By CandH blogger Allen Cummings
David Moyes cut a frustrated and angry figure as he stood alone on the King Power touchline last night – particularly in the first 45 minutes.
Like the rest of us he could barely believe what he was seeing from the 10 outfield players he’d sent to do a job. Judging by the team selection and shape, the game plan was to frustrate and contain Leicester as best as possible.
But that required both energy and application from his players to make it work. Moyes got neither. Any plan is only as strong as its weakest link – and for 45 minutes last night there were weak links all over the pitch.
The first rule of survival, we are regularly told by the so-called ‘experts’ is for players to win their individual battles. We lost the lot as far as I could see.
We’ve known for ages we lack pace – which coincidentally Leicester have in abundance – so to compensate for that we needed players to read the game better, be constantly aware of where the threats were and how they were developing.
Far too often we had players ball-watching, being pulled around all over the place, dragged into areas they didn’t need to be, thus abandoning the compact shape we needed to stifle the danger. To add to that we constantly gave the ball away cheaply, repeatedly putting ourselves under renewed pressure.
We can talk all we like about the board, the manager, the stadium – all the side issues that frankly at the moment are an unwanted distraction.
Right now it’s the team and the players that matter most. For 45 minutes, even an eternal optimist like me, was contemplating life in the Championship. But with the introduction of Michail Antonio, and to a lesser extent Pablo Fornals, the mood changed.
We suddenly had some fire and commitment in our bellies. At 2-1 it was game on at last. There were a couple of frantic Leicester clearances, plus an Antonio flick that didn’t quite evade Schmeichel’s outstretched leg, otherwise it could so easily have been 2-2.
Individually, I still believe we have the players good enough to see us to safety…. Rice, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Antonio and Haller together, Fornals, Anderson when he returns, are the equal of anything the likes of Norwich, Bournemouth, Watford and Villa have.
Hopefully at least one other addition, maybe two, can be recruited before the transfer window closes, to bolster the squad and take us safely over the finishing line. It’s far too early to give up.
Yes it’s going to be difficult, but it isn’t going to be any easier for the other teams around us. We wouldn’t want or expect Moyes and the players to throw in the towel already – so why should we?
I’ve heard there are social media reports that we are sniffing around……yes, wait for it…..Dimitri Payet again! Is that for real l!?
Been denied this morning – on the site Graham
Why oh why would we want Payet back. After what he did to us to force a move back to France!!!! Everyday I look at this column to see if there are any new players coming our way but all I read is rummers. I just don’t see any new players coming apart from a journeyman in there 30s on loan looking for a pay out in wages not caring if we get relegated I have got a real bad feeling in my gut that this time it’s not going to happen and come May we will be relegated and humiliated in the press for a few days and then what?
Spot on Hugh. Enough games left and enough of them winnable COYI
I liked Moyes post match interview. No glossing over a poor performance or unintelligible comments as in Pellegrini’s era!
Players will be under no illusions about what is expected of them and now might just understand what is being said to them!
The board are a side-issue 😂😂😂 Why do you think we lack pace in the side you absolute melon?
I delete people if they abuse others James – gentle warning – it’s totally unnecessary and ignorant. Your call. Anger is no excuse for bad manners
Pathetic one track mind EVERY time
You need a three-season perspective to really see what has happened to our squad. Players have been sold and players bought on an individual basis. No overall plan and a predictable and unfortunate outcome. Without realising it we have produced a side made up of mostly slow players, a significant number of old or older players and in crucial positions one – footed players. All done with the best of intentions I imagine but with devastating results. I see relegation as almost unavoidable, given we play Liverpool twice and
Man. City in our next four games. By the end of this sequence a battered side will be a broken one, and the zchampionship is hardly made for our current squad either.
Sterotypical response James. Thank goodness there are still some things in life you can rely on!