Leicester City versus Bournemouth Post Match Analysis

StriderHiryu · 6 October 2024

Our first win of the season! :scarf: We made hard work of it, but a win is a win, and this result puts a little gap between us and the bottom 3.

It's fair to say this was truly a game of two halves. We were pretty good in the first half, but totally sat back and invited the pressure on, a Cooper trademark, in the second. Check out the Momentum bar in the bottom left, that shows just how little of a threat we carried in the second half. However, it must be said that at the end of the first hald we had more possesion than Bournemouth and restricted them to only one chance from a set piece, whereas we scored and probably should have had a second from Vardy. It's just frustrating that we clearly decided not to keep playing that way in the second!

^ Our lineup had one change, but it was quite a big one. Harry Winks was dropped and Ayew came in. This mean Ndidi moved from a box crasher to be part of the double pivot and interestingly he was the one that sat deeper of the two compared to his midfield partner Skipp. Buonanotte played as the tranditional 10, with Ayew being the one that started out wide and drifted in, though these two did have fairly fluid roles and move a lot around the pitch.

^ Bournemouth made just one change from their team that easily beat Southampton, with Kluivert coming in for Outtara. I assume they did this to try to target Justin as he often gets left 2v1 on transition after a counter-press.

^ I was fearing the worst given our poor starts against Spurs, Villa and Everton, but credit where it's due, this was a good half of football from the Foxes!

^ Earlier this week I have been bemoaning our poor build up play this season, a stark contrast to last season. But it must be said that in the first 45 yesterday, we were much, much better at building out and this gave us a good platform to work with. Okoli and Faes have built a good partnership and are making a big impact in the way we play.

^ Very early on it was clear that more than any other game this season, we wanted to play out from the back. We knew Bournemouth play an aggressive press, specifically in the mid-block and that meant that being able to play our way out of trouble would be key. We lose the ball here, but Okoli makes an excellent line breaking pass here to Buonanotte, who should have passed to Mavdidi instead of Ayew. But for me this was promising to see, because this is why Arsenal totally dominated us last time round.

^ Here's an example of WHY passing out from the back is important. The first time Kristiansen picks up the ball, he hoofs it, trying to aim for Ayew along the wings, another trait of the build up in Cooper's system, however, the ball is intercepted. But the next time round, he plays the pass along the floor and the entire team combine with a sequence of passes to move up the pitch as a unit and threaten the Bournemouth backline. This was a good move, even if it amounted to nothing.

^ A few interesting things to pick out from this clip. First look how high the back 4 push on Bournemouth's goal kick. This is a lot more like last season and something we stopped doing in the second half. Moving the whole team up means we can win the ball higher up the pitch and turn transitions into dangerous moments. Once Buonanotte recieves the ball, well it's pure sauce isn't it!? He probably should have played Mavididi in, but after a run like that is entitled to a shot. This is good viewing. Vestergaard is great on the ball, but his lack of pace means playing a high line in the Premier League is somewhat suicidal. Okoli and Faes together mean we have the ability to recover if things go wrong, meaning we can compress the game much more and push the enitre team up.

^ This is one of the big changes under Cooper, and one that I am not a fan of. When we attack on transition, we only attack with 4 players, one of which will be the raiding fullback. What does this mean? It means a lack of options to play the ball to and an overall lack of threat. The fullback is also usually behind play because of the distance they need to make up. This is a shame because we have players in the squad that are very good on transition, and we were deadly on transition last season with those players.

^ Compare this to the 5 we attacked with under Maresca. This limits our attacks is a big reason why this season our overall xG is down. The argument for only attacking with 4 is to make the team more stable if we lose the ball like in the sequence above, however this is a misnomer because one of the players that is totally out of position on a turnover is the fullback, making for an obvious attacking angle for the opposition.

^ This might feel like a strange example to show, but this shows both the good and bad aspects of our team. Mads is really patient and baits Evanilson onto him before passing to Okoli. This is good and a throwback to last season where he did this to drag opposition players out of their shape. Where we go wrong is that Okoli needs to do better here and not just give the ball away. This is where Vestergaard is much better than him. However, Okoli allows us to play higher up and though his passing was inconsistent, he did make many good passes during the game. Overall I want to see us try and play out from the back a lot more. I know that just this weekend both Southampton and Ipswich came undone doing this, but the thing is that when teams press you up high, playing out fo the press totally opens up the game, as we will see later.

