Leicester City Discussion

[Dan+]

He's clearly got some quality about him. Still unsure he fits us though.

[The Liquidator]

I wonder if I can take a moment of Leicester City's fans time by asking a question about Danny Drinkwater?

While I had seen him play for Leicester I couldnt consider myself as knowing all his game and how the club used him in there set up.

Over the last couple of games he has started for Chelsea its been seen he has been released many times breaking through from a deep laying position where's he has either tried the final ball or a attempt on goal.

Alas he hasnt really been excelling at either act, but I have been impressed with his timing of runs and running away from the player marking him, so my question is, is this something you guys saw him do at your club, or as I remember him, he was more a permanent fixture holding midfielder who would get a nose bleed if traveled too far up front?

[Stan]

6 minutes ago, The Liquidator said:

I wonder if I can take a moment of Leicester City's fans time by asking a question about Danny Drinkwater?

While I had seen him play for Leicester I couldnt consider myself as knowing all his game and how the club used him in there set up.

Over the last couple of games he has started for Chelsea its been seen he has been released many times breaking through from a deep laying position where's he has either tried the final ball or a attempt on goal.

Alas he hasnt really been excelling at either act, but I have been impressed with his timing of runs and running away from the player marking him, so my question is, is this something you guys saw him do at your club, or as I remember him, he was more a permanent fixture holding midfielder who would get a nose bleed if traveled too far up front?

In the title-winning season, he was able to do that with the insurance of the beast that is N'Golo Kante helping him out. 

Last season, he didn't do it as much. But that might just be because overall we were pretty poor so he was restricted from playing his 'natural game' or what he was good at (getting forward at the right time). 

I don't see him as a holding midfielder but his reading of the game is very good and one of his best qualities. Very energetic and is capable of mixing up his game as a defensive midfielder or getting forward in attacks and providing for the wingers/strikers. 

[carefreeluke]

Yeah mate, he's been playing the role Bakayoko plays and it's a tactical ploy in the new system we play, helps create space for the likes of Hazard and Morata and gives teams something else to think about. It would be interesting to hear the Leicester fans' opinions.

In my opinion he's more a holding midfielder type player who in their title winning season probably didn't get enough credit for his defensive work, interceptions, hard work and working very well within a very specific system. We now have a very specific system and style of play which he has a role. After the title win at Leicester, his performances dropped like the majority of Leicester players. At Leicester he'd be one of the first to get on the ball and filter it through direct to Vardy. His passing is probably about average, nothing special and being in advance areas isn't his strong point, I would say Kante was a lot more important for them in advance areas with winning the ball high up the pitch and through counter attacks as Kante has the legs to do that. It would then be Drinkwater's job to cover.

Majority of Chelsea fans seem to be impressed with Drinkwater and there's slowly being talk of the international call up for the World Cup. For me he works hard (which is all you can ask really to be fair) and he reads the game well but overall I haven't been that impressed so far especially compared to other Chelsea fans. I'll judge him properly at the end of the season though when he's had more playing time.

Edited December 5, 2017 by carefreeluke

[Cicero]

Hasn't put a foot wrong yet. Works hard, balanced attributes, and fits like a glove in our system. 

Like Bakayoko, needs to improve in the final third. 

[Stan]

1 hour ago, carefreeluke said:

Yeah mate, he's been playing the role Bakayoko plays and it's a tactical ploy in the new system we play, helps create space for the likes of Hazard and Morata and gives teams something else to think about. It would be interesting to hear the Leicester fans' opinions.

In my opinion he's more a holding midfielder type player who in their title winning season probably didn't get enough credit for his defensive work, interceptions, hard work and working very well within a very specific system. We now have a very specific system and style of play which he has a role. After the title win at Leicester, his performances dropped like the majority of Leicester players. At Leicester he'd be one of the first to get on the ball and filter it through direct to Vardy. His passing is probably about average, nothing special and being in advance areas isn't his strong point, I would say Kante was a lot more important for them in advance areas with winning the ball high up the pitch and through counter attacks as Kante has the legs to do that. It would then be Drinkwater's job to cover.

Majority of Chelsea fans seem to be impressed with Drinkwater and there's slowly being talk of the international call up for the World Cup. For me he works hard (which is all you can ask really to be fair) and he reads the game well but overall I haven't been that impressed so far especially compared to other Chelsea fans. I'll judge him properly at the end of the season though when he's had more playing time.

