Leicester (Home) Wed 20 April

[Cornish Steve]

Not that scheduling has been tough on us or anything, but we have only eight games left to play and have yet to play Leicester City this season. Thankfully we play them first at home; by the time we play them away, they may have nothing much left to play for.

For me, the team sheet against Leicester should be mostly unchanged. The only likely swap, I think, will be Mina coming into central defence, although I'm not sure whom he'll replace. There are a lot of comments against DC-L, but I feel sure he'll start.

[London Blue]

Like to see vdb playing.

[AlbanyNYToffee]

25 minutes ago, London Blue said:

Like to see vdb playing.

Me too. Iwobi can move into the Richarlison of hybrid winger/supporting striker and Richarlison can be the striker. 

Pickford

Coleman Godfrey Keane Mykolenko

Doucoure Allan

Gordon DVB Iwobi

Richarlison

[Btay]

9 hours ago, Cornish Steve said:

Not that scheduling has been tough on us or anything, but we have only eight games left to play and have yet to play Leicester City this season. Thankfully we play them first at home; by the time we play them away, they may have nothing much left to play for.

For me, the team sheet against Leicester should be mostly unchanged. The only likely swap, I think, will be Mina coming into central defence, although I'm not sure whom he'll replace. There are a lot of comments against DC-L, but I feel sure he'll start.

Not sure id change to defence after a clean sheet. I’ve been crystal clear on my opinions of Keane and to a lesser extent Godfrey but that was something we can build on. Mina needs to work his way back in and him being in training will push the others that little bit extra.

Cant see how people are dropping Delph. 
 

                       Pickford

Coleman   Keane    Godfrey     Myko 

            Allan                    Delph 

Gordon             Iwobi                   Gray

                      Richarlison

DVB & Doucoure most like subbed on. Mina if we need to hold on at the end. DCL if he feels like running around

[Hafnia]

Mina will be back - throw him in alongside Godfrey. 
 

other than that put Donny in midfield in place of Iwobi, play iwobi in a free role with Gordon and Richarlison attacking. 

[Romey 1878]

No matter what people's views are on Keane it would be idiotic to throw someone as fragile as Mina straight back in. How did that work out last time? Oh yes, we had to use a sub on him after 20 odd minutes because he's made of candyfloss.

[Hafnia]

26 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

No matter what people's views are on Keane it would be idiotic to throw someone as fragile as Mina straight back in. How did that work out last time? Oh yes, we had to use a sub on him after 20 odd minutes because he's made of candyfloss.

He wasn't thrown in last time - he had already played the previous games against Villa and Norwich.  

Fact is yes he is made of candy floss but quite simply if he is fit he needs to play, I am sure that being ready for Leicester means the club are factoring in the fact he needs to be fully recovered, he has been training since end of March.  

Our win rate with him playing is 40%+, without him its about 11%.....  he may break down if we play him but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have broken down 2 or 3 games later having been rested.  Play him against Leicester and rest him against Liverpool.

[Hafnia]

29 minutes ago, RPG said:

The only advantage I can see from playing him is that if he breaks down early we will be able to sub him. Imagine bringing him on as the last sub in the 70th minute and then breaking down 5 minutes later.

The numbers don’t lie.  It will be a risk to play him no matter what with his injury record, same as Delph but with Mina in defence and Delph in midfield we have leaders.

play them and keep fingers crossed. 

[Romey 1878]

55 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

He wasn't thrown in last time - he had already played the previous games against Villa and Norwich.  

Fact is yes he is made of candy floss but quite simply if he is fit he needs to play, I am sure that being ready for Leicester means the club are factoring in the fact he needs to be fully recovered, he has been training since end of March.  

Our win rate with him playing is 40%+, without him its about 11%.....  he may break down if we play him but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have broken down 2 or 3 games later having been rested.  Play him against Leicester and rest him against Liverpool.

We haven't had a settled backline (and CB pairing in particular) all season, and we've all noted how that hasn't helped with our defensive frailties, so after a game when they've actually played well as a unit you want to change it because Mina has managed to get himself fit for two minutes (halle-fucking-lujah)? It's stupid and I'd be saying the same thing no matter who it was that had played in the previous game. If Holgate and Godfrey had been the CB's, or any other combination of what was available, then I'd be saying to stick with what worked previously.

Then you want him rested against the shite, so another change to the defence in the very next game... we need continuity, not chopping and changing. Come on now!

