Leicester 3, Fulham 1, positives and negatives, player ratings and match report

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The team was back to basics, 4-4-1-1, and as we played against Brighton. No fuzz, just basics and playing players in the positions they should, great to watch, continue with that Brendan Rodgers.

The start was ok and a bit of back and forward before a great combination of play started by Ndidi, finding Vardy and his little flick into Tielemans, makes it easy for him to score, just pushing the ball over the line. 1-0.

Leicester continued to put pressure on Fulham, who at this time looked as they are, close to relegation and not really having a plan of how to get out of it.

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2nd half also started well, but a strange positioning by Ben Chilwell made it possible for Fulham forward Ayite to get into the Leicester penalty area and with a fine finish really upset us all watching, it was 1-1 after 51 minutes and really a blow.

But as the game went on we all could see that Leicester were the better team and when James Maddison, after 78 minutes, found Jamie Vardy with a perfect pass, and Jamie finished with a great strike, City were back in the lead.

Shinji Okazaki came on in this game and fought fantastically as he freed the ball for Harvey Barnes who found Jamie Vardy with a perfect pass, and again Jamie “said hello” and his finish was another great strike, 3-1.

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It was great to see the line-up, and just thought today we have a winner. Football should be made simple and just trust the players when they are playing in their preferred positions and not think too much about the opponent.

The progress of Harvey Barnes is marvelous to watch, and the way Youri Tielemans is also settling in looks fantastic. Tielemans is a great player, not really knowing why Brendan Rodgers is taking him off, his presence will be vital for the rest of the season.

A great day at the office, winning at home, 3-1 is just what we all want and hope for, doing that week in and week out you will get smiles around King Power Stadium.

  • Positives:
    • Back to basics, the squad is build around this system
    • Tielemans scores the first goal, two by Vardy
    • Scoring three at home, getting a good result
    • No “genius acts” by the manager, just route one
    • Winning with possession, 55 %
    • Vardy pass 100 goals for Leicester City
  • Negatives:
    • Chilwell not up to standard today defensively
  • Player Ratings: Schmeichel 6. Pereira 6, Chilwell 5, Maguire 6, Evans 7, Ndidi 7, Tielemans 7, Barnes 7, Vardy 9, Maddison 7, Gray 6, Subs: Mendy, Ghezzal, Okazaki

Match Stats: H/A

  • Possession: 55 / 45
  • Corners: 6 / 5
  • Shots on target: 5 / 2
  • Shots wide: 9 / 1
  • Fouls: 9 / 13
  • Offsides: 1 / 1

 

Leicester City cannot splash the cash, they need to sell before buying

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After the release of the financial yearly report it all looks as if Leicester City needs to get the wage bill down by large numbers. Despite new heights in sales (largely depending on the sale of Riyad Mahrez), a profit of only £1,6 million before taxes tells a story of a club who have to get their cost down by large numbers.

As we have seen in the past owners cannot just splash the cash and use money from other wells, they need to regulate their doings according to financial fair play rules and also keep businesses split and be able to float without getting funds from private pockets.

The way the results has turned out in the last couple of seasons, without any European football and not being able to compete in either domestic cup competitions and really struggled in Premier League, makes the situation a bit more fragile.

We have seen, in the near past, that a number of big clubs such as Sunderland and Aston Villa getting in trouble, and Leicester City with a small ground, only taking a bit more than 30 000 spectators, you really depend on the money coming in from tv rights and sponsors, and if they are not enough to float, then selling players is the next scenario.

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The fact that Claudio Ranieri was allowed to buy a lot of “garage goods” for the money coming in on sales of especially N’Gole Kantè, and then Claude Puel and Craig Shakespeare using money from sales of Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater, says it all. The loss on transfers done by these three men will see the club losing millions when the “garage goods” is for sale, or if it all gets “obsolete” and just seeing the contracts rolling out and then get nothing for those players.

As we have seen in previous seasons managers at the club has done a major sale of one star. First it was Kantè, then it was Drinkwater and in the last summer window Riyad Mahrez was the one leaving. Despite the money coming in from the sale of Mahrez, it only managed to balance the books with a profit of as little as £1,6 million.

