And with that, I’m off. Here’s Stuart James’s match report, by way of further reading. Bye!
David Unsworth has his post-match chat.
Second half, much better. The positivity and the way we wanted to play, on the front foot, was there for all to see. First half we didn’t start. Formations, tactics can go out the window if your players don’t play on the front foot. Our performance was certainly a lot better second half. At half-time I wanted an extra man in midfield. You have to tinker with your formations, and it gave the full-backs some extra space to go into. For whatever reason first half it didn’t work. You’ve got to be reactive, and you’ve got to show the players that you’re on the front foot as well.
We had a couple of half-chances, but nowhere near – first half – the performance level that I would expect. We’ve just picked a team, the last two games. Fresh eyes, and what we felt was the best team to win a game of football. Today, first half unacceptable but we’ve reacted and second half we’ve dominated without getting the reward. I’ll pick teams that’ll win a game of football, it doesn’t matter about the reputation and the value of the player.
Jamie Vardy talks:
The gaffer’s come in this weeks and to be fair to him he said for this game he didn’t want to change too much, just a few tactical tweaks, and it’s paid off today. We’ll be in this week looking forward to next week’s game and we’ll see if he brings in a few more changes.
And so does Demarai Gray, the man of the match:
I’ve had to wait a long time for my opportunities but it’s a new start. We’ve had momentum off the back of the last two games and we’ve brought it into today’s game. The second is 100% my goal. 100%. I’ll take it, and take the three points. The boys know once we score the first goal we’re going to be fine from there. Second half they put pressure on us which was to be expected but we’ve seen it out.
Final score: Leicester 2-0 Everton
90+4 mins: It’s all over, it’s three wins on the spin for Leicester, and it’s more gloom for Everton.
90+2 mins: Niasse tries to take the ball past a defender on the left flank before crossing into the box. Instead he takes the ball off the pitch and then crosses into the stands.
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90+1 mins: There will be three minutes of stoppage time. “Going down!” trill the home fans.
90 mins: Iheanacho comes on for Vardy.
89 mins: Baines’ dipping shot from 25 yards dips over the bar. They have had an enormous number of wayward efforts from range, and not a lot else.
88 mins: “They don’t look like scoring, and they don’t look like keeping a clean sheet,” says Jamie Carragher of Everton. Other than that, this has been a much-improved display.
86 mins: Leicesetr fluff a chance for a third! Vardy goes down the right and centres, and Iborra runs onto it, gets his feet in a muddle and sends the ball bobbling wide.
84 mins: Niasse does something quite good on the left, chasing two defenders and winning the ball off them, but his cross is straight to a defender and the corner that follows the clearing header is itself cleared.
82 mins: Chilwell runs down the left, Baningime chivying and hassling him all the while, and does well to stay on his feet, drive to within a couple of yards of the byline, and win a corner. And that’s his final contribution to the game, as Marc Albrighton replaces him.
81 mins: Jagielka comes forward in an attempt to cut out a pass to Vardy and misses it, and the Leicester man is suddenly sprinting free into the penalty area. A poor touch later, however, Williams has cleaned up the mess.
78 mins: Everton’s next five league fixtures are Watford (h), Crystal Palace (a), Southampton (a), West Ham (h) and Huddersfield (h). A team with their ambitions should be getting 12-15 points from that run of fixtures, really.
77 mins: Niasse, who has been absolutely rubbish since coming on, shoots high from just outside the area.
76 mins: Jagielka loses the ball to Vardy on the left and so fouls him quite badly. Vardy, to his credit, leaps straight to his feet in search of some advantage, and Jagielka thus evades a caution. The free kick, meanwhile, comes to nought.
75 mins: Leicester make their first change, bringing Okazaki on for Mahrez.
74 mins: Sigurdsson, with his first touch, sends in a lovely corner that nobody gets on the end of.
73 mins: Wayne Rooney is going to make way for Sigurdsson. He doesn’t seem entirely gruntled about it.
71 mins: This really is a non-stop barrage of Everton possession, pressure and imprecision.
70 mins: Which is cleared.
70 mins: Gueye’s lovely pass picks out Niasse in the area, but he can’t do anything with it. Still, Everton win a corner.
69 mins: Everton are preparing their final substitution, which will see Sigurdsson rise from the bench. On the pitch, Everton continue to scuttle about purposefully, though ineffectually.
66 mins: Gueye gets booked for something I didn’t see. Apparently he took out Vardy at some point, and then play continued for a while
64 mins: Calvert-Lewin spins away from Maguire on the right and sends in a decent low cross, but Morgan gets there first and boots clear. From the corner Jagielka attempts an overhead – we’ve had a real glut of those recently – but it goes wide.
64 mins: Everton are very much on the front foot, but they just can’t do anything remotely interesting actually inside the Leicester penalty area. Davies tries to run into it, but finds a defender in the way.