^ A big call with the starting lineup was to drop Winks and move Ndidi next to Skipp. Winks was the hearbeat of our team last season, but I don't think it's unfair to say he has not been in good form this time round.

^ Oli Skipp is really starting to find his place in the Leicester team. Here he receives the ball from Mads, turns, plays a one-two and almost slots in Vardy. He's mobile across the pitch, good at winning the ball back and has an abundance of energy. I think he's been a good signing that will be a lynchpin for the team for many seasons to come. Ndidi's ability to paly out from the back has gone under the radar and he's proved he is not bad at it even at Premier League level and with his physicality, it meant that certainly in the first half, we were able to get the better of the midfield battle.

^ Enzo Maresca last season said that if the back 5 play well, then the team plays well, as they give the entire team the platform to build on/ And that's what happened in the first half yesterday, as getting hold of the ball and building out meant we could feed an emerging superstar from this season, Facundo Buonanotte!

Here's his first goal, which is a great goal all round. I am not Cooper's biggest fan, but this is an exciting template going forwards.

Okoli and Faes allow for a higher line.
Faes with what he does best, an aggressive challenge to win the ball back, but not that risky as Okoli is there in case he can't make it.
Skipp and Ndidi are close to one another to allow for a bounce pass if needed to play the press, and to provide a stable core if the ball is lost.
Two players combine on the touchline for a 2v1 overload. This is the core attacking pattern from Cooper's system.
4 on 4 in the box (but I preferred the 5 we attacked with last season)
Buonanotte with the audacity to attack the box and go for it.
This entire move comes from sustaining an attack where the first wave of the attack broke down.

And this doesn't even talk about the killer finish from Facundo!

Why we backed off in the second half I don't know! This was class.

^ Another great team move!

Mads patient to bait the press and uses his CBs to get out keeping the ball
Mavididi cool and calm under pressure.
Okoli with a superb line-breaking pass to open up the game. High risk but high reward.
Ndidi, Faes and JJ play good first time passes to keep the move flowing.
Buonanotte with a good progressive carry and a superb pass to Vardy who should score!

Only one bad thing about this move and that was the finish!

This was reminscent of last season and was good football. Cooper is frustrating because we ARE capable of playing like this. But we aren't brave enough to try it more often. But credit where it's due, this was great to watch!

^ So the first half comes to an end and... we were good! Maybe you didn't like the line-up or the tactics, but objectively we were the better team, had played well, made chanced and more importantly had kept the Bournemouth threat to a minimum. Another 45 minutes like this and it would be a convincing home win...

^ A recurring theme under Cooper is to be extremely negative, very defensive and to protect a lead. Now at the end of the day, this approach worked and we won the game, but the underlying data suggests that we were lucky to get away with it, and that on paper, this should have been a draw (or worse), and this stepping off the gas is something that is obvious in every game we play.

At half-time, Bournemouth took off Kluivert and replaced him with Outtara, a like-for-like sub. However, this one change was not the reason why we started defending deep. This screenshot it taken in the 57th minute that shows you how we've changed our approach and defended deep. Bournemouth themselves were more aggressive in the press, but all the nice clips that I've posted above, I have no clips like that for the second half. The manager has clearly instructed the team to sit on the lead.

^ At 63 minutes, Iraola had enough of the Leicester defensive setup and knew he had to try to change the game to get something from it. He changed his system as both fullbacks came off and Sinistera and Scott came on instead.

^ Looking at the positions those players picked up, Bournemouth moved to more of a 352 shape, which became even more obvious 10 minutes later when they brought on another striker to compliment Evanilson.

^ This is the change that Bournemouth made to their shape, though given the chaotic way they played, they were trying to turn the game into an even more chaotic one and try and press us into making unforced errors.

^ Here we see two of those subs combining. Alex Scott picks up the ball in midfield and after a few forward passes, the ball is played out to Sinistera, who beats Justin and Buonanotte and delivers a great cross, from which Outtara hits the bar. Despite the changes Bournemouth made, they did not open us up too many times in open play, but here they probably should have scored.

