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Who or what was the turning point for Leicester City ?

Spurs7891 said:
When big teams become champions, no one cares about how they win it. But when small and unfancied teams like Leicester win, you know the media will go mad and start long inquests on how they win it. Don't know about you but I will hate to be remembered that Spurs helped Leicester to regain their form until they win the title ! Not sure how you can laugh at other big teams if Leicester do win it. We have not win the league title since 1961 ! Can never accept a small team winning the league title over us !
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At most we will be a throwaway sentence in the story of Leicester if they win the league. I would be very happy for them if they did it, though I don't think it's particularly likely.

I would be very capable of laughing about Arsenal losing out on a league title against Leicester this season (again, unlikely). It would take me negative calories to think of ways to laugh about that.
 
Also takes him out of the spotlight during the window.
And if he does return after 10-14 days he should be fresh and raring to go.

The tell for me was the 40 points comment made at the weekend, sitting top of the league at mid point and they are really thinking about only staying up? Will they now relax and drift, or play without fear and stay top 4?
 
Yep. I really hope they don't even make top four, as the football they play is dire. I reckon if teams defended deep against them, they would struggle to score.
 
Rock Strongo said:
They even manage to look poor against Villa :doh: I'm starting to think they've been riding their luck the entire season.
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No ... their football isn't pretty, and while they have been lucky, they tactically setup well, had a few players in the form of their life, and played different that a lot of teams have seen. give up possession, sit compact, press, counter via route 1 w/pace is scarily effective when your two front players are in a purple patch.

Their form has tailed off, and Ranieri is chickening out, he's trying to close the door so they concede less, and what's happened is they score less. Leicester should play flat out to win the title, who gives a brick how bad their form spirals .. who knows luck might have given them something, instead Ranieri is being more cautious, the goals have dried up, more draws, will turn to losses, confidence will drop and they will end up 8th-10th.

Today you saw it against Villa, he was satisfied with the draw ... should have gone for it
 
So, we have failed to beat Leicester in 3 matches so far this season. Just imagine, they only have 1 win in 6 matches and that win was against us ! Will be very annoyed if we don't beat them in the FA Cup replay.
 
Spurs7891 said:
So, we have failed to beat Leicester in 3 matches so far this season. Just imagine, they only have 1 win in 6 matches and that win was against us ! Will be very annoyed if we don't beat them in the FA Cup replay.
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You better prepare yourself then. Its an away cup replay against the league leaders. Could go either way. 50/50 as are my expectations.
 
StephenH said:
You better prepare yourself then. Its an away cup replay against the league leaders. Could go either way. 50/50 as are my expectations.
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Well, we better practise penalties then. But then with our shyte record in penalties, we need to win the match in normal time if we want to beat them !
 
Mahrez is their main penalty taker and a bit off form with them - that may hinder his confidence (hopefully!)
 
It's funny, since they beat us (and almost beat us in the cup), we don't like them anymore. Its a compliment and sign that they are not just a little plucky team now. They are a serious competitor. They will fall away, they have to rely on their more basic game plan. But all credit to them with limited resources, and from being bottom of the prem this time last year!

I think they will be finish in a EL place.
 
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Hopefully we'll continue to be spurred on by how bitter the Leicester defeat felt, and go on to win the Premier League. Then both clubs can name the other as being responsible for the start to the path to glory.
 
You have to give them credit for scoring so many times in the 2nd half goals, but they've had 2 players in the form of the their lives but they seem to have both come back down to earth now.

I'm starting to think they've had a lot of luck, not just because of how they beat us. I don't recall too many games when they were on the end of poor decisions.

I still believe they are due a bad run of form, not just draws but they're capable of losing to any of the bottom half teams not just the top half. We really need them to lose 2 or 3 on the spin.
 
An interesting read

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jan/17/leicester-city-premier-league

The force is still with Leicester City but history may not be

Claudio Ranieri’s team are overperforming in key areas, statistics show, and the second half of the season is likely to be a lot tougher than the first

So much for Leicester City stumbling, being swallowed up, slipping back to their rightful place. Instead another week starts with them loitering bloody- mindedly in the mix. Not so long ago their success was assumed to be a byproduct of a soft early schedule and Jamie Vardy’s hot streak. Since then that narrative has mutated like a virus, enveloping Riyad Mahrez’s supreme giftsand those in the boiler room, such as Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kanté, along the way. The Foxes are hugely better than was all assumed. That much is clear. The crucial question now is where their wiles and willpower may lead them over their final 16 league games.

Any such assessment should probably start with luck – something Claudio Ranieri’s men have not necessarily enjoyed great dollops of this season. This is unusual. As Omar Chaudhuri, the head of Football Intelligence at 21st Club, explains, good fortune is often behind surprise Premier League success and, when that evaporates, clubs quickly regress to their underlying performance levels.