61 mins: Everton work the ball down the right, across to the left, back to the right, into the middle, back to the right, finally Davies crosses and Niasse attempts a wildly optimistic 18-yard overhead that goes nowhere near the target.
59 mins: Gueye’s shot from 25 yards flicks off Maguire’s back and loops over.
57 mins: Iborra crosses from the left and Vardy, in the middle, juggles the ball and tries an overhead, which goes wide. Williams scrapes his calf in attempting to close him down, but after a bit of writhing around Vardy makes a full recovery.
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55 mins: Fuchs launches a long throw into the penalty area, which Pickford punches clear, not entirely convincingly.
53 mins: Since half-time Everton have reduced width and increased tempo.
51 mins: Rooney curls a lovely ball into the area, over two defenders and onto the boot of Niasse … who miscontrols. Schmeichel collects.
48 mins: Chilwell drives through midfield. He ignores Davies’ tackle, hurdles Rooney’s attempt, jumps over Baningime’s, and after all ignoring three invitations to go down and win a free kick falls over no one at all. The referee gives him a free kick anyway.
47 mins: Davies wins Everton a corner, to loud roars of approval in the away corner.
46 mins: Peeeep! They’re off! Again!
Two changes for Everton at the break: Mirallas and Lennon are off, Baningime and Niasse are on.
Sky show some excellent footage of Joe Royle having a chat with David Unsworth during the first half after sneaking pitchside, before being ushered away by the fourth official because he wasn’t supposed to be there.
Half time: Leicester 2-0 Everton
45+3 mins: So that’s it for half one. Leicester have been sporadically excellent, Everton occasionally dangerous. They should have stopped the second goal and had a penalty of the own, which would have put a different complexion on things. But they didn’t.
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there’ll be two minutes or so.
44 mins: Jagielka has a shot from range, which rumbles across goal and well wide.
42 mins: Everton are pushing for some pre-interval encouragement, but though their approach play is fine their final ball is not. The latest attempt is Rooney’s cross from the left, which is flicked into an empty area and collected by Schmeichel.
38 mins: It appears that, because Gray’s cross looked to be curling towards the far post anyway, he might end up being credited with the second goal. Jonjoe Kenny is unlikely to be too upset by this development (though it was certainly his fault).
37 mins: Another Mirallas shot from outside the area, and this one is tipped round the post by Schmeichel.
36 mins: Mahrez loses the ball 35 yards from his own goal, and Mirallas slams a curling shot just wide. “So are Everton living up to manager Unsworth’s big-day promise of playing on the front foot?” asks Justin Kavanagh. “I’ve always thought that, for a forward, Rooney constantly played on the back foot in that he would always drop back further and further to get the ball. Whereas someone like Vardy is about as direct a forward as there is in this league, even though he plays for a team that won the league playing on the counter attack.” Rooney’s doing fine, I think, and Everton are certainly not lacking intent when they have the ball. But they’re having no luck, and the more intent they show, the more likely Leicester are to score on the counter.
34 mins: And nearly another Leicester chance, as Vardy just fails to reach a through-ball down the middle. Pickford comes out to grab it first.
33 mins: The ball is played to Vardy on the right and Mahrez and Chilwell both run into ludicrous amounts of space to his left. By the time Vardy has controlled the ball, turned to face the right direction and looked up, though, they’re in much less space, and then he hits a bad pass to neither of them.
31 mins: Everton want a penalty! And they’re not getting one! Lennon runs into the area, Fuchs slides in to stop him getting the ball, doesn’t touch the ball himself and takes Lennon’s legs. It’s a clear and obvious penalty. Not given.
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GOAL! Leicester 2-0 Everton (Kenny crazy own goal, 29 mins)
Gray puts in a blind cross from the left that goes straight to Kenny at the near post, who swings his right foot at it, tries to hoof it clear and instead it flicks off the top of his boot and inside the near post!
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27 mins: Everton miss a great chance! Wayne Rooney created it with a fantastic pass through the Leicester defence to Lennon, who might have had a shot but instead squared the ball to Calvert-Lewin, who was marked, and who tries to get the ball but instead lets it run between his legs.
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24 mins: Rooney taps Iborra on the ankle after the ball’s gone and is unimpressed when the Spaniard then rolls around dramatically for a while.
22 mins: Vardy screams down the left, while Mahrez runs unmarked into the area to his right, but the cut-back is intercepted by Williams. Mahrez, though, steals the ball right back off him and tries a shot, but it’s not very hard and Pickford saves very easily.
20 mins: And a booking, as Davies pulls Vardy by the arm and the referee is unimpressed.
GOAL! Lovely Leicester goal! Leicester 1-0 Everton (Vardy, 18 mins)
That’s a perfect break! Gray is the inspiration, picking up the ball just outside his own penalty area when Baines’ free-kick is headed clear and haring downfield. He beats Davies, he beats Gueye, he runs infield and then plays to Mahrez, running down the right – with Baines marooned upfield after that set piece – whose first-time low cross is turned in by Vardy!