^ This is one of my biggest issues with Cooper. He takes too long to make meaningful substitutions and change the game after the opposition make big changes, such as strucutral ones. Bournemouth made 4 subs in the same time we had made one in Edouard. This would have been fine if we were coasting in the game, but we were already hanging on and had little to no outlet, with Vardy clearly flagging.

^ At 82 minutes, we changed Buonanotte and Mavididi. It's super frustrating that Cooper will never play both Mavididi and Fatawu at the same time, given that both are some of the best outlet players we have. However, these subs did help us see out the game, even though the two of them had mixed performances.

^ Fatawu was FINALLY deployed on the right hand side, and he had a few glimpses of real quality. He was able to beat his man several times and progress the ball up the field, thus taking the pressure of us.

^ However, what was a little frustrating is that he did a lot of the basic stuff right, but lacked some end product. The clip above was the most glaring example. A better pass here could have played Edouard in, and he was a little wasteful on other occasions. However, once he came on, the threat from Bournemouth was reduced a bit, showing that carrying a threat yourself is important even when trying to defend.

^ On our instant match reaction, I initially called out Reid as playing well when he came on, but watching the game back, this wasn't really true. He got caught on the ball a few times and this led to dangerous attacks from Bournemouth. It is hard for subs to get into the game late on, but this game ended a sequence of over 200 games where an academy product has been in the squad. Late in the game when you need hard work, running and fight, I would like to see Kasey McAteer come on, especially at home.

^ Overall here are my match thoughts. The first half was good and showed IMO not only can we compete at this level, but we can stay up. However, the dour defensive nature of our manager I feel holds us back and not only has it already cost us points, but it will continue to do so.

^ At the end of the day though, if the league finished today... well I would take 15th position all day every day. Stop the count!!! Results really went our way this weekend, and we opened up a 3 point lead over the relegation zone. In the next 3 we have Southampton, Forest and Ipswich. If we got 6 points out of those 9, that would put us on 12 points from 10 and that is surivival form. So let's hope we take this first win and build from there!

Dahnsouff · 6 October 2024

Excellent as always. Green shoots of hope in terms of the system, just be braver Steve.

Pita · 6 October 2024

I look forward to reading your reports very well put together and interesting

Edingleyfox · 6 October 2024

Brilliant analysis. The move for the Vardy chance is great to watch.

I was confused watching the game as to where Ayew was playing as he seemed to be the number 10

Substitutions seems to be an issue as it was with Enzo. Fatawu was brought on too late IMO - his attacking and defensive attributes could have reduced pressure on Justin. I'm not keen on last minute substitutes - they may help with the clock but players need time to bed in before the final moments.

Tielemans63 · 6 October 2024

@StriderHiryu Absolutely outstanding stuff as usual 👏 Always find your analysis fascinating.

Izzy · 6 October 2024

@StriderHiryu - This bit is bang on: "This is one of the big changes under Cooper, and one that I am not a fan of. When we attack on transition, we only attack with 4 players"

Really annoys me when we break and not enough players go forward. Totally limits our options.

If that's a tactical ploy and an instruction from Cooper then it stinks.

Wymsey · 6 October 2024

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

@StriderHiryu - This bit is bang on: "This is one of the big changes under Cooper, and one that I am not a fan of. When we attack on transition, we only attack with 4 players"

Really annoys me when we break and not enough players go forward. Totally limits our options.

If that's a tactical ploy and an instruction from Cooper then it stinks.

Cooper is possibly concerned that, if too many go forward, there woupd be gaps at the back - if the opposition cut-off the attack.

Has any interviewer questioned him directly about his reasoning for his specific tactics?

brookfox · 6 October 2024

@StriderHiryu, interested in your take on Ayews contribution and what he’s bringing to the team. Think (along with Ricardo) he’s the name in the team that most baffles the fans, but is he bringing something to the team beyond the traditional attacking stats of shots, assists and goals? Was trying to watch him objectively yesterday and yes he presses a bit, carries the ball up the pitch a bit and gets fouled, but even on this he’s a bit meh.

davieG · 6 October 2024

3 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Our first win of the season! We made hard work of it, but a win is a win, and this result puts a little gap between us and the bottom 3.

