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SecretPro

Steve Cooper: The Tactics Thread

By SecretPro, in Leicester City Forum

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LVFox

LVFox

Posted
Posted

Potter to West Ham once they inevitably get rid of Lopetegui. 

Wolves will bring in some random Portuguese journeyman.

Could see us going in for Moyes, should we ever ship out Cooper this season 

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lcfc_forever

lcfc_forever

Posted
  • Popular Post
Posted

This is very good: 

 

He needs to decide on his system, otherwise it will just create more confusion. The profile of the players we bought seems suited for a more transitional, counter-attacking style vs. possession based. 

  • Like 8
Trav Le Bleu

Trav Le Bleu

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 05/11/2024 at 13:07, Ian Nacho said:

Clearly just a PSR transfer. 

Micheal Golding in 60 years time, grandchild on his knee.

 

Grandchild: "Grandad, what did you do for a living?"

 

Golding: "I used to sit around, waiting to be transferred so as to facilitate some very important dealings."

 

N.B. Michael, if you ever read this, I'm just making a very cheap joke, I'm sure you'll have a great career! :kissing:

Edited by Trav Le Bleu
  • Haha 1
Bourbon Fox

Bourbon Fox

Posted
Posted

This was so frustrating to watch.

 

The deep interplay between Vestergaard and the back line, drawing the press, only to then hoof it out to the wing for Fats or Mav to miscontrol it or lose it - whilst missing out our two best passers of the ball in Winks and Riccy. 

 

Such a pointless, low percentage tactic. Screaming at the TV.

Screenshot_20241106-175322~2.png

  • Like 2
SafewayFox

SafewayFox

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, justfoxes said:

He Hasn’t got any Tactics he hasn’t got a clue he’s actually clueless the sooner he heads off out of LCFC the better !!

I’ll take you off the “Cooper - Maybe” list mate.

sylofox

sylofox

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, sylofox said:

Am I the only one that thinks this thread has 32 pages more than it deserves?

Infact what cooper knows you could put on the back of a postage stamp.

Pita

Pita

Posted
Posted
On 03/11/2024 at 09:38, LVFox said:

Potter to West Ham once they inevitably get rid of Lopetegui. 

Wolves will bring in some random Portuguese journeyman.

Could see us going in for Moyes, should we ever ship out Cooper this season 

Moyes would steady the team. We need someone like him to keep us in the premiership for a few seasons. 

  • Like 1
davieG

davieG

Posted
Posted

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/match-reports/harry-winks-pounded-turf-fury-9704540

 

Why Harry Winks pounded the turf in fury as Steve Cooper set task by blunt Leicester City chant
Talking points from Leicester City's 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, looking at the limp performance, the unthreatening attack, Jamie Vardy's absence, Boubakary Soumare, and the full-time boos

ByJordan Blackwell
12:38, 11 NOV 2024

This was a unique Leicester City performance. For the first time, there were no especially poor spells where they were conceding big chance after big chance, but neither were there any redeeming periods of play where they piled the pressure on, doing enough to earn a result.

This was their first 90-minute performance of the season. It just so happened to be 90 minutes of nothingness that ended in their heaviest defeat of the campaign so far.

City are yet to marry solid defence and potent attack and so it proved again at Old Trafford. This time, it was the opposite combination to usual.

 

It may be hard to believe given they conceded three goals but the underlying statistics showed this was City’s most resolute defensive display of the season. Manchester United’s expected goals tally of 0.7 is the lowest figure City have given up in a Premier League game this term. Their six shots inside the box is the fewest City have conceded, considerably below their average of 14. United had just one Opta-defined ‘big chance’, again the fewest City have given up.

The quality of Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho’s long-range strikes, the misfortune of the own goal and the lack of heroics from Mads Hermansen led to three goals being conceded. But, maybe for the first time this season, their defensive structure around their box was sound.

 

That’s not to say there were no mistakes in the build-up to each of the goals. There were. But City were not torn apart. Their defensive organisation was better. If they restrict teams to the chances United had every week, their record at the back will improve.

The concern would be that United let their foot off the gas, that they didn’t create big chances because they didn’t have to. There was no real need for them to push for a third goal because City offered no threat.

For the first time this season, City lost both halves of the match. Usually, when they go into the break trailing, they come out fighting, producing a comeback or at least threatening one. At Old Trafford, they had just one shot in the second half.

Their attack was blunt. Reaching the final third was not a problem, but breaking into the penalty area proved tough. They had just 10 touches in the United box, their second-lowest amount, despite their 123 touches in the final third ranking sixth of their 11 fixtures. They completed 15 carries into the final third, the most they've managed in a game this season, but failed to complete a single carry into the box for the first time.

