Leicester are 2nd in the table and have one of the deadliest strikers in Europe against big teams. Getting a point away at the King Power is a good result no matter who you are. The fact we expect to be clear of them tells you how much our standards have risen in only a few weeks.

According to the xG, we could have won 1.04 to 2.08. That's enough to tell you we were the better team on paper. In a low scoring sport like football, unfair scorelines like this are always liable to happen. All we can do is try and be better than the opposition (which we were) and hope that that dominance translates into a win.

If we play to this level in every game between now and the end of the season, we'll finish on similar-ish totals to Liverpool and City. That's progress by anyone's measure.

That's the key point. We don't know which team is going to turn up. If this SAF's United, this is a decent return.

Now, its certainly 2 points dropped. Because we are always going to have that period very soon.

 

[MattofManchester]

Thats on Bailly. Also, why is Maguire no where seen whenever we concede ? I mean, either he makes a mistake or he is nowhere to be seen thinking it's not my area of concern.

Is it just me who's looking at those clips and thinking that Eric Bailly has absolutely no idea that Vardy is there?

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

I'm fine with a point at Leicester because i don't expect a title challenge at all.

This match was a perfect example why we won't win the title......
- So wasteful with amazing chances.
- Amateurish mistakes on the opponent goals.
- We just don’t control well enough the matches.

 

[dal]

Bailly has to defend his front post , the player put the ball in the only place where Vardy could score, that move looked straight of the training ground, 1 step in 2 back out, bam bottom corner.

I think its Tuanzebe who should pick him up in honesty but the margins here are so fine i’m actually not sure if it was a defensive error or fantastic movement.

 

[Trequarista10]

Go watch the goal again.

They did pick him up But nobody reacted (except Vardy) when the ball was played slightly back rather than across them.

Looks like a reaction time issue so quality rather than coaching

Bailly has his back to Vardy the entire time, he doesn't even look at Vardy. He should be goal side of Vardy there and touch tight. Really poor defending from Bailly.

 

[Trequarista10]

Bailly has to defend his front post , the player put the ball in the only place where Vardy could score, that move looked straight of the training ground, 1 step in 2 back out, bam bottom corner.

I think its Tuanzebe who should pick him up in honesty but the margins here are so fine i’m actually not sure if it was a defensive error or fantastic movement.

I couldn't disagree more, and I knew people would argue this because it was the exact same for Sevilla's winner against us last season when Lindelof did the same as Bailly here.

Vardy is the only striker in the box, so there is no need to defend the front post. Just defend Vardy. Bailly has his back to him and doesn't even look at him. He has to be goal side and tight.

I hate this idea of defending the front post. Defend it from what? Vardy is the only threat, so defend Vardy.

Tuanzebe is the RB and shouldn't be marking Leicester only striker in the middle of the 6 yard box. He has to keep an eye on Harvey Barnes who is in a dangerous position too. It was the same when AWB got blamed for not tracking Sevilla's only forward whilst Lindelof "defended the front post".

Speaking as an aggrieved full back and fully paid up member of the Full Backs' Union. We're always to blame when the CBs have a mare. Sure, I'll mark my winger and your one forward as well, because obviously between the two of you it's unreasonable to expect one of you to mark one player.

 

[oz insomniac]

Major criticism is that Martial will never be a true 9 and that is where he gets positioned very game. As a plodder that played 9 at a decent standard, if I ran around and did little as a target man and had his workrate, probably would only have played a couple of games before being dropped or hammered by team mates. His finishing isn’t clinical, watch Cavani and at 32 he plays like a real 9 in most respects.

A famous rugby league coach here in Sydney once said , I dont want players with potential, as that tells you they won’t get there, Martial to a tee currently.

 

[bsCallout]

Thats on Bailly. Also, why is Maguire no where seen whenever we concede ? I mean, either he makes a mistake or he is nowhere to be seen thinking it's not my area of concern.

That goal had nothing to do with Maguire. He is where he should be, doing what he should be.

 

[Denis' cuff]

Some great posts with perspective.

obvs, always disappointing to lose a lead, which happens to the best of teams. It’d all be a bit predictable if it wasn’t the case. Our defence has been awful for years and the midfield has had to sacrifice part of its own job by covering for them. Improvement to has generally been clear to see and of course, there is still some way to go but we are on the right lines. We need improvement at cm, rw and probably striker, which would take a lot of pressure off the defence and we’d see a definite improvement there, but of course, we could do with somebody like Rio or Steve Bruce (for different reasons) at the back. I’d love to see Bailly steady down a bit but he needs a decent run. Not sure it will happen and we’ll probably need to buy.
For all the criticism he cops, (don’t they all?) Ole is doing a decent job and like anybody young, with potential, will continue to learn and improve. Whether he’ll suffice remains to be seen. So called “better managers” have and will fail here and at other clubs but personally, I hope he’ll succeed. He’ll never be good enough for some, even Fergie wasn’t, ffs. We’re a young team on the coaching side as well, so hopefully we’ll grow on and off the field.
I really hope the owners back up Ole and recruit where needed.