Remember Hull? In 2008-09 they were sixth at the turn of the year despite conceding nearly five more attempts at goal per game than they were taking. Yet they ended 17th – roughly as expected given their shot numbers. Eighth-placed West Bromwich also enjoyed a more inflated league position in 2012-13 than their shot numbers and quality suggested before slipping back the next season.

Leicester, however, are creating a high number of chances despite stodgier recent performances. According to Simon Gleave, the head of analysis for Infostrada Sports, they rank best on scoring opportunities, a measure that counts major chances whether they result in a shot or not. “Leicester lead this season with 58, three more than Arsenal,” he says. “And comparing the difference of these scoring opportunities for and against, Leicester are +27, Arsenal +27, Tottenham +19, Man Utd +15, Emirates Marketing Project +16.”

That said, when the quality of all their shots taken and conceded is considered, Ranieri’s men are overperforming. As Chaudhuri explains: “Leicester are scoring 11.3% of their non-penalty shots. Based on the location of their attempts a typical team would convert 10.5%. In defence they’re conceding 8.1% versus an expectation of 9.2%. These aren’t huge disparities, enough to mean they’re likely to slip away from a title challenge but not enough to mean they’re going to fall off a cliff.”

At the moment Leicester are averaging two points a game. According to 21st Club’s models their performances have “deserved” more like 1.6 points, or 62 points across 38 games. Given the Foxes’ small wage bill, that is hugely impressive but the disparity may be a small red flag.

Historical trends also suggest Leicester may slip. Gleave has looked at every “surprise” team since 1995 – clubs who went from being promoted or finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League to accumulating at least 30 points by halfway through the following season. In 18 of the 20 cases those surprise teams won fewer points in the second half of the season.

Fatigue may also take its toll given Leicester have included only 17 players in starting lineups, the equal fewest in the Premier League with Watford. Yet, counter-intuitively, since 1992-93 there have been 14 cases where a team have used fewer than 20 starters in a season and only once (Stoke 2012-13) did those sides finish in the bottom half.

As Gleave points out, teams who used fewer than 20 starters yet excelled included Nottingham Forest 1994-95 (third), Bolton in 2003-04 (eighth), Aston Villa 2007-08 and 2008-09 (sixth) and Fulham 2008-09 (seventh). The figures show it is essential that key players in smaller clubs remain fit – crucially Leicester have avoided substantial injuries.

Leicester’s style of play may also become a factor in the run-in. Whereas Ranieri’s side swarm their opponents in midfield, their approach is less taxing than the near-constant press of some rivals. Opposing defenders play only 22% of passes with their first touch against Leicester, which indicates they are not particularly concerned with putting opponents under pressure high up the pitch – Liverpool by contrast average 34% and Spurs 30%.

Yet, as Chaudhuri explains: “However, when the ball comes into midfield Leicester are easily the most combative team in the league, averaging 22 regains per central midfielder per 90 minutes (next best is Watford on 19).” The large number of bodies behind the ball probably explains why Leicester’s opponents hit the target with only 28% of shots – Chelsea’s and Villa’s defences, by contrast, average nearly 40%.

Leicester also rank in the bottom three for possession, last in pass-completion success and second in long balls played, behind only West Bromwich. These statistics makes them sound particularly earthy and as English as John Bull: yet the data do not tell the full story. The sight of Leicester’s players breaking forward, as if galloping clear of an impending explosion, have been among the sights of the season.

The title is surely beyond them despite their protracted heroics. But, if they qualify for the Champions League, – and they are favoured by the bookies – it must still be the greatest achievement in the Premier League era, especially given the almost umbilical link between high wages and a top-four finish. And while the Premier League has always mythologised and exaggerated the notion any team can upset the odds on any given day, few expected Leicester – 1,500-1 outsiders in August – to advertise this so emphatically or for so long.
 
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Jurgen the German said:
You have to give them credit for scoring so many times in the 2nd half goals, but they've had 2 players in the form of the their lives but they seem to have both come back down to earth now.

I'm starting to think they've had a lot of luck, not just because of how they beat us. I don't recall too many games when they were on the end of poor decisions.

I still believe they are due a bad run of form, not just draws but they're capable of losing to any of the bottom half teams not just the top half. We really need them to lose 2 or 3 on the spin.
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If only we had a word to describe that.....

I think I'll call it regression ;)
 
I have come to dislike them.
Their anti-style of football, their (as Scara rightly puts it) regressive attitude to the game...Mahrez will slowly fade away for me, this has been his season but he will slip into mediocrity soon. It's like Ighala at Watford, streaking off into a roaring season but long-term I do not believe they have the 'X' factor to make them special players. Decent Prem yes. Potential stars? Nope.
I agree wholeheartedly with Jurgen...and their win at ours was drenched in good fortune underpinned by dour 'football'...
 
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