It's fair to say this was truly a game of two halves. We were pretty good in the first half, but totally sat back and invited the pressure on, a Cooper trademark, in the second. Check out the Momentum bar in the bottom left, that shows just how little of a threat we carried in the second half. However, it must be said that at the end of the first hald we had more possesion than Bournemouth and restricted them to only one chance from a set piece, whereas we scored and probably should have had a second from Vardy. It's just frustrating that we clearly decided not to keep playing that way in the second!

^ Our lineup had one change, but it was quite a big one. Harry Winks was dropped and Ayew came in. This mean Ndidi moved from a box crasher to be part of the double pivot and interestingly he was the one that sat deeper of the two compared to his midfield partner Skipp. Buonanotte played as the tranditional 10, with Ayew being the one that started out wide and drifted in, though these two did have fairly fluid roles and move a lot around the pitch.

^ Bournemouth made just one change from their team that easily beat Southampton, with Kluivert coming in for Outtara. I assume they did this to try to target Justin as he often gets left 2v1 on transition after a counter-press.

^ I was fearing the worst given our poor starts against Spurs, Villa and Everton, but credit where it's due, this was a good half of football from the Foxes!

^ Earlier this week I have been bemoaning our poor build up play this season, a stark contrast to last season. But it must be said that in the first 45 yesterday, we were much, much better at building out and this gave us a good platform to work with. Okoli and Faes have built a good partnership and are making a big impact in the way we play.

^ Very early on it was clear that more than any other game this season, we wanted to play out from the back. We knew Bournemouth play an aggressive press, specifically in the mid-block and that meant that being able to play our way out of trouble would be key. We lose the ball here, but Okoli makes an excellent line breaking pass here to Buonanotte, who should have passed to Mavdidi instead of Ayew. But for me this was promising to see, because this is why Arsenal totally dominated us last time round.

^ Here's an example of WHY passing out from the back is important. The first time Kristiansen picks up the ball, he hoofs it, trying to aim for Ayew along the wings, another trait of the build up in Cooper's system, however, the ball is intercepted. But the next time round, he plays the pass along the floor and the entire team combine with a sequence of passes to move up the pitch as a unit and threaten the Bournemouth backline. This was a good move, even if it amounted to nothing.

^ A few interesting things to pick out from this clip. First look how high the back 4 push on Bournemouth's goal kick. This is a lot more like last season and something we stopped doing in the second half. Moving the whole team up means we can win the ball higher up the pitch and turn transitions into dangerous moments. Once Buonanotte recieves the ball, well it's pure sauce isn't it!? He probably should have played Mavididi in, but after a run like that is entitled to a shot. This is good viewing. Vestergaard is great on the ball, but his lack of pace means playing a high line in the Premier League is somewhat suicidal. Okoli and Faes together mean we have the ability to recover if things go wrong, meaning we can compress the game much more and push the enitre team up.

^ This is one of the big changes under Cooper, and one that I am not a fan of. When we attack on transition, we only attack with 4 players, one of which will be the raiding fullback. What does this mean? It means a lack of options to play the ball to and an overall lack of threat. The fullback is also usually behind play because of the distance they need to make up. This is a shame because we have players in the squad that are very good on transition, and we were deadly on transition last season with those players.

^ Compare this to the 5 we attacked with under Maresca. This limits our attacks is a big reason why this season our overall xG is down. The argument for only attacking with 4 is to make the team more stable if we lose the ball like in the sequence above, however this is a misnomer because one of the players that is totally out of position on a turnover is the fullback, making for an obvious attacking angle for the opposition.

^ This might feel like a strange example to show, but this shows both the good and bad aspects of our team. Mads is really patient and baits Evanilson onto him before passing to Okoli. This is good and a throwback to last season where he did this to drag opposition players out of their shape. Where we go wrong is that Okoli needs to do better here and not just give the ball away. This is where Vestergaard is much better than him. However, Okoli allows us to play higher up and though his passing was inconsistent, he did make many good passes during the game. Overall I want to see us try and play out from the back a lot more. I know that just this weekend both Southampton and Ipswich came undone doing this, but the thing is that when teams press you up high, playing out fo the press totally opens up the game, as we will see later.

