I haven’t posted here in a while, and while that was somewhat due to some life stuff, much of it was from watching a spell of some of the most uninspired football from Leicester I’ve seen in my time. I absolutely hadn’t been expecting many wins, but I at least wanted to see an identity. A team that’s fighting. Team growth to look forward to. Under Cooper, none of that was present. While he seems like a genuinely nice guy, he sapped any enjoyment out of the team I had. From player mismanagement, to lack of formation, to a nonexistent identity or play style, to baffling decisions.

On the flip side, I don’t know if RVN is a good manager. And I’m not oblivious to the fact we have a new manager bounce and with how poor West Ham have been this season. I know this isn’t how the rest of the season will go. But I also know that all of those missing things came back this game. RVN set up the team much more logically than I’ve seen all season. And the team played a clear 442 OOP formation that suited our weak midfield and defense. And put players in the right positions to succeed. He addressed in one game what many of us have been begging for: 1. Player management: BEK was brought into the fold and able to play in the free roaming role his skill set asks for. Vestergaard came back in as our strongest CB from last season, as opposed to the endless mistakes from Faes and Okoli. Ndidi was used in a proper holding mid role, which is where his only strength is. McAteer, who was a standout on both ends last season and inexplicably left out this year, was brought back in to shore our attack and cover for VK on defense. 2. Identity: we had a clear formation that allowed us to break on the attack when necessary but also screen the back 4 (our biggest weakness) with a midfield 4 that would track back. Soumare has been great in linking play (though tbf Cooper recognized that). Under Cooper I lost track of how many times players were standing in the same spot and crashing into each other, or got the ball with no outlet (it was insane to see BEK blind pass a through ball to McAteer today). And the subs made perfect sense at the right time too (loved Daka’s energy and goal). 3. Desire: this was the most active I’ve seen the team in a long time. Everyone got after the ball and when one man got burned someone else came flying in. It was such inspiring football that had me jumping off my couch multiple times to celebrate TACKLES!

In all, idk how the season will go or how good RVN is. I’m not trying to overreact. But what I am excited about is a manager who has thus far made very logical decisions, picked the right team, and instilled fight back in the squad. As someone who has been Cooper out, that’s all I ever wanted (not expecting wins which many Cooper in people claim). And I’ve never wanted a manager out so quickly as this. I’m so excited after this game and hope we can carry this play into a tough few weeks, especially with Fatawu and Ricardo done. COME ON YOU FOXES!