[Hafnia]

9 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

We haven't had a settled backline (and CB pairing in particular) all season, and we've all noted how that hasn't helped with our defensive frailties, so after a game when they've actually played well as a unit you want to change it because Mina has managed to get himself fit for two minutes (halle-fucking-lujah)? It's stupid and I'd be saying the same thing no matter who it was that had played in the previous game. If Holgate and Godfrey had been the CB's, or any other combination of what was available, then I'd be saying to stick with what worked previously.

Then you want him rested against the shite, so another change to the defence in the very next game... we need continuity, not chopping and changing. Come on now!

We haven't had a settled backline because Mina primarily has been injured, I would say our defence scrambled well as a unit in the last game and quite honestly much of that was down to Delph who took Keane to one side and that Mykolenko and Godfrey literally barely made one mistake.

If the numbers did not strongly correlate to Mina having a huge impact on our defensive capabilities then I would be tempted to leave it, but the fact is they do - massively.

Stupid would be to bench the best centre half we have.  Do you trust Michael Keane not to make costly mistakes?  

If Mina is fit enough to play - he will play.  

 

[Romey 1878]

16 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

We haven't had a settled backline because Mina primarily has been injured, I would say our defence scrambled well as a unit in the last game and quite honestly much of that was down to Delph who took Keane to one side and that Mykolenko and Godfrey literally barely made one mistake.

If the numbers did not strongly correlate to Mina having a huge impact on our defensive capabilities then I would be tempted to leave it, but the fact is they do - massively.

Stupid would be to bench the best centre half we have.  Do you trust Michael Keane not to make costly mistakes?  

If Mina is fit enough to play - he will play.  

 

I don't trust any of them not to make costly mistakes, and that includes Mina!

A big reason why the numbers are the way are in Mina's favour is because of how much time he spends out of the side. That skews it a lot for me.

I hope you're wrong and Lampard actually rewards a good defensive showing and realises that a settled backline is the way to go, rather than relying on the unreliable.

If we need to shore things up at the end of the game then by all means throw him on (although I'm not really a fan of throwing extra defenders on tbh, it usually confuses things).

[Palfy]

If all who played against Utd are fit and available for Leicester why change it, it would be a slap in the face to those who started, and those who didn’t would except or wouldn’t expect to be starting, sometimes players do enough in a team performance that says they deserve to play the next game and not to be dropped. Why anyone would consider dropping or moving Iwobi’s position to suit bringing DVB in, for me absolutely a no no and crazy to consider it he had to be the best player on the pitch against Utd, also for the same reason as Rom I wouldn’t rush Mina back in for Keane or Godfrey. Lampard needs to reward those who started against Utd and try to keep a winning team together, and the players will try to repay his faith in them. 

[Gwlad]

Absolutely. We need to have a starting line up. Nowt wrong with that.

[RuffRob]

Leicester have PSV away on Thursday, travel to Newcastle on Sunday before the came to Goodison on Wednesday. We have to make this as higher energy game as we can as they may have some tired legs on the pitch.

[Hafnia]

Basically goodison needs to be a bear pit, which I’m sure it will, every player at 100% intensity.  Hopefully it’s warm and we make their players mentally quit. 
 

we are at the stage of the season where teams with a few games in a week will not be able physically match an output that we gave against man United unless they are in a situation like us. 
 

Liverpool likewise will have their eyes on the champions league semi final just 3 days after playing us.  If at least 2 of their players are thinking of not getting stuck in because they don’t want to get injured then we have a chance of getting a point. 

[RuffRob]

1 hour ago, Hafnia said:

Basically goodison needs to be a bear pit, which I’m sure it will, every player at 100% intensity.  Hopefully it’s warm and we make their players mentally quit. 
 

we are at the stage of the season where teams with a few games in a week will not be able physically match an output that we gave against man United unless they are in a situation like us. 
 

Liverpool likewise will have their eyes on the champions league semi final just 3 days after playing us.  If at least 2 of their players are thinking of not getting stuck in because they don’t want to get injured then we have a chance of getting a point. 

we definitely have to try and make most of fixture pile up for other teams - before the Liverpool game we have Leicester to play and Liverpool have Benfica, Man City and Man Utd play and like you said will most likely have a CL semi a few days later. Still don't fancy our chances, but its the business end of the season and it's when fixture pile ups can cause a few hiccups. 

