POST MATCH: Leicester

[keithh]

Good result. Moaned a bit on Match Day thread about first half with 9 shots & none on target; but second half was good. I went for Berge as Man of the Match as he constantly broke their play and his passing was superb.

[McBrideOfFrankenstein]

I think ESR's pressing really puts teams off when he's up for it. I recall it led directly to a goal earlier in the season

[WindyCity]

Pretty much workman like affair against a really poor side.  Good result, though that first half was a bit nervy.  Very happy to see Traore net.  He actually should have had a second, why he passed off on that chance I just don't know.  Need to be selfish in those opportunities, take the shot!  Anyway, all's well that ends well.  Nice to see a clean sheet for a change. 

No reason not to expect a good result next game v ManU.  Should have had better result in reverse fixture.  They really aren't that good, hope to have favorable result at the Cottage.

[WolverineFFC]

First half was okay, second half was very good.

Leno - calm presence at the back. Not sure he did a single thing wrong in the game. After a game he had against West Ham, this shows great character-

Castagne - he wasn't poor, but worst performance of the 4 defenders. Okay defensively, decent in build-up of our attacks as well, poor crossing.

Andersen -now this is the Andersen from the start of the season. If you compare this to his other league performances since his injury, it's night and day. Superb passing throughout the game too.

Bassey - solid. Had a decent effort go slightly wide in the first half.

Robinson - solid. Our main outlet in the first half. He put some decent crosses in.

Berge - great performance from him. He looked very composed. His height and strenght help us a lot too. I like AP and he tries very hard, but he just doesn't have the same physicality that Berge or even Lukic have. Berge and Lukic compliment each other very well. Sander is usually the one that is staying further back, but there were one or two moments where they reversed their roles, and they generally seem to be in sync. We missed him so much during his injury... They remind me a bit of the McDonald and Johansen duo we had in the Championship, only at a higher level.

Lukic - another one who had a great game. It's between him, Berge and ESR for MOTM, imo. If anyone had doubts whether Berge and Lukic would be too defensive against "weaker" teams, I'm sure those doubts have disappeared yesterday. Sasa effectively crashed the box multiple times, which resulted in him getting an assist too. He also carried the ball effectively whenever he had empty space in front of him(like he did before our second goal) and managed to put a perfect cross for Muniz too. Only slight criticism is his yellow, which I don't think was neccessary this time (I do think most of his other yellows were though, as he usually stopped a dangerous counter or something).

Wilson - was pretty quiet in the first half, imo. He did play a major part in both of our goals in the secnd though. Showed great desire to keep the ball in the play for our first and even managed to put a cross in the danger area, Lukic and ESR did the rest. And for the second goal, that cross was just superb. When him and Traore play together, I prefer the set up that was used in most of this game, Wilson on the left and Traore on the right. Wilson drifts in to the middle whether he plays on the left or right, so he'll still be a goal threat and when he's on the left he can put some dangerous crosses in. Traore is much better on the right than he is on the left.

ESR - a great game from him, and the goal was the least important thing for me. He showed incredible desire from the first minute to the las minute he spent on the pitch. He was tracking back Leicester players all over the pitch, there were multiple instances in the both halfs when he ended up defending near our box. He wasn't afraid of the aerial duels either, that one in the second half resulted in a pretty painful landing, but it showed incredible desire to win the ball. Same can be said for his goal. And whenerver he had the ball, he was much more positive than in previous games. Great performance and hopefully he can use this performance as a blueprint in the future

Iwobi - his crossing was a bit off, but I thought he looked decent otherwise. Heard Marco say he has a flu. Hope he recovers well and fast.

Raul - decent performance. My only criticism is some of his passes in the 2nd half were very poor.

Adama - superb performance from him. Took his goal extremely well and was a threat for the entire second half. If he played more than 45 minutes, he'd have been in contention for MOTM, imo. Marco will have a difficult job to pick starting wingers for the next game, if Iwobi is back from illness.

All other subs did well too.

Overall, a good result and a good performance which was needed after the West Ham debacle. Let's build from here, COYW!

I disagree on Castagne. His passing was an issue. Seemed most of Leicester's dangerous possession came out of poor passes from the back. The majority from him.

Another RB may be what the team needs most this window if Tete is not coming back for another month or two. If Castagne has an injury or extended poor form, the club are vulnerable there right now.

[LPNCanadian]

Could someone assist me in clarifying the following points:
1) If Iwobi is suffering from the flu, why was he included in the starting lineup against Leicester?
2) After the second goal, it appeared that no one on the team celebrated, and even Adama, who scored, displayed minimal emotion.
3) Muniz missed a chance at the end of the game from just 1-2 meters, which seems to be a recurring issue for him. However, I am curious as to why he was smiling after the miss. What could be amusing about it, and why isn't he upset about missing another clear opportunity?
Perhaps I am overanalyzing the emotional aspects. Thank you for your insights.

[LRCN]

Could someone assist me in clarifying the following points:
1) If Iwobi is suffering from the flu, why was he included in the starting lineup against Leicester?
2) After the second goal, it appeared that no one on the team celebrated, and even Adama, who scored, displayed minimal emotion.
3) Muniz missed a chance at the end of the game from just 1-2 meters, which seems to be a recurring issue for him. However, I am curious as to why he was smiling after the miss. What could be amusing about it, and why isn't he upset about missing another clear opportunity?
Perhaps I am overanalyzing the emotional aspects. Thank you for your insights.

i think you are definitely over analysing
1/ he thought he was able to play based on his condition and found he wasnt
2/ im not sure what needs clarifying here, just seemed like a set of players who felt fairly comfortable. wasnt a release of a goal that esrs was clearly
3/ one natural response to bemusement is to smile

[I Ronic]

Why does no one enjoy how we are doing, instead of finding faults all the time, obviously weren't supporting club in 90's

For me (and I've been going on and off since the very late sixties) Its like watching you horse take the fences with ease and style, not necessarily in the lead but in the running. Then taking one like a complete donkey and it's all over. Looking over the years it's not down to one manager, chairman or players. We're not the only club in the Premiership or London like this. Crystal Palace and now Brentford are experiencing much the same. Fulham like the majority on here is my club and will always be. Whether it's here in the Premiership or Division 2. I, like everyone else wants to bathe once again in the Tigana and Hodgson moments. This team and Manager have that in them.

[I Ronic]

Could someone assist me in clarifying the following points:
1) If Iwobi is suffering from the flu, why was he included in the starting lineup against Leicester?
2) After the second goal, it appeared that no one on the team celebrated, and even Adama, who scored, displayed minimal emotion.
3) Muniz missed a chance at the end of the game from just 1-2 meters, which seems to be a recurring issue for him. However, I am curious as to why he was smiling after the miss. What could be amusing about it, and why isn't he upset about missing another clear opportunity?
Perhaps I am overanalyzing the emotional aspects. Thank you for your insights.

i think you are definitely over analysing
1/ he thought he was able to play based on his condition and found he wasnt
2/ im not sure what needs clarifying here, just seemed like a set of players who felt fairly comfortable. wasnt a release of a goal that esrs was clearly
3/ one natural response to bemusement is to smile

I agree, although I was a little surprised with the muted response to Adama's goal. Muniz is an easier one. He smiles all the time. He probably smiles in his sleep!

[WindyCity]

Yeah, the muted response to the Traore goal was head scratching.  Thought there would have been more enthusiasm.  After all, big FFC weakness this season has been just creating one goal leads that are easily given up, we have lost quite a few points from winning positions.  One would think getting that all important two goal lead would have brought a bit more joy.