It’s the first time this season that City have failed to score in a Premier League game and it was the limp second-half response that is the most disappointing aspect of the performance. The defining positive feature of City’s first 10 games was their never-say-die attitude, and it was a characteristic to grip onto as fans look for reasons to believe this team can stay up. Sadly, that attribute was not on show at Old Trafford.

Winks rages as poor decisions and lapses in awareness cost City

 

So if City defended more solidly, why did they concede three goals? For all three, there was a failure to put pressure on the ball. Maybe it could be attributed to City’s keenness to defend the 18-yard box. But, more likely, there was a lack of awareness and alertness that cost them.

City did not at all switch on from the throw-in that led to the first goal, Boubakary Soumare standing well off Amad Diallo to allow him to back-heel to Fernandes. For the second, James Justin didn’t get out to Noussair Mazraoui quickly enough to block the cross. For the third, there were a number of players that could have done more, not least Wout Faes, who gave Garnacho the space to shape himself and curl into the top corner.

Ultimately, every mistake that leads to a goal falls on the manager’s shoulders, but there were poor player decisions involved throughout. For example, Victor Kristiansen inexplicably let a high ball bounce in his own half, Amad capitalising and winning the throw that led to the first goal.

Even on the ball, players made bad decisions. For the third time this season, Abdul Fatawu tried to score from his own half, in turn wasting a chance to counter-attack. Captain Harry Winks vented his fury at the winger, slamming his hands in the ground. Only 20 seconds earlier, he’d done the same when Facundo Buonanotte tried to dribble around two men to escape his own box.

It is difficult to know where the buck stops when there are poor decisions like these. Are they the players’ fault, or are they the manager’s problem for not coaching those poor decisions out of them? City are never going to go through a match mistake-free, but they certainly can’t afford as many as they’re making.

 

City must adapt as reliance on Vardy evident
Jamie Vardy doesn’t start a league game for the first time this season and City fail to score for the first time this season. It’s probably not a coincidence.

It’s not that City are always a consistent threat when their number nine is on the pitch, but his penalty-box nous, and his reputation for sniffing out chances and goals, does keep defenders on their toes. Rarely will an opposition centre-back dare help their full-back against a City winger and leave Vardy unattended.

But with Jordan Ayew leading the line, they could do that. The Ghanaian just isn’t the same threat in the penalty area. He is better at ghosting into good positions when others are attracting attention, rather than being the main man.

Plus, he naturally drops deeper to receive the ball to feet and to connect with the attacking midfielders. In turn, he’s not then in the box to cause problems. Put a cross into a dangerous area and Vardy might sneak around his man to get touch on it. Ayew doesn’t do that.

City’s reliance on Vardy is an age-old problem, but it seems to be getting worse, even as he enters his late 30s. Vardy has already played six lots of 90 minutes, as many as he did in the relegation campaign when he was two years younger. He was never going to be able to play as many minutes as he was doing and remain fit all season.

He may be back for Chelsea, but it doesn’t change the fact that City need to learn to play without him. He won’t be able to play every minute until the end of May.

Ayew is a different type of focal point. He needs runners going beyond him, rather than through balls to chase onto. The one time he got that, from Wilfred Ndidi, City created their best chance of the match. But otherwise, they didn’t adjust to the new man up front.

 

Soumare needs to be swashbuckling to be a success
After two impressive outings, Boubakary Soumare had indeed done enough to earn himself a first Premier League start of the season. But he didn’t show off the skills that made those two previous appearances so good.

On the ball, he wasn’t bad, especially first half. He was tidy in possession and mostly played sensible passes. But he wasn’t adventurous.

And he’s only effective when he’s swashbuckling. He needs to rush forward with the ball and power past opposition midfielders. He needs to have runners to pick out with first-time forward passes.

Perhaps the gameplan didn’t afford him the freedom to do that, but he didn’t produce those qualities at Old Trafford. And when he doesn’t, the downsides to his game become more noticeable.

He was perhaps guiltiest of switching off for United’s first goal while he ambled back too languidly for the third. It’s not game over for Soumare yet, but more may have been required for him to keep his spot for the next outing.

 

Blunt chant sets Cooper task ahead of big opportunity
Even amid the United cheers, the City boos were loud. This was the most beatable United side in decades and City barely laid a glove on them. As mentioned, the valiant comeback attempt that has been a theme of the campaign was not reproduced. So supporters were justifiably disappointed with their day trip to Manchester.

