Just watched the game on Sky. Must have been the first game in 3 seasons where Kasper didn't hump the ball in to touch. Whilst KDH was undoubtedly the star, there were lots of positive performances all over the pitch. Mendy was superb again, whilst Maddison seems to have increased his work rate considerably. Soyuncu seems to have left his poor early season form behind him. A final mention for Lookman whose first touch for his goal was world class. Looking forward to the rst of the season now, just please, no more injuries.
I haven't seen any of the game and wondered about Tielemans' overall performance. Apparently he gave the ball away for the opening goal and almost succeeded in doing the same later in the match. He's been guilty of giving the ball away cheaply in league matches and conceding careless penalties. There's no doubt his form has dipped recently, but wasn't sure how much that is down to rumours of his departure or just fatigue after how many games he's played.
Difficult to know how to answer that. Against Eindhoven, he played as a sole defensive midfielder with the absence of Ndidi and Mendy not in the squad. He hasn't looked the same player all season. He was certainly overshadowed by Maddison and KDH, both of whom were superb. Prior to this season I had great concerns about how we would cope without his class in our side. I don't worry about that any more. Other than giving the ball away for their goal, he was OK, but nothing more. The two concerns I have are who can replace Vardy long term, and the form of Harvey Barnes who seems to have lost all confidence.
I agree with what you say, Barwell. He does look more replaceable now that Maddison has got his mojo back and KDH has exceeded all our expectations. Barnes is an odd one that I'm still not convinced by. He can have moments of real class but can easily drift out of games. His commitment defensively is questionable, and that's being generous. I prefer my wingers to be more completely involved like Jared Bowen. Maybe he needs Rodgers to have the same talk with him that he had with Maddison when his confidence was low. And you're right about the long term replacement for Vardy. I had hope for Daka when he first came because he looked like he had the same turn of pace and had a respectable history of scoring goals. But his movement to find space and create space for others needs a lot of work. Iheanacho lacks pace but can be a match winner but isn't one to lead the line. Sometimes we can look toothless up front, and it's the midfielders who are having to come to the rescue. On Thursday our on-target to shots ratio was appalling up until we scored. We have to be more clinical and ruthless in front of goal.
We appear to be favourites to sign the young Belgian lad De Ketere (spelling) for around the £30 mill mark ... reportedly a real talent and banging goals in ... also linked with Swansea's Dutch striker, Joe Piroe, who has scored 20 goals this season (for much cheaper) ...
Wouldn't be surprised to see KDH get an England call up if he maintains his current performance levels ...
Daka was also banging in goals for his previous club and started doing it for us against foreign defences in the Europa League, but it's if they can do it against well drilled Premier League teams. It's easy to spend a fortune on a striker and end up with one that can't make that transition. Any newcomer has to show work rate and intelligent movement to create chances for himself as well as being in the right place at the right time for the tap-ins. Scarce commodities.
It’s a thing between Fosse and the fella (I know him as Munse) who is a Newcastle fan on the PL board.
Just goes to show how difficult it is for the non 'big six' to win a trophy. Our 4 is impressive in this context. Although it should be big 5 as I can't see Spurs on the list anywhere