Say What – Gameweek 26

Claudio Ranieri hands his first-team regulars a week-long break. Ronald Koeman mulls over his options up top, Wahbi Khazri discusses his set-piece ability, whilst Steve McClaren ponders his tactics on the road after another dire away display from Newcastle.

Ranieri hands Foxes week off

By virtue of their defeat to Tottenham in the third round of the FA Cup, Leicester now enjoy a two-week break before they host Norwich at the King Power in Gameweek 27. Indeed, at a time where many of their rivals resume European action and are also battling for domestic cups, the East Midlanders are now fighting on just one front, almost negating the risk of Claudio Ranieri rotating or resting players. After their last-gasp defeat at the Emirates, the Foxes boss revealed that he’s set to ensure his regulars are further refreshed in their bid for the title by handing them this week off before returning to training next Monday:

“We make a little gamble with my players and they say to me, ‘If we make nine points will you give us one week away?’ Now we make just six points but in my mind I said, ‘Okay’. I was happy with one point from City and one point today, only two points, and we achieved three. I said, ‘Okay, it’s the same as if you won the match. Go home and we will see you next Monday.’ They deserve it. They made a fantastic performance today. I don’t know where they go, Dubai maybe? They go wherever they want. [I will spend] one day in London and then I go to Rome.”

Khazri talks up dead-ball duties

Prior to sealing a transfer for Sunderland last month, Wahbi Khazri had amassed five goals and the second-most assists (seven) of any player in Ligue 1. The French-born Tunisian has needed little time to display that capacity for attacking returns in England’s top tier, notching one goal and two assists during his first pair of starts. A proficient set-piece artist, the 25-year-old midfielder opened the scoring against Manchester United with a free-kick, before the Black Cats bagged the winner from his corner. Having scored five goals from direct free-kicks throughout his league career, Khazri is hoping to have a similar impact with Sunderland:

“It’s good to score for the first time and good for my confidence. For me to score and for us to beat Man United, makes it even better. Obviously when I was at Bordeaux, I had a lot of success with my set pieces. I’m happy that the [winning] goal came from one of my corners and hopefully that will continue. Set pieces are such an important part of modern football.”

Vardy still playing with wrist injury

In light of his four goals in as many starts and a trio of plum home clashes (NOR, WBA, wat, NEW) in the next four, Jamie Vardy currently sits top of the “transfers in” leaderboard with 78,000 new owners. After finding the net in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Arsenal, the Foxes top scorer revealed that he is still has to take to the field with a protective cast as the wrist injury sustained against Villa in Gameweek 5 is taking far longer than expected to heal:

“I have got three fractures in my wrist which have not healed as we thought they would. Wearing the cast means I can’t do anymore damage to them, so I am happy to just keep wearing it and carry on with the games.”

Klopp hails Sturridge movement

Daniel Sturridge made an immediate impact in his first league start under Jurgen Klopp, opening the scoring in a 6-0 romp at Aston Villa. Sunday’s match marked the first time that the Merseysiders’ manager could field Sturridge in a starting line-up alongside Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, with the Reds moving to 4-2-3-1 to accommodate the England international up top. Klopp has mainly utilised Firmino as a “false nine” due to Christian Benteke’s struggles since arriving from Villa, though the German reckons Sturridge’s movement and on-pitch understanding with his team-mates adds an extra element to his side’s attack:

“We need the goals of Daniel and he needs the goals, that’s clear. It’s not a surprise that he can score goals of course but it’s a surprise how well tuned he is with the team when he starts. With his movements, he’s a real striker, that’s good to see. When he hides himself on the pitch [from the defenders] it’s really difficult for the last line to defend if he’s always somewhere and you don’t know where his next move is. That’s very important for us and changes a lot of things, of course”.