We will probably see one or maybe two major sales in the summer, and of course a large number of players will be released without getting a new contract offer. Brendan Rodgers needs to balance the books, and one major sale could finance the total cost of the new training ground, so it would not surprise Tcf if one of the three, Ben Chilwell, James Maddison or Harry Maguire will be moving on to a new club.

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It could be that Brendan Rodgers will be lucky in his transfer dealings being able to sell players, not really in his future plans, for a good fee and by that fund a new season. We will probably not see any new big money signings at Leicester City. Tcf will be watching on as maybe one, two or three players will find their way to King Power, taking the trip down from Scotland.

Another scenario is to hope that Rodgers can be able to swop players and by that finance moves for probably Youri Tielemans, with Adrien Silva going the other way as part of the transaction.

Doing bad transfer decisions and signing “garage goods” will always hurt a football club and with the financial fair play rules and the way owners are obligated to run their businesses in a healthy way you can’t do too many mistakes either in manager appointments or in your player recruitment policy.

Among the recrutiments done by Shakespeare and Puel, only James Maddison, Harry Maguire, Ricardo Pereira and maybe Jonny Evans are those that can be said to have worked out as we all would have hoped. Other good transfers of players who have done well in recent time, Wilfred N’Didi, Nampalys Mendy and Demarai Gray were all recruited by Claudio Ranieri.

A rule for Leicester City managers in the future is not to splash out cash on reserves and players you don’t see as a first team regular, then you will have no money to use on players that really will strengthen your first 11. A player signed who are not settling in your first team with a fee of £5 million or more, will be money thrown out the window. With a financial result of only £1,6 million in profit, you will have difficulties financing a move for a good player from league one.

The academy will be of great importance as it has also been in the past, developing young talent and sell them on, as we have seen in the past with the likes of Shilton, Lineker, Heskey and Schlupp among those. Ben Chilwell can be the the next big money move coming through the academy, and another great example of how young players should be brought in from your own ranks for free, than to buy them from other places and not really being seen as first team material.

Brendan Rodgers has to continue the work of Claude Puel, downsize his squad, get the wage bill reduced and of course finance his transfers in, with a big sale of one or two of his current “stars”. Don’t be surprised to see either Ben Chilwell, James Maddison or Harry Maguire leaving in the summer for a large fee to either Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal or Tottenham.

 

Emotional farewell for Leicester City goalkeeper, honoring one of the finest men in his trade

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To see four goalkeepers, all of them being handpicked as pallbearers for the Gordon Banks funeral, because of their current status at the clubs they represent and play for.

This was a very special way of handing Gordon Banks all the respect he deserves as the world number one in his trade, being carried by those four who in recent time has been doing the job of Gordon Banks at his previous clubs and of course in the national team.

Goalkeepers, Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City), Jack Butland (Stoke City), Joe Anyon (Chesterfield) and Joe Hart (England) all gave a very emotional touch to the farewell.

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Kasper Schmeichel will in his next league game played equal Gordon Banks and his 293 league games for Leicester City. A coincidence maybe, but again a bit strange and emotional at the same time.

Kasper Schmeichel has already passed another former legendary Leicester City and England international goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, who stopped at 286. Shilton was of course present at the funeral together with other great goalkeepers of the Gordon Banks era, such as Joe Corrigan, Ray Clemence and Pat Jennings.

Again truly great to see Kasper taking part in this historical and emotional event showing his respect and representing Leicester City in the best way possible. As fellow Scandinavians we feel that Kasper also represents us Leicester City fans over here, in the honoring of Gordon Banks.

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Gordon Banks was a world known class player but also have a unique standing in Scandinavia as we watched him on many occasions when Stoke City were live on TV on a Saturday at 16.00. He was of course one of the star players to watch and he did many fantastic saves during the first years of “Tippekampen” making the fanbase of English football grow enormously over here.

Great to see Kasper Schmeichel being part of this and keeping a great tradition of goalkeeping at Leicester City. Kasper is truly one of the greatest and will in time be remembered in the same sentences as Banks, Shilton and Wallington.

 

 

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