Cooper, as usual, did not shy away from the reaction. His sympathy for supporters, especially those that may have made three away trips in 11 days, seemed genuine.

But it still feels like he was some way to go to convince a large section of supporters that he’s the right man and that the club are on the right track. Once again, chants of “Cooper, sort it out!” were heard. It’s a direct call to action. Fans feel the manager is responsible for City not delivering what they want to see.

Cooper now has two weeks to “sort it out” and prepare for what is a big opportunity. If he can mastermind a victory over Chelsea and returning manager Enzo Maresca, it will be an extremely satisfying result and will generate lots of goodwill. But if City flounder again, it may be difficult to avoid another round of boos.

 

  • 3 weeks later...
CosbehFox

CosbehFox

Posted
Posted (edited)

Fundamentally our shape has some consistent errors which teams are taking advantage of

 

1 - The use of Andrew Hughes has a combination of first team coach and set pieces means we are often prioritising height/physicality over technical ability. You can see the selection choices done on this - as Saturday shown with a midfield combo of Wilf & Soumare. My other gut was this was why Justin was picked over Ricardo at the start of the season. 

 

2. - We continually allow the deepest midfielder of any opposition far too much time and space. With no assigned no.10, they are often free when we press and thus completely puts us into meltdown. Our central midfielders have been asked to protect the defence by not going to far forward, they retreat to 18 yard box from any set play the opposition has in their half of the pitch. This has been highlighted massively in three games; Chelsea home, Caicedo, Ipswich away, Morsy, Brentford away. This absolutely kills any attempts at pressing teams and winning the ball high up the pitch. The only time we've came up with an effective formula for this was Bournemouth at home - Ayew played like a no.10, he was so inconsistent in possession but did an excellent job in screening passes to Lewis Cook. Bournemouth eventually found a way around this hence their second half dominance. 

 

3 - Buonanotte. Now this kid is very good - really good but he doesn't trust a lot of his team mates. He's increasingly he used on the right and then comes inside. This badly affects the right flank. Not only on counter-attacks but even in organised shape. He has a tendency to get far too involved because he doesn't believe his team-mates can give him the ball or get further up the pitch. He has to be used as a no.10 whereby he's more involved and doesn't sleep on his defensive duties. I don't think it's a surprise, that when Fatawu played, we had a decent shape for once - partly full backs from opposition didn't want to push and partly he works hard. 

 

They are some of the wider shape problems we have. Plenty of others when it comes the lack of midfield runners and the full-backs not being narrow. It's depressing when the only player who is doing their job in terms of role is you bloody near 38 year old striker. 

 

 

Edited by CosbehFox
  • Like 4
AjcW

AjcW

Posted
Posted
Just now, CosbehFox said:

Fundamentally our shape has some consistent errors which teams are taking advantage of

 

1 - The use of Andrew Hughes has a combination of first team coach and set pieces means we are often prioritising height/physicality over technical ability. You can see the selection choices done on this - as Saturday shown with a midfield combo of Wilf & Soumare. My other gut was this was why Justin was picked over Ricardo at the start of the season. 

 

2. - We continually allow the deepest midfielder of any opposition far too much time and space. With no assigned no.10, they are often free when we press and thus completely puts us into meltdown. Our central midfielders have been asked to protect the defence by not going to far forward, they retreat to 18 yard box from any set play the opposition has in their half of the pitch. This has been highlighted massively in three games; Chelsea home, Caicedo, Ipswich away, Morsy, Brentford away. This absolutely kills any attempts at pressing teams and winning the ball high up the pitch. The only time we've came up with an effective formula for this was Bournemouth at home - Ayew played like a no.10, he was so inconsistent in possession but did an excellent job in screening passes to Lewis Cook. Bournemouth eventually found a way around this hence their second half dominance. 

 

3 - Buonanotte. Now this kid is very good - really good but he doesn't trust a lot of his team mates. He's increasingly he used on the right and then comes inside. This badly affects the right flank. Not only on counter-attacks but even in organised shape. He has a tendency to get far too involved because he doesn't believe his team-mates can give him the ball or get further up the pitch. He has to be used as a no.10 whereby he's more involved and doesn't sleep on his defensive duties. I don't think it's a surprise, that when Fatawu played, we had a decent shape for once - partly full backs from opposition didn't want to push and partly he works hard. 

 

They are some of the wider shape problems we have. Plenty of others when it comes the lack of midfield runners and the full-backs not being narrow. 

 

 

He's been sacked mate....

AjcW

AjcW

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, CosbehFox said:

There's no general tactics thread. 

Should have never been a Cooper tactics thread to be fair lol 

  • Haha 1

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