Hughes wants more goals from Imbula

Giannelli Imbula made a notable contribution in just his second league start for Stoke City, netting the opener in a 3-1 win at Bournemouth. A defensive midfielder by trade, the former France U21 international isn’t renowned for his goal scoring prowess, having netted three times in 66 outings across his last two full seasons for Marseille. Regardless, Mark Hughes is confident that Imbula can develop into a more potent goal threat under his stewardship:

“He hasn’t got a great record in terms of goal scoring but I think he’s certainly got the potential to score more goals for us. As he gets stronger and understands the Premier League better, he will become a significant player for us. We’ve had very few training sessions since he joined us because of games and recovering, but once we get him on the training ground on a more regular basis we will see all his qualities, I’m sure. It was a great goal from Giannelli, who all game showed great calmness and an understanding of what’s required.”

McClaren considers changing away style

Newcastle lay claim to one of the worst away records in the league, having triumphed just twice in 13 fixtures. Furthermore, the Toon rank bottom with regards to goals scored in road clashes (seven) and second worst for goals conceded (31). In response to their 5-1 defeat at Chelsea last Gameweek – which, worryingly for his 13% ownership, saw Georginio Wijnaldum hauled off at the break – Steve McClaren vowed to alter his approach for their trip to Stoke in Gameweek 28:

“We need to start collecting points away from home because winning at home but the losing away is not going to be good enough. We have to find a way to win away from home because, at the moment, that’s not happening. If that’s a different approach, or different personnel, then we’ll have to do that. It might mean a different way of playing. That’s why we are where we are – we’re inconsistent. There are a lot of games where we’ve kind of performed but not scored goals, but we’re losing games because we’re not scoring enough goals and we’re not keeping clean sheets. We have to somehow solve that.”

Guidolin explains change of tactics

Francesco Guidolin’s decision to move away from a 4-4-2 midfield diamond to a 4-2-3-1 set-up at home to Southampton saw Swansea taste defeat for the first time since the new man took charge. With Andre Ayew and Wayne Routledge fielded on the flank and Alberto Paloschi handed the lone striker role, the Welsh side managed just two shots on target throughout the 90 minutes as the Saints chalked up a sixth straight clean sheet in a 1-0 win. Post-match, the Italian slated his players’ displays, though revealed that the switch was merely down to Southampton’s 3-5-2 formation:

“During the week we worked very well. We worked very hard. We chose another shape for this match because I knew Southampton played with three defenders. We prepared very well, but for the first time in my five matches I saw my team play not very well.”

Koeman talks attackers

Southampton reverted to a 3-5-2 set-up across the previous two Gameweeks, fielding Graziano Pelle and Shane Long as the strike partnership. This system’s employment of three central midfielders saw Sadio Mane – who had started 11 of the previous 12 – drop out of contention away to Swansea last weekend, while new signing Charlie Austin has been afforded no more than a trio of brief second-half sub appearances since moving to St Mary’s last month. Speaking on the make-up of his forward line, Ronald Koeman admitted that only Long has earned the right to a regular role as the competition up front intensifies:

“I think he (Long) deserves to start because he’s working hard. He’s complaining defenders. He’s always on the move. He’s always running. He’s very dangerous. That’s the reason every time I start with Shane… We play a little bit different at the moment. We don’t play with three in front. We play with two strikers. That’s one why he (Mane) did not start today and in the last few weeks he was a little bit struggling. He was working hard, but really what he can do and what he can show for the team was not like that… Every player needs to give the best of himself. For that he needs competition. That’s normal and we like to have this competition because this makes the team really strong. It’s all about opportunities. At the moment he (Austin) is not starting, but that can change in one or two weeks”

Neil backs Ruddy for the run-in

Having been usurped by Declan Rudd back in Gameweek 14, John Ruddy returned between the sticks for Norwich’s 2-2 home draw against West Ham United. The English shot-stopper re-joined a defence that’s conceded four more goals (18) than any side over the last four Gameweeks. Explaining the reason behind the switch, Alex Neil suggested that Ruddy’s top-level know-how would be vital in the Canaries’ quest to stave off relegation:

“I just think that his (Ruddy’s) experience in this type of run-in and his presence will be important for us. Performance-wise he did pretty well today. Declan Rudd has not doing much wrong but I think I need to put the best team out to win games. John is looking lighter and fresher and today he looked a lot better.”