 

[Tom Cato]

It's not the results. Under SAF we lost and didn't win every season. Yet we never accepted it. Now it seems being mediocre is acceptable just because Ole is the manager and some people support him over the club.

We just ended a run of winning 10 games in a row in the premier league. That feat has only happened 4 times n the premier league, the record is 11 games.

Everyone who were interviewed after the game say they are dissapointed and felt we should have won. Im not sure what mediocricy youre refering to here?

What is your answer here exactly? Fire the manager and hire Nagelsmann tomorrow?

 

[Yakuza_devils]

It's not the points dropped that I'm annoyed about, it's fecking every single time when we need to make a statement to the rest and we failed. If we won today we will be real title contender showing great characters and mental strength.

 

[Widow]

Bailly has his back to Vardy the entire time, he doesn't even look at Vardy. He should be goal side of Vardy there and touch tight. Really poor defending from Bailly.

He didn't need to see Vardy, Like Vardy, he should have looked at the direction ball and acted!

Every goal can be broke down and blame assigned so a mass discussion is pointless.

Truth be told, If Rashford was more than a one in three finisher, the game could have looked much different.

Also, a point to 2nd place isn't the worst result, especially when we were the best team!

 

[Devil may care]

2 points dropped, so frustrating, the feckery from Bruno and McTominay on the first Leicester goal was infuriating, and Rashford needed to be more clinical at the other end, the header in the 1st half was an absolute sitter.

 

[Trequarista10]

He didn't need to see Vardy, Like Vardy, he should have looked at the direction ball and acted!

Every goal can be broke down and blame assigned so a mass discussion is pointless.

Truth be told, If Rashford was more than a one in three finisher, the game could have looked much different.

Also, a point to 2nd place isn't the worst result, especially when we were the best team!

I agree with the rest of the post, but obviously a defender has to look at the person they're marking, or supposed to be marking in this case. If he was goal side of Vardy then he'd be able to see the play and see where Vardy is. The ball could go anywhere, Bailly just has to stop Vardy. I hate this idea of defending an area or zone. I kinda get it from set pieces but conceptually it doesn't work in open play, and certainly isn't necessary when there is one opponent in the box, and that opponent is the centre forward, and you're the CB, and your primary job is to stop the opponents centre forward.

I'm not really interested in a mass discussion just stating facts, I'd be bemused if anyone even attempted to dispute this.

 

[nainaisson]

That goal had nothing to do with Maguire. He is where he should be, doing what he should be.

I remember when Fellaini would get blamed for us losing even when he wasn't in the squad. There's a similar mass psychological phenomenon going on in the fan base concerning Maguire and his bizarre culpability for every mistake our defence makes.

 

[Widow]

I agree with the rest of the post, but obviously a defender has to look at the person they're marking, or supposed to be marking in this case. If he was goal side of Vardy then he'd be able to see the play and see where Vardy is. The ball could go anywhere, Bailly just has to stop Vardy. I hate this idea of defending an area or zone. I kinda get it from set pieces but conceptually it doesn't work in open play, and certainly isn't necessary when there is one opponent in the box, and that opponent is the centre forward, and you're the CB, and your primary job is to stop the opponents centre forward.

I'm not really interested in a mass discussion just stating facts, I'd be bemused if anyone even attempted to dispute this.

It's not a fact because you say it is.

Let's agree to not having a 'mass discussion' about this as you seem to be easily bemused!

 

[arnie_ni]

Bailly has to defend his front post , the player put the ball in the only place where Vardy could score, that move looked straight of the training ground, 1 step in 2 back out, bam bottom corner.

I think its Tuanzebe who should pick him up in honesty but the margins here are so fine i’m actually not sure if it was a defensive error or fantastic movement.

Why defend a post when you could defend the only player who can score? Just stay touch tight to the one man in the box

 

[Trequarista10]

It's not a fact because you say it is.

Let's agree to not having a 'mass discussion' about this as you seem to be easily bemused!

Wait, do you actually think a defender doesn't have to watch the opposition striker? Like, I'd understand if you thought it was a snappy response at first but then realised it was completely illogical and backtracked, but surely you can't actually believe that?

Strike my bemusement from the record and replace it with shock, horror and other such superlatives.