^ A big call with the starting lineup was to drop Winks and move Ndidi next to Skipp. Winks was the hearbeat of our team last season, but I don't think it's unfair to say he has not been in good form this time round.

^ Oli Skipp is really starting to find his place in the Leicester team. Here he receives the ball from Mads, turns, plays a one-two and almost slots in Vardy. He's mobile across the pitch, good at winning the ball back and has an abundance of energy. I think he's been a good signing that will be a lynchpin for the team for many seasons to come. Ndidi's ability to paly out from the back has gone under the radar and he's proved he is not bad at it even at Premier League level and with his physicality, it meant that certainly in the first half, we were able to get the better of the midfield battle.

^ Enzo Maresca last season said that if the back 5 play well, then the team plays well, as they give the entire team the platform to build on/ And that's what happened in the first half yesterday, as getting hold of the ball and building out meant we could feed an emerging superstar from this season, Facundo Buonanotte!

Here's his first goal, which is a great goal all round. I am not Cooper's biggest fan, but this is an exciting template going forwards.

Okoli and Faes allow for a higher line.

Faes with what he does best, an aggressive challenge to win the ball back, but not that risky as Okoli is there in case he can't make it.

Skipp and Ndidi are close to one another to allow for a bounce pass if needed to play the press, and to provide a stable core if the ball is lost.

Two players combine on the touchline for a 2v1 overload. This is the core attacking pattern from Cooper's system.

4 on 4 in the box (but I preferred the 5 we attacked with last season)

Buonanotte with the audacity to attack the box and go for it.

This entire move comes from sustaining an attack where the first wave of the attack broke down.

And this doesn't even talk about the killer finish from Facundo!

Why we backed off in the second half I don't know! This was class.

^ Another great team move!

Mads patient to bait the press and uses his CBs to get out keeping the ball

Mavididi cool and calm under pressure.

Okoli with a superb line-breaking pass to open up the game. High risk but high reward.

Ndidi, Faes and JJ play good first time passes to keep the move flowing.

Buonanotte with a good progressive carry and a superb pass to Vardy who should score!

Only one bad thing about this move and that was the finish!

This was reminscent of last season and was good football. Cooper is frustrating because we ARE capable of playing like this. But we aren't brave enough to try it more often. But credit where it's due, this was great to watch!

^ So the first half comes to an end and... we were good! Maybe you didn't like the line-up or the tactics, but objectively we were the better team, had played well, made chanced and more importantly had kept the Bournemouth threat to a minimum. Another 45 minutes like this and it would be a convincing home win...

^ A recurring theme under Cooper is to be extremely negative, very defensive and to protect a lead. Now at the end of the day, this approach worked and we won the game, but the underlying data suggests that we were lucky to get away with it, and that on paper, this should have been a draw (or worse), and this stepping off the gas is something that is obvious in every game we play.

At half-time, Bournemouth took off Kluivert and replaced him with Outtara, a like-for-like sub. However, this one change was not the reason why we started defending deep. This screenshot it taken in the 57th minute that shows you how we've changed our approach and defended deep. Bournemouth themselves were more aggressive in the press, but all the nice clips that I've posted above, I have no clips like that for the second half. The manager has clearly instructed the team to sit on the lead.

^ At 63 minutes, Iraola had enough of the Leicester defensive setup and knew he had to try to change the game to get something from it. He changed his system as both fullbacks came off and Sinistera and Scott came on instead.

^ Looking at the positions those players picked up, Bournemouth moved to more of a 352 shape, which became even more obvious 10 minutes later when they brought on another striker to compliment Evanilson.

^ This is the change that Bournemouth made to their shape, though given the chaotic way they played, they were trying to turn the game into an even more chaotic one and try and press us into making unforced errors.

^ Here we see two of those subs combining. Alex Scott picks up the ball in midfield and after a few forward passes, the ball is played out to Sinistera, who beats Justin and Buonanotte and delivers a great cross, from which Outtara hits the bar. Despite the changes Bournemouth made, they did not open us up too many times in open play, but here they probably should have scored.

^ This is one of my biggest issues with Cooper. He takes too long to make meaningful substitutions and change the game after the opposition make big changes, such as strucutral ones. Bournemouth made 4 subs in the same time we had made one in Edouard. This would have been fine if we were coasting in the game, but we were already hanging on and had little to no outlet, with Vardy clearly flagging.