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14 mins: It seems he and Gueye innocently, absent-mindedly bumped heads. Mahrez has had his wound blotted and patched up with Vaseline, and returned to the fray.
13 mins: A few minutes of midfield rumble ends with Mahrez on the ground holding the back of his head. With good reason, too: there seems to be some blood coming out of it.
10 mins: And now Vardy’s fine cross from the left comes to nothing because Gray couldn’t quite keep up with him. Still, lots of pace, width and attacking intent from the home side.
9 mins: After some good work from Morgan, on his back from the corner, Gray is played down the right again and this time his low cross reaches Chilwell, whose first-time shot flies high!
8 mins: The corner is flicked on at the near post and falls to Morgan at the back, but Williams blocks his shot! That was a decent chance, well snuffed.
7 mins: Gray runs down an empty right flank and improvises a decent cross when off balance which is turned behind for a corner.
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5 mins: Jagielka sends the ball down the right flank, where Calvert-Lewin and Maguire do battle. The Leicester defender stops Calvert-Lewin winning the race by blocking him with his left arm, holding him back, and then pulling his shirt for a bit. Finally Maguire falls over – and is given a free kick!
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3 mins: The first shot of the day comes from Gray, who picks up the ball in a central position and fires low, hard and a couple of yards wide from 30 yards.
1 min: Early signs of that width David Unsworth was talking about, as Baines spears in an excellent cross from the left. There’s nobody in the middle to compete for the header, though.
1 min: Peeeeeep! Everton get the match started with a punt down the left flank and an immediate surrender of possession.
And now they are but a Remembrance Sunday-related minute’s silence away from action.
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The players are out of the tunnel!
The players are in the tunnel!
David Unsworth has done some talking:
A whole deal of positivity. We want to be positive, we want to play on the front foot. I want to play with width, to create numerous chances and to produce the kind of football the Everton fans want. The message to the players is, play on the front foot and have a right go. We’re here to win football matches. PLay with freedom, try to stick together, and try to create the chances that we need to score goals. Is it a big day for me personally? I think when you’re Everton manager it’s always a big day. Our Everton fans, they demand that. We do it for them and we hope to produce a winning game for them.
Two changes for each team, then: Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray come into the Leicester team, while Everton bring in Idrissa Gueye and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Michael Keane is among the notable players to get the day off.
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A case of life imitating art, and reality emulating parody:
Yes! pic.twitter.com/r7VBh6JP9U
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) October 29, 2017
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The teams
The team sheets have been handed in, and here are today’s protagonists:
Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Fuchs, Mahrez, Ndidi, Iborra, Chilwell, Gray, Vardy. Subs: Iheanacho, King, Albrighton, Hamer, Dragovic, Slimani, Okazaki.
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Jagielka, Williams, Baines, Mirallas, Davies, Gueye, Lennon, Rooney, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson, Holgate, Lookman, Robles, Niasse, Beningime.
Referee: Andre Marriner.
Today's starting XI: Schmeichel, Simpson, Maguire, Morgan (c), Fuchs, Ndidi, Iborra, Chilwell, Gray, Mahrez, Vardy. #LeiEve pic.twitter.com/8s1UfeDwnm
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 29, 2017
📝 | Team news is in! DCL back in the side, Mirallas and Lennon keep their places. #EFCawayday pic.twitter.com/ctZgpJjhYE
— Everton (@Everton) October 29, 2017
Hello world!
So, let’s ignore the football and talk about managers for a bit. After all, that seems to be all the rage these days. Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho, Arsène Wenger, Marco Silva, Craig Shakespeare, Roy Hodgson, Frank de Boer, Slaven Bilic, Ronald Koeman, David Wagner, Jürgen Klopp – it seems everyone’s either incredibly good, not good enough, about to leave or only just arrived. A few weeks ago we published this:
Which seems reasonable enough (I would say so – I wrote it), but also seems quite similar in tone to this:
Which was about a manager who ended the season getting the boot for being boring. It was, in short, a little premature (just to be clear, this isn’t Paul Doyle’s fault – he would have been asked to write a piece of a certain nature – and it’s not the commissioning editors’ fault – it seemed a perfectly sensible idea at the time. But perhaps with hindsight some of our coverage of early-Puel Southampton was a little overexcited in tone, and now we’re doing exactly the same thing with a different new manager at a different club.)
We should, in short, probably calm down a bit. Managers clearly do define their teams, they spend more time speaking to the media than anyone else at a club and they will inevitably be the subject of a lot of attention, but perhaps we’re guilty of letting this focus become a little too overbearing. This season, it seems, more than ever. Let’s just take a step back from the manager narratives and let the football do the talking for a while, eh?
Having said that, Claude Puel! David Unsworth! Etc.
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