When people say that we should consider that Maresca has not had to deal with injuries (fingers crossed) unlike Pochettino, as if he was lucky for that, well, maybe his work methods are the ones responsible for not having as many injuries as Poch. It was reported that Pochettino's methods usually took a toll on players in the form of injury (I don't have any evidence, but it was mentioned multiple times last season), so maybe we should give Maresca credit for that.

3 hours ago, Victor90 said:

I think that's a very lazy argument, you could make the same case now for Maresca with Palmer.

Poch should also get credit for utilising Palmer to the best of his ability. 

I don't think it's even worth of a comparison. As a team we look 5x better than at any single point last season. We still rely on Palmer perhaps a bit too much, but he's no longer the only one that can win us a game...

25 minutes ago, RMH said:

When people say that we should consider that Maresca has not had to deal with injuries (fingers crossed) unlike Pochettino, as if he was lucky for that, well, maybe his work methods are the ones responsible for not having as many injuries as Poch. It was reported that Pochettino's methods usually took a toll on players in the form of injury (I don't have any evidence, but it was mentioned multiple times last season), so maybe we should give Maresca credit for that.

I think that's fair. Maybe he has changed something in training that has helped the majority of the squad avoid injuries. But we don't see them train or know what has actually changed, so we can't know for sure.

34 minutes ago, wizardous said:

I don't think it's even worth of a comparison. As a team we look 5x better than at any single point last season. We still rely on Palmer perhaps a bit too much, but he's no longer the only one that can win us a game...

It's still too early to tell yet, I think Maresca is on the right track though. 

But he's also had a fully fit team, whereas the previous managers never had that luxury. 

I would even argue we were better in the big games last season from what I've seen so far this season, City being a prime example, but again it's too early to really say. We're still relying on Palmer a lot this season, but as any team does with their key player that's how it goes. 

10 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I also haven't been convinced by the majority of our performances this season. We haven't had a single game yet where we controlled it without issues. Leicester should have been that game, but a few of the usual defensive lapses held us back again and we gave a stupid penalty away late on. I don't feel like we control games well, there are always issues where we get caught out and I feel like this team doesn't react to situations well. We can score, and be dominant, but we rarely show any ruthlessness. Even the games we have scored a decent amount of goals in, like against Brighton and Wolves, there were moments where it could easily have swung the opposite way and we would have been the ones getting a hammering.

It feels like we are winning games through brute force more than anything.

I'm happy with the position we are in currently, but I am not comfortable enough to say things are fine. It feels like we're on a tight rope.

I fully accept where you're coming from, but my slightly different view is it doesn't matter. Which team in the league has controlled games without issues? Liverpool certainly haven't but they're riding at the top of the league. Arsenal's luck has changed from last season. Weirdly, Man City have been the only truly dominant team, but their results certainly don't show it.

Imo we should give maresca tons of credit. We have been good performance and result wise. Tactically imo we looks better and the in game adjustments has been better than last season. 

6 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Weirdly, Man City have been the only truly dominant team, but their results certainly don't show it.

Hmm, the number disagree with you. Pool is actually the only one who play like real title contender (still slight drop off from last season) . City has quite drop off and arse has significant drop off and  has been  playing like just a top 4 team this season. 

Edited November 28, 20241 yr by Bob stark

I'm posting the link to the Heidenheim press conference here. It's been mentioned on here several times about his rigidity in rgds to tactics and formations but also how he should stick with certain players, etc...

Here he explains how tactics, formation and players can differ from game to game. Like I said before I actually really like that. It's something some ppl may have to get used to and it's a long way from yesteryear and having only 1 sub. Lol

https://www.youtube.com/live/RCkAN1LJZZ0?si=XkuPJuQg5EkFYnFL

 

Maresca's doing a reasonable job, and we're in the top 4 at the moment so I can't fault him in that sense. He definitely has the benefit of stronger foundations laid down by his predecessor, which is something Pochettino never had.

When Poch first arrived, we were an absolute mess. The team had just come off a 12th position finish (44 points) and the squad was being turned over at a rapid rate. Once we settled and found a rhythm in the second half of the season, we saw an uptick in results and performances.

This season, we're getting good results we expect against teams lower than us, so that's a tick for Maresca.  The question is can we bridge the gap against the top sides. We still look tentative against the likes of Liverpool, City and Arsenal, especially when the game was there to be won.

After the first 12 games of last season, we were on 16 points and in 10th position. At the same point this season, we're on 22 points and in 3rd position so there's a noticeable uptick. I'm not sure if that's continuing momentum from late last season which is in spite of Maresca, or whether Maresca has produced an uptick in our fortunes.

First 12 PL games

• 2023/2024 = D (01), L (01), W (04), L (04), D (05), L (05), W (08), W (11), D (12), L (12), W (15), D (16)
• 2024/2025 = L (00), W (03), D (04), W (07), W (10), W (13), D (14), L (14), W (17), D (18), D (19), W (22)

Edited November 29, 20241 yr by Jezz

15 hours ago, Jezz said:

Maresca's doing a reasonable job, and we're in the top 4 at the moment so I can't fault him in that sense. He definitely has the benefit of stronger foundations laid down by his predecessor, which is something Pochettino never had.