I don't want to change this in to a Kante discussion as I know Drinkwater is the talking point but Kante was the most important in that 15/16 team. The fact he could defend and attack in equal measure and do both as superbly as the other meant he could run most games from that midfield point. And not to the detriment of Drinkwater, but Kante could probably play a game by himself in midfield and come out on top. They were the perfect pair. When one would go forward, the other would know to hold back and support in case we ourselves got countered.

I actually think Drinkwater would benefit more from going forward and not being restricted to stay back or defend as a priority. He's got a quick mind which means he can read the game well and assess danger, so to speak, so if you were to get countered against, he would know where to be on the pitch and have the energy to get back and support. He'd end every single game absolutely knackered but that's only because he gave so much to the team and almost always gave 100%. 

Most sensible Leicester fans recognised that when Drinkwater played well, the rest of the team usually did because he's such a workhorse and so tireless in the midfield. He'd work so hard up and down the pitch it meant that the creative players were free to express themselves - much like Hazard can (he'd probably do that anyway tbf) and Mahrez does for us.

[Dan+]

I've not watched all of Chelsea's games when he's played but I've caught glimpses - and my immediate thought when looking out for Drinkwater was how much more he looks to attack for you than us. When he was here I thought he was a solid all-round player, technically pretty good, a strong passer both short and long range and a good engine, but he didn't really score enough goals and he was nowhere near as creative as Mahrez, for example.

His goalscoring record for us in the Premier League is actually pretty shocking - 3 goals in 87 games which incredibly is less than Wes Morgan (5 in 114) and Robert Huth (6 in 82), although not Danny Simpson bad (0 in 91), a very low total really for a midfielder, especially when you factor in how Kante only got the one, Okazaki and Albrighton didn't score many either, shows how reliant we were on Vardy & Mahrez for goals.

I don't think it ever helped him however playing the formation we played - him and Kante (and later King, Ndidi & Amartey) were playing as a 2 and as a result had less license to attack whereas at Chelsea he's covered by two other midfielders. I do wonder if we still had him whether he'd be used in more of an attacking role seeing as we look to finally be adapting to another way of playing under Puel (who like Shakespeare hasn't had his replacement available).

I'm quite surprised he's holding a place down to be honest, I thought he tailed off big time towards the end for us and while I was livid at how we handled deadline day, we got a decent fee considering everything. I expected him to be behind Kante, Bakayoko and Fabregas but seemingly Bakayoko hasn't performed.

His form tailing off so badly during last season will forever remain a mystery to me. While most of them dipped from the year before, he didn't for ages and then around this time of year he seemed to go well off the boil. He went from the best player in a bad side to the weak link of quite a good one. He's a strange player.

[Dan+]

4 hours ago, Stan said:

In the title-winning season, he was able to do that with the insurance of the beast that is N'Golo Kante helping him out. 

Last season, he didn't do it as much. But that might just be because overall we were pretty poor so he was restricted from playing his 'natural game' or what he was good at (getting forward at the right time). 

I don't see him as a holding midfielder but his reading of the game is very good and one of his best qualities. Very energetic and is capable of mixing up his game as a defensive midfielder or getting forward in attacks and providing for the wingers/strikers. 

I never found him particularly attacking. Like I say, not even close to the creativity of Mahrez for me. The majority of his creativity would come from a longer ball through to Vardy for him to run onto rather than anything too intricate, which Mahrez is capable of.

[The Liquidator]

I appreciate all the responses to my question. Drinkwater has started off well for us without actually producing work that gets a goal, but because of his work at the end of the pitch I had not seen him frequent so often for Leicester, I was wondering if this was something Conte had seen in him to do, or something he had already produced at Leicester?

If he continues to be a link between the midfield n forwards and brings some of his improved possession to fruition in the way of goals, I would not be surprised if he gets himself on the plane to Russia next year.

Thanks again for the great read!!

[Dan+]

9 hours ago, The Liquidator said:

I appreciate all the responses to my question. Drinkwater has started off well for us without actually producing work that gets a goal, but because of his work at the end of the pitch I had not seen him frequent so often for Leicester, I was wondering if this was something Conte had seen in him to do, or something he had already produced at Leicester?

If he continues to be a link between the midfield n forwards and brings some of his improved possession to fruition in the way of goals, I would not be surprised if he gets himself on the plane to Russia next year.

Thanks again for the great read!!