 

[Widow]

Wait, do you actually think a defender doesn't have to watch the opposition striker? Like, I'd understand if you thought it was a snappy response at first but then realised it was completely illogical and backtracked, but surely you can't actually believe that?

Strike my bemusement from the record and replace it with shock, horror and other such superlatives.

Let's agree to not having a 'mass discussion' - yet here you are

I see you continue to presume my thoughts and interpret them to fit your narrative. As already stated, I'm not interested in this unproductive conversation.

How is it, one can't simply have an opinion, a thought, without it leading to another questioning your knowledge about the game.....It's not that deep!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

 

[sglowrider]

I was impressed. We should have won. Leicester looked afraid of us at times.

Yeap. We played like we are the ones in the #2 position in the league. But a disappointing result nevertheless.

 

[reelworld]

Look, at the end lf the day, we're 3 points off the top with still 24 matches to go.
It'll be really interesting who will we bring in January.
I think Ole also realized we have an issue at centerback and will try to address it. There are already rumours we're looking at Upamecano and alternatives

 

[cheeky_backheel]

Good result if aiming for a top 4 finish, bad result if contending for the title

 

[United58]

Agreed with all your posts on the last page or so, people need to reign the crisis in

Agreed

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Don't get all the complaining. We played a few days ago, while Leicester didn't. They are a very good side. To get a 2-2 draw, away, to the side in second, having played 72 hours before, and needing heavy rotation, is a good result. Disappointed not to win based on the late lead and chances created, but all in all, it's a good result. It's been a season of some ups and downs for sure; but if we hadn't been handicapped at the start of the season because of the ridiculously late finish to last season that we were one of the few sides to suffer, we'd be close to level on points with Liverpool. We played a fully fit Spurs and Palace without any pre-season, and that's the difference in our league placing right now. Since then our results have been excellent. This is also a season where form will suffer for everyone. With so much fixture congestion, lots of rotation and tired players will be obvious. Inconsistency is to be expected.

I was pretty furious after the CL exit, and after winning the first two games, it never should've happened. But it did and here we are. Nevertheless, the league form has been superb from around week 4, and if we are going to give Ole shit for the CL exit, I think we need to give him credit for the league form. In 2020 only Liverpool have picked up more points than us. That is progress. He's also rebuilt the squad into something much more functional and long term, and I think given 3 to 4 more windows, we will be looking very good from a squad perspective. Even if Ole goes, the next manager will be bequeathed an excellent squad. I have complete faith from that perspective. And if he is allowed to bring in a top quality CB at some point soon, to compliment Maguire, we will take that next step.

Good post. Though, I'm still not quite sure Ole is the guy to take is us where we want to go, I hope I'm wrong.

 

[LUC1f3R]

If someone asked me whether a point today would do, I would have gladly accepted. But Leicester was there for the taking, but we were shit (awful finishing and schoolboy defense)

I actually believe our defenders partied yesterday and hence slept on the pitch. Having 3 defenders to defend against Vardy and yet they couldn't do shit. His movement was good but I expect a good defender would try to come towards the ball and play it rather than waiting to the cross to reach. We had 3, at least 1 should have just marked him.

We were really sloppy as seen the number of times we lost the ball when Leicester pressed us. Should have tried Williams as RB over Tuanzebe (for all his performance against PSG, he last few performance were really bad)

I am not even mentioning our attackers (my mom was asking why I was shouting too much in the match)

 

[simonhch]

Good post. Though, I'm still not quite sure Ole is the guy to take is us where we want to go, I hope I'm wrong.

I think we’re all unsure of that. There remain question marks over our solidity and attacking patterns at times, as well as our tactical maturity. And he doesn’t have much in the way of a demonstrable track record. But he’s done enough to stay in the job and rightly claim we’ve made significant progress to date.

 

[SirMattlives]

It is always annoying to lose a lead at the end but even after we scored, I felt Leicester would come at us, we'd not defend well and it would be nervy. I said to friend that I expected Vardy to take a tumble for a pen or something similar. We just seem so fragile when forced to defend a lead, I imagine opponents know this too and it encourages them to go for it There's definitely room for improvement here. However, If you'd offered me the last month or so of league results in early Nov, I'd have taken them and been delighted. Yes, we should have scored more today but the second goal was lovely, the team is improving, I am optimistic for the rest of the season. Let's see where we are in March.

 

[tjb]

One thing I have noticed is how solid we have been for at least the last three games. We are now taking full advantage of our combativeness and on another day, would have been able to destroy teams from the counters ( similar to arsenal with Vieira and petit). If Ndidi was not playing and shutting down some potential fires, we would have torn through leicester, that is an exciting prospect.