Another excellent all round display ... even Simpson did OK, although he is not very good in possession ... couple of amazing pin-point passes from Fuchs in the first half ... Jeff Schlupp looked dangerous throughout ... Vardy, Okazaki and Kante ... what closing down and then to get forward on the counter so fast ... Trevor Francis may be a plum but he did get one thing spot on ... the work rate when we don't have possession .. the defence looked very solid until they brought on that big lump up front .... big up to Kasper who looked completely non-flappy today ... ... the only one I can really criticise today was Albrighton ... gave the ball way far too often in possession and should have cleared that one in the second half when instead he tried to be clever and ended up leaving the ball for their lad to cross at will... Top marks to the manager ... addressed the defensive frailties from the Arsenal match very effectively whilst maintaining our attacking threat ... and despite our talisman from this season being out to boot ...you could hear him on the commentary constantly urging them to push up and they responded to him ... Perhaps AKCJ can tell us on what date we achieved 15 points last season? Joshing apart ... isn't it just phenomenal to look at that table and see us sitting in a Champions League spot? ... even if other results to come may see us slip out .... will certainly enjoy MOTD tonight . Forza Claudio !!!
... rumoured to have a shoulder injury ... wonder if he had it against the Arse too because he was very much not himself in that game ...
Was just a rumour - CR said Mahrez was fit on RL after the game. Must just have been mere tactical genius.
Exactly what it was....sky pundits were up in arms, more or less doing a Gangsta ! Good response from last game , well done LCFC !
Great performance, especially N'golo Kante (as ever! my new favourite player) and Jeff Schlupp, who looks much stronger when he doesn't have to worry about defending. Quality goal as well. Credit also to Huth, Fuchs, Okazaki, Drinkwater, and Jamie Vardy. It was a really good team performance. Team was unlucky to not get a pizza, I think they defended really well, and as a unit. Caught Norwich offside a few times, and in the first half didn't let anything go by them, not so much as a cross. Kasper didn't touch the ball until the 50-something minute mark. Norwich picked up in the second half, but it looked a lot like some of our performances last season- too little, too late. That said, I was worried that the comeback kings might have a taste of their own medicine!
Today was a big test to see how we would react after a defeat. We passed with flying colours Ranieri made big calls today and got them right We have an international break so Ranieri gets very little time for preparing for Southampton Overall today was a textbook away performance Gutsy, resilient, counter attacking 3 points. Lovely
Well, I still don't condone the idea of dropping our best players, especially since, according to the manager, there was nothing wrong with him. Simpson did OK; again, wouldn't like to see him as a regular fixture, but he is more defensively sound than De Laet, but offers less as an attacking force. That right back position is definitely our weak spot - I still think Albrighton as an attacking fullback is the best option, but I agree with FF that he had a poor game himself today. Not sure Benaloune there is the answer either, although I'd like to see him get 90 minutes. Basically, Ranieri gambled today and, rather than saying it paid off, I'd say we got away with it. Obviously, we'll never know what would have happened if we'd played our strongest team - Norwich were awful in the first half and we could have put the game to bed early on, and instead we had to hang on grimly - but a win is a win and I'll take that. At least we have shown we can win without Mahrez and that Ranieri has now made a move to address the obvious defensive weaknesses - happy that Fuchs came in; although with him, Schlupp (who excelled back in that midfield role he really belongs in) and Mahrez, it's going to be tough to accommodate them all. I wonder if Fuchs can play on the right?! Or maybe Albrighton can play as a conventional right back, with Mahrez in front of him? I don't see Ranieri changing the formation any time soon.
Ranieri today showed his tactical nous ... right team ... right tactics...and ensured ending a winless run in some style..and more to the point ... quickly
Good win today, great reaction after last week. For Fosse, after 20 games last season we had 14 points, after 21 we had 17, 1st Jan & 10th Jan respectively. This year we could be safe by Christmas
Well I'm keeping my feet on the ground - we have still only played three of the top 12 so far - and that doesn't include Chelsea yet!
We lost every game we played against Chelsea under Nigel Pearson.. league and cup ... won't be bothered about losing the odd game against the very top sides .. have already got confidence that Ranieri knows how to react quickly and effectively...
Gangsta, I am usually a great supporter of your posts, and you make your points well (even though I don't agree with all of them... But most!) But, what will it take for you to give Ranieri some credit? We get a great win away at a team who have had a decent start themselves (I was personally nervous today), and rather than enjoying the performance and the win, you suggest that Ranieri made a poor decision and we would have won by more and more comfortably if he'd picked a better team You've been lamenting our poor defending, and the fact that Ranieri wasn't doing anything about it... So he does something about it, making a bold move bringing in Simpson, but an even bolder move dropping Mahrez... We looked better defensively... And still kept our attacking impetus, winning the game... And you still criticise Ranieri... Now it's only early days, and yes, we may have earned a similar amount of points last season with a weaker and less experienced squad... But don't take a similar points tally in matching games this season for granted... Just ask Chelsea
I did give him some credit. I said he addressed the defensive problems. I don't think it was necessary to drop Mahrez in order to achieve that though. But I agree with you, I thought we were defensively stronger. It's a step in the right direction, for sure. And just to be clear, I always enjoy it when we win. I watched the stream today, and I actually missed how and why Ulloa's goal was chalked off because I'd ran off round the house celebrating! But after the dust settles, I like to analyse what I've seen. There's always room for improvement, and I'll mention it on here - doesn't mean I'm not happy, and Ranieri addressing the defence as eased my mind a bit - although I'm now wondering what the thinking was behind Mahrez; is he out of form? Carrying an injury? Lining up a move away? Fallen out with the manager? Or dropped for tactical reasons? - I don't know why, but the latter seems least likely!
The birds are singing and you are complaining about the noise. Our goal is another 25 points - you seem to have forgotten how ridiculously lucky we were not to be relegated last season. If we get them all against the bottom 12 and lose every game to the top 12, so what? If we don't keep a clean sheet all season too - so what? The goal for this season remains the same - don't get relegated and so far we are succeeding. Maybe you are a relative recent fan of Leicester and don't know of the crap times like when we were in adminsitration, 3 managers in one season, league 1 etc. - believe you me, these are glorious time. Enjoy that we are achieving our goal and are flying high - stop being such a pessimist!