Drinkwater should've been on the plane to France last tournament. Absolutely ludicrous that he wasn't after he'd had such a decent season - yet bottlejob Hodgson went with a completely unfit and out of form WIlshere / Henderson instead, while eventually resorting to playing Rooney in midfield. Never seen such blatant big club bias in my life, which ironically might actually get him in this time.

I do hope he does well. Pissed off that he left (although not as much as Kante) and even more pissed off that we completely screwed up getting Silva in on time but he was a fantastic signing for us really. Signed for under a million, gave us five and a half years, heavily involved in two league winning sides and eventually sold for £35mil. Fantastic move.

[Stan]

youngsters (+Huth) are killing it

 

[RandoEFC+]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

youngsters (+Huth) are killing it

 

Got myself a cheeky in play bet on this when I saw it was 1-1, lucky Spurs had a red card .

[Dan+]

I was going to have some on us -2 when Spurs went down to 9 men, at 2-1, with 15 minutes left.

So of course it ends 6-1.

They're absolutely flying though. I think it's a big problem at Leicester to be honest the lack of youngsters we've produced of any real quality over the years, I don't know if this group are really that good (Sam Hughes and George Thomas seem to be getting a lot of praise) but we do at least now have a manager who is happy to give youngsters those chances and that's something we've needed. No manager's done it here for as long as I can remember.

Also found the above Twitter thread very interesting. It's mainly about Southampton but it reflects well on Puel - and pretty terribly on Southampton (and Les Reed, who I actually did think highly of).

[Danny]

On 06/12/2017 at 4:17 AM, Teso dos Bichos said:

 Y'all better off merging the thread with Chelsea's.

Exactly the slang a diehard United fan like yourself would use 

[Stan]

4 hours ago, Dan said:

I was going to have some on us -2 when Spurs went down to 9 men, at 2-1, with 15 minutes left.

So of course it ends 6-1.

They're absolutely flying though. I think it's a big problem at Leicester to be honest the lack of youngsters we've produced of any real quality over the years, I don't know if this group are really that good (Sam Hughes and George Thomas seem to be getting a lot of praise) but we do at least now have a manager who is happy to give youngsters those chances and that's something we've needed. No manager's done it here for as long as I can remember.

Also found the above Twitter thread very interesting. It's mainly about Southampton but it reflects well on Puel - and pretty terribly on Southampton (and Les Reed, who I actually did think highly of).

He's recalled Harvey Barnes from his loan at Barnsley as well. Wonder where he'll fit in if Puel does rate him. 

[Danny]

Interesting to see what's happened at Southampton as they were the new Swansea.

[Stan]

39 minutes ago, Danny said:

Interesting to see what's happened at Southampton as they were the new Swansea.

in what respect?

[Danny]

34 minutes ago, Stan said:

in what respect?

Good managerial choices, good finishes in the league, smart in the transfer market.

[Dan+]

11 hours ago, Stan said:

He's recalled Harvey Barnes from his loan at Barnsley as well. Wonder where he'll fit in if Puel does rate him. 

Expect him and Choudhury to feature at Fleetwood. Barnes seems to be getting rave reviews at every level he plays at so maybe all he needs is that chance that I expect Puel to give him. I look to the likes of Dele Alli and Marcus Rashford, players who by all accounts got a chance they weren't really expecting to and haven't ever looked back since. Not saying he's as good as them but you'll never know if you don't try. I've wanted us for years to have a manager who's a bit more ballsy with playing youngsters and Puel may be that man.

 

9 hours ago, Danny said:

Interesting to see what's happened at Southampton as they were the new Swansea.

There was one of the people there who left, it may have been Liebherr, and I've seen plenty say it's gone downhill since then.

I used to see Southampton and Swansea as the model clubs. Now I think both, Swansea in-particular are a bit of a nonentity. Southampton aren't just not replacing their star players but they're hardly bringing any through anymore either.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Dan

[Danny]

6 hours ago, Dan said:

Expect him and Choudhury to feature at Fleetwood. Barnes seems to be getting rave reviews at every level he plays at so maybe all he needs is that chance that I expect Puel to give him. I look to the likes of Dele Alli and Marcus Rashford, players who by all accounts got a chance they weren't really expecting to and haven't ever looked back since. Not saying he's as good as them but you'll never know if you don't try. I've wanted us for years to have a manager who's a bit more ballsy with playing youngsters and Puel may be that man.

 

There was one of the people there who left, it may have been Liebherr, and I've seen plenty say it's gone downhill since then.