When Poch first arrived, we were an absolute mess. The team had just come off a 12th position finish (44 points) and the squad was being turned over at a rapid rate. Once we settled and found a rhythm in the second half of the season, we saw an uptick in results and performances.

This season, we're getting good results we expect against teams lower than us, so that's a tick for Maresca.  The question is can we bridge the gap against the top sides. We still look tentative against the likes of Liverpool, City and Arsenal, especially when the game was there to be won.

After the first 12 games of last season, we were on 16 points and in 10th position. At the same point this season, we're on 22 points and in 3rd position so there's a noticeable uptick. I'm not sure if that's continuing momentum from late last season which is in spite of Maresca, or whether Maresca has produced an uptick in our fortunes.

First 12 PL games

• 2023/2024 = D (01), L (01), W (04), L (04), D (05), L (05), W (08), W (11), D (12), L (12), W (15), D (16)
• 2024/2025 = L (00), W (03), D (04), W (07), W (10), W (13), D (14), L (14), W (17), D (18), D (19), W (22)

100% Maresca's continued where Poch left off AND many of our players are more experienced, older and know how to play against Premier League opponents. 

We could have hired a new coach who would have taken a different approach and resetted everything good the squad did last season.

Poch had a horrendous injury list but that might have been a blessing in a way in that a fully fit squad under Poch would have a lot of unhappy players not getting any minutes as there wasn’t any European football.

Poch did well and I backed him but I definitely prefer Maresca. He’s had to be ruthless and everyone can see things are coming together. We’ve got an identity that we didn’t ever have under Poch. 
 

Sunday is a massive game for our season. A win begins to widen the gap and allow Maresca to rotate a bit more or try Nkunku and Palmer in the same team for instance. 
 

If we deal with John McGinn’s massive arse I reckon we’ll win 

3-1 Chelsea (Gusto, Palmer, Jackson)

Read this on the beeb earlier.

You never know how much you miss someone or something till its gone! Appreciate what you have...i can imagine ego stopped the fans from saying it too. I'm not following Leicesters pages/info/reports/etc...

 

 

Leicester players have been told their behaviour at their Christmas party in Copenhagen was "unacceptable" but have moved on from the incident, says caretaker manager Ben Dawson.

The players travelled to Denmark on Saturday following the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea and boss Steve Cooper was sacked 24 hours later.

Video, which has not been verified by BBC Sport, emerged of the squad partying in a Copenhagen club with a sign reading "Enzo, I miss you" - referencing former manager Enzo Maresca - nearby.

Maresca with a win at home over Villa would make him look pretty strong right now.

On 26/11/2024 at 05:35, KonaKai Blue said:

Not saying there is anyone better. I don't know the answer. Doesn't mean I'm really happy with how things are going. I do believe we can be better. So far we have been stable.

Better how? We're already pushing for a tight 2nd place spot between what is supposedly a "title contender" Arsenal side and City.

Your expectations are too high for a team that isn't as mature as any of out title winning or title contending seasons.

On 26/11/2024 at 11:35, Bob stark said:

Does any of our player improve compare to the start of this season/end of last season ? 

If they are already playing well at the start of the season then you are actually praising poch not maresca

So our 2005 title winning season wasn't because of Mourinho but because of Ranieri?

Both our CL winning runs are because of Andre Villas-Boas and Lamps?

I get your point but to say it was all because of Poch is not true at all.

4 minutes ago, Deino said:

Better how? We're already pushing for a tight 2nd place spot between what is supposedly a "title contender" Arsenal side and City.

Your expectations are too high for a team that isn't as mature as any of out title winning or title contending seasons.

Those below Liverpool are having inconsistent seasons so far. A couple of bad results and we could slip right down the table. Our home record could be alot better.

24 minutes ago, KonaKai Blue said:

Those below Liverpool are having inconsistent seasons so far. A couple of bad results and we could slip right down the table. Our home record could be alot better.

Everyone has inconsistent seasons in the league. The most consistent one always won the title. It's part of pro sports. 

To ask for more at this point would mean us being title contenders which is a tough ask for this current team that has never won a trophy bar Enzo Fernandez.

He’s given us an identity in such a short time I can’t believe it!!

I am not letting myself get excited I have too much trauma from this team over the last few years!!

Got everything spot on today.

The universe has self-corrected. 

Waiting to hear what he says about Fofanas injury. 

Was has been getting better. Real shame about this injury. Had more hope he stayed fit than I had with Reece.

Hamstring being reported.

Just now, Scott said:

Hamstring being reported.

Is this the leg with the injured acl before?

https://streamable.com/d5ak6b

His little dance after full-time. 🥺🥺🥺

Just now, Ledgerson said:

https://streamable.com/d5ak6b

His little dance after full-time. 🥺🥺🥺

He knew he needed to win us over with actions and results. He’s shutup the the media about chaos at Chelsea to many players etc etc and now he’s starting to get us playing like a team again.