[Btay]

On 12/04/2022 at 20:11, Romey 1878 said:

I don't trust any of them not to make costly mistakes, and that includes Mina!

A big reason why the numbers are the way are in Mina's favour is because of how much time he spends out of the side. That skews it a lot for me.

I hope you're wrong and Lampard actually rewards a good defensive showing and realises that a settled backline is the way to go, rather than relying on the unreliable.

If we need to shore things up at the end of the game then by all means throw him on (although I'm not really a fan of throwing extra defenders on tbh, it usually confuses things).

Agree

I am as anti Keane as they come - that’s no secret but Lampard stuck by him after mistakes and he will stick by him after a clean sheet.

Both Keane and Godfrey know Mina is fit (well….) and breathing down their necks. Should keep them on their toes and can only be a good thing. If one fucks up again - Mina comes in as a sub or for liverpool.

[Hoof_It_Nev]

Damn, thought this was today

[Romey 1878]

41 minutes ago, Hoof_It_Nev said:

Damn, thought this was today

So did I on Saturday, and I hadn't even had a drink yet .

[Bailey]

On 12/04/2022 at 09:43, Hafnia said:

He wasn't thrown in last time - he had already played the previous games against Villa and Norwich.  

Fact is yes he is made of candy floss but quite simply if he is fit he needs to play, I am sure that being ready for Leicester means the club are factoring in the fact he needs to be fully recovered, he has been training since end of March.  

Our win rate with him playing is 40%+, without him its about 11%.....  he may break down if we play him but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have broken down 2 or 3 games later having been rested.  Play him against Leicester and rest him against Liverpool.

Are those Opta Stats?

[Bailey]

This is a really annoying time to play Leicester generally. 

They have been really poor all year but they are getting their key injured players back, Maddison is starting to tick and they are starting to look a lot more like the Leicester of old. The only saving grace is the games they have to play compared to us but some of the players they have coming back in could probably do with that too.

Both games against them will be a real test. Ultimately I think they will create more good chances than we will. Hopefully we can put more of ours away.

[Hafnia]

18 hours ago, Bailey said:

Are those Opta Stats?

Nope it came from www.footyhipster.com

[MikeO]

7 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

Nope it came from www.footyhipster.com

You're joking of course but that's an actual site!

https://footyhipster.com/

[Hafnia]

1 hour ago, MikeO said:

You're joking of course but that's an actual site!

https://footyhipster.com/

No!!! Hahaha

[Bailey]

On 14/04/2022 at 12:42, Hafnia said:

Nope it came from www.footyhipster.com

[Matt]

On 12/04/2022 at 09:43, Hafnia said:

He wasn't thrown in last time - he had already played the previous games against Villa and Norwich.  

Fact is yes he is made of candy floss but quite simply if he is fit he needs to play, I am sure that being ready for Leicester means the club are factoring in the fact he needs to be fully recovered, he has been training since end of March.  

Our win rate with him playing is 40%+, without him its about 11%.....  he may break down if we play him but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have broken down 2 or 3 games later having been rested.  Play him against Leicester and rest him against Liverpool.

It's easy to get to 40% with him playing, means we won 2 of the 5 games he's been on the pitch...

[Btay]

Watching their game against Newcastle - we can definitely get at this lot. If Maddison & Vardy coke in they will improve but they don’t look the same team of the last few years.

[seve]

They made 8 changes for the game against Newcastle, so they will come back in all refreshed, We can not rely on anyone else from now its down to us.

Also GD could be the difference between relegation and survival, no heavy loses, no capitulation when we concede.

[MikeO]

30 minutes ago, seve said:

They made 8 changes for the game against Newcastle, so they will come back in all refreshed, We can not rely on anyone else from now its down to us.

Also GD could be the difference between relegation and survival, no heavy loses, no capitulation when we concede.

They are the very definition of a "nothing to play for" team, safe from relegation on 40 points but 12 off any Euro place; their sole focus has to be Europa Conference because it's their only possible source of success this season.

Hoping that's how they feel anyway

[Hafnia]

The first 30 minutes are key, we need to essentially give them a collective feeling of “sod this! I’m not up for this level of intensity”.

Literally need to emotionally bully them out of it, make them realise they will need to run hard for 90 minutes to get anything out of it. We can do it. 
 

if we win this game and Burnley lose the next one then it’s a huge huge boost.