I used to see Southampton and Swansea as the model clubs. Now I think both, Swansea in-particular are a bit of a nonentity. Southampton aren't just not replacing their star players but they're hardly bringing any through anymore either.

You could probably give Saints a bit more time in that respect, if they bring in two goal scorers then it'll allow others to flourish a bit.

[Stan]

https://www.lcfc.com/news/631956/leicester-city-football-club-financial-results-201617/press-release

16/17 accounts announced for the club. Profits of £92.5m largely owing down to Champions League participation.

Quote

 

The earning potential afforded by the Club’s first appearance in the UEFA Champions League helped yield record pre-tax profits of £92.5m (2016: £16.4m) – the long-term reinvestment of which, under the guidance of the Srivaddhanaprabha family and its King Power Group of Companies, will be a catalyst in the Club’s growth and its pursuit of further sustainable success.

Turnover for the year increased to £233m (£128.7 in 2016), owing largely to the Club’s outstanding performance in progressing to the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals, further than any other English club that season. The addition of European competition to the fixture schedule also boosted ticket revenue by 42 per cent, despite a third consecutive year of frozen Season Ticket prices.

The 2016/17 campaign was also the first of the Premier League’s improved three-season domestic and international broadcast contracts to 2018/19.

Greater investment in the playing squad in the shape of transfer fees and improved contracts contributed to a 59 per cent increase in operating costs to £65.5m (2016: £41.3m). The Club invested £102m in player registrations, which was partly funded by a £38m profit on player trading.

Leicester City Chief Executive Susan Whelan said: “Securing a legacy for the Club’s recent achievements is among our greatest responsibilities, as it will be the platform from which Leicester City can grow and achieve further, sustainable success in the future. It is central to King Power’s vision for the Club and the determination of the Srivaddhanaprabha family to reward our fans for their immeasurable and unconditional support.

“Fundamental to that legacy is the commercial consolidation of the opportunities success has afforded the Club. This allows us to make further long-term investments in outstanding players and key personnel; infrastructure to strengthen our operations and services; and world-class facilities such as our proposed new training facility in Charnwood – all of which will aid the Club’s continued growth for generations to come.

“As with the on-pitch achievements of which these financial results are a consequence, we remain realistic about the immediate likelihood of them being repeated, but are determined to make sure their impact strengthens our aspirations and belief in the future for Leicester City Football Club and our consistent growth and success on and off the pitch.”

 

 

[Dan+]

It's a shame we blew so much of that money on panic buys. We're a classic example of my theory that having a lot of money can breed a complacency and that's definitely happened with a lot of clubs in this country. It was like we abandoned everything that had made us successful overnight.

I still don't think it's entirely been rectified either. You look at this summer's business and so far I think Maguire looks the only decent pound for pound signing. Iheanacho's been pretty awful in all honesty, Iborra's not bad but he's fairly old and doesn't appear to be fancied by the manager, Silva after all that waiting hasn't yet got above Matty James in the pecking order, then you've got Jakupovic who is somehow behind Ben Hamer in the pecking order. We've got a real recurring issue at this club that new signings seem to make little to no impact. Are they not that good, or is the player power talk actually true?

I think as amazing as 2015/16 was, we'll always look back on summer 2016 with some regret. The one window in our history where we had the ability to attract real quality to the club and not one of the signings remains at the club. A summer we paid £16mil for Musa and a newly promoted Leipzig signed Timo Werner for £8.5mil.

However, a massive however, is the new training facility. A state of the art facility costing us around £80mil was announced a few weeks ago and that's exactly the kind of investment we should be making. Even if we bodged it with the playing personnel we've at least got that to show for it and it'll definitely strengthen our position in future.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Dan

[Dan+]

Fantastic news. This has been rumoured for ages and it's great to hear it's true. While it's been a relatively drab season compared with recent, we're making some big strides off the pitch. This and the new training facility are both big news for us.

[Stan]

3 hours ago, Dan said:

Fantastic news. This has been rumoured for ages and it's great to hear it's true. While it's been a relatively drab season compared with recent, we're making some big strides off the pitch. This and the new training facility are both big news for us.

can't wait to see designs which I'd presume will be pretty soon even though it may just be initial plans.

Will be the East Stand that gets built upon I presume?

[Danny]

I think Cardiff have shown that you can give the stadium a bit of character even when it does start as a bowl so there's some hope for you lot. Their double tiered main stand is nice.

I imagine you're going to introduce something similar, anything you can do to take you away from the current bowl would be a good move.