The season so far

[Long Eaton Fox]

Need to start the game more aggressively. 

Second half is how we should start the first.

Impressed with the determination to compete.

Promising signs from a number of new players.

Team selection confusing.

Substitutions are either wrong or late.

Not out classed in any game though fortunate not  to be further behind at half time.

15th

A bit of tweaking could improve us massively.

 

 

[StanSP]

Cooper out. 

[Legend_in_blue]

Lacklustre.  Just like Cooper.

[AjcW]

The only positive is we're not bottom on -6 points...

[don_danbury]

yeah cooper out

[Muzzy_no7]

Pooper Out.

 

Close thread 

[Kopic]

Shite.

[foxile5]

Cooper is managing us like we're Cheltenham Town and every game is the fifth round of the cup. Hoping to scrape a draw or not a beating. 

 

Needs to go.

[Vazman]

Unambitious, no intent to go for it, half arsed game  plan and preperation, worrying team selections and baffling subs, relegation awaits on current trajectory, route cause an out of depth manager Steve Cooper, remedy, get rid,  bring in a more competent manager to get the best out of a capable squad.

[suffolk fox]

I find it slightly amusing that every thread topic now turns into a Cooper out thread.  There are only so many ways you can spin it.  Two defeats from five games, three draws.  I am sure the 

supporters of Southampton, Ipswich, Wolves, Everton and Palace should be just as concerned.

 

Most, of you lot would have us stranded at the bottom with 0 points and having not been competitive in any game.

 

Facts are we have played five games haven't really looked out of our depth in any of them (bar the first half against Spurs)

 

Some of you need to get over the Forest connection with Cooper.  It's the same as when Campbell jumped ship from Spurs to Arsenal.

 

Facts are he came to us when nobody else wanted the job.  No manager was coming to us knowing we were getting a points deduction.  Facts the goal posts have moved on this makes no difference.  Every manager has his favourites.  Riccy P, Fatawu, may not have been starters if Potter or Corberan had come in.

 

Those calling for Moyes as manager?  Seriously?  He like Big Sam is a busted flush.

 

Cooper with his current premier league record is going nowhere.  Ten games is normally the bench mark, to judge where you may finish come the end of the season.  Let's wait and see.

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/what-leicester-city-getting-right-9576224

 

What Leicester City are getting right in search of first win – and what they're getting wrong
An evaluation of the season so far, reflecting on the first five Premier League matches of the campaign, as Steve Cooper's City remain on the lookout for their first victory

ByJordan Blackwell
07:00, 24 SEP 2024

Five games in and Leicester City are without a win this season, their first back in the Premier League after a relegation and a title triumph. It’s not an ideal situation, but then neither has it been disastrous. After all, City are 15th in the Premier League table, having drawn more games than they've lost.

There are positives and negatives to take, and the balance of those will depend on your viewpoint concerning the season so far. But to evaluate the first five Premier League games, we’ve picked out five positives and five negatives that sum up City’s campaign as far as it goes...

POSITIVES

Competitive in every game

The win that everybody of City persuasion craves has not yet arrived, but neither has it felt too far away. In all of their five matches, City have been competitive. Perhaps apart from Fulham, a victory has felt possible in all of them. They are yet to be totally outclassed.

That may sound like faint praise, but it’s important, particularly for a side battling to stay in the division. It was true of Nigel Pearson’s team 10 years ago too. If a squad feels like they’re well in every game they play, it’s easier to keep up morale and belief, strengthening the possibility of results down the line.

 

Second-half comebacks at home

City have trailing at half-time in all three of their home matches, the only club in the division for which that is true. But in all three of those games, they’ve come out and been the stronger side after the break.

They’ve not folded in matches where they have trailed. They’ve shown spirit and resilience to fight back and found weaknesses to exploit and threaten the opposition. Right now, no side has a better record in the second half of home matches than City. That’s a big positive for Steve Cooper, not least because it seems the players are responding to his half-time team talks.

 

Committed defending

City have probably done more defending than they would like, and they have still conceded a good number of chances. But the opportunities they have given up have not emerged from a lack of effort in the back-line.

After five games, City have produced the most blocks in the division. The defence, and particularly Wout Faes, are reading the game well and showing a commitment to the cause to close down the opposition and throw their bodies in the way. Still, the idea will be for them to need to do it less often in the future.

 

Strong goalkeeping

Those qualities in defending mean City have only conceded 25 shots on target so far, the same number as Chelsea and Crystal Palace and fewer than seven other sides in the division. When the shots have made it to goal, Mads Hermansen has done well to keep them out. It should help confidence flow through the team knowing they have a capable, reliable goalkeeper between the sticks.

The post-shot expected goals stat shows the quality of the finishes a goalkeeper has faced and their performance against the average goalkeeper. By that metric, Hermansen so far ranks as the seventh-best-performing number one in the division.

 

Set-piece attacking

Five games in and City have already scored from two corners. They have looked a much greater threat from them too, with plenty of signs of preparation over how to best exploit whichever opponent they’re facing, and a few signs of inventiveness too.

 

NEGATIVES

Yet to produce a complete performance

The results that City have earned so far have come via a solid half-hour here, or a good 20 minutes there. There’s not yet been a 90-minute display.

It may be that a complete performance is not required to earn three points, but it does mean there’s yet to be a display that City can look to as their shining light. It also means that, in all of their five games, it’s been difficult to say they deserved to win any, even if they have remained competitive throughout.

 

Slow starts

Part of the reason City haven’t been able to produce a 90-minute showing has been their slow starts. Bar the draw at Crystal Palace, City have been second-best in the early stages in every game, needing time to get up to speed. With one goal scored and four conceded, they have the second-worst record in the opening half-hour of matches, after West Ham.

 

Lack of open-play chances

City have scored in every game they’ve played, which is a promising sign. But they’ve done so thanks to decent finishing rather than by creating a glut of chances.

In all of the key attacking stats – shots, expected goals, touches in the opposition box – they rank 19th in the division, only ahead of Ipswich. They need to get those creative juices flowing.

 

Caution over substitutions

Only two clubs have used a fewer number of substitutions than City so far. Only once, against Aston Villa, has Cooper used his full allowance. That’s not necessarily a negative, but it does feel like there’s been opportunities to be more adventurous and forward-thinking with changes, and those haven’t been taken.

Particularly against Aston Villa and Everton, it felt like there were opportunities to attack weak points on the wings, or chances to bring fresher attacking players on earlier. Against Palace, defensive changes were made that negatively impacted the balance of the team.

Game-plan occasionally unclear

City do have a game-plan under Cooper. The structure of the side was clear early into pre-season, as was the broad tactical idea, which meshes some of the good work done under Enzo Maresca with a more direct approach, including more counter-attacks and balls over the top. It is less strict than last season's approach and gives players more freedom.

The issue has been that the idea has not always been evident in competitive matches. During difficult moments last season, it seemed that City were sticking too rigidly to the game-plan. Now, the issue is that there appears to be, at least from the stands, periods where there’s a lack of clarity over what City are trying to do, and that’s perhaps affecting their flow at the top end.