^ At 82 minutes, we changed Buonanotte and Mavididi. It's super frustrating that Cooper will never play both Mavididi and Fatawu at the same time, given that both are some of the best outlet players we have. However, these subs did help us see out the game, even though the two of them had mixed performances.

^ Fatawu was FINALLY deployed on the right hand side, and he had a few glimpses of real quality. He was able to beat his man several times and progress the ball up the field, thus taking the pressure of us.

^ However, what was a little frustrating is that he did a lot of the basic stuff right, but lacked some end product. The clip above was the most glaring example. A better pass here could have played Edouard in, and he was a little wasteful on other occasions. However, once he came on, the threat from Bournemouth was reduced a bit, showing that carrying a threat yourself is important even when trying to defend.

^ On our instant match reaction, I initially called out Reid as playing well when he came on, but watching the game back, this wasn't really true. He got caught on the ball a few times and this led to dangerous attacks from Bournemouth. It is hard for subs to get into the game late on, but this game ended a sequence of over 200 games where an academy product has been in the squad. Late in the game when you need hard work, running and fight, I would like to see Kasey McAteer come on, especially at home.

^ Overall here are my match thoughts. The first half was good and showed IMO not only can we compete at this level, but we can stay up. However, the dour defensive nature of our manager I feel holds us back and not only has it already cost us points, but it will continue to do so.

^ At the end of the day though, if the league finished today... well I would take 15th position all day every day. Stop the count!!! Results really went our way this weekend, and we opened up a 3 point lead over the relegation zone. In the next 3 we have Southampton, Forest and Ipswich. If we got 6 points out of those 9, that would put us on 12 points from 10 and that is surivival form. So let's hope we take this first win and build from there!

If we play like we have been doing then we'll need lady luck to see us take any points.

StriderHiryu · 6 October 2024

1 hour ago, Wymsey said:

Cooper is possibly concerned that, if too many go forward, there woupd be gaps at the back - if the opposition cut-off the attack.

Has any interviewer questioned him directly about his reasoning for his specific tactics?

Not that I'm aware of, but to be honest I think most people in the media only have a surface level understanding of what's going on.

What you've described there is the reason why you'd only attack with 4 instead of 5 and on paper there is nothing wrong with that decision. Where my criticism comes from though is that because it's the fullback that joins in, if we lose the ball when we attack on transition, we have a gaping hole down one side because the winger on that side has inverted in. Additionally by their very nature, a fullback is probably not going to be as good going forwards as a winger. So I feel we are neither getting the benefits of attacking with 5 nor having 6 back to defend on the counter transition.

1 hour ago, brookfox said:

@StriderHiryu, interested in your take on Ayews contribution and what he’s bringing to the team. Think (along with Ricardo) he’s the name in the team that most baffles the fans, but is he bringing something to the team beyond the traditional attacking stats of shots, assists and goals? Was trying to watch him objectively yesterday and yes he presses a bit, carries the ball up the pitch a bit and gets fouled, but even on this he’s a bit meh.

I think he's a hybrid of Okazaki and Albrighton. Hard working, wins challenges, can hold up the ball, can help get the ball up the pitch as an outlet and sets the tone. He's not useless by any means but when we get the ball back, he's not the best player to have when you have it, as he doesn't have the technical quality of Mavididi, Fatawu, Buonanotte, etc.

31 minutes ago, davieG said:

If we play like we have been doing then we'll need lady luck to see us take any points.

That's what the second half metrics say for sure. He's got to stop parking the bus like that.

TheStig · 6 October 2024

Please email your analysis to Cooper - he would certainly learn something

Bourbon Fox · 6 October 2024

Just watching the video.

Would you describe Mads as a master baiter? Or should he hold onto his balls for a bit longer?

StriderHiryu · 6 October 2024

49 minutes ago, Bourbon Fox said:

Just watching the video.

Would you describe Mads as a master baiter? Or should he hold onto his balls for a bit longer?

After that Arsenal game, I am sure Mads has balls of steel! But we'd have to ask his missus to confirm or deny it.

I actually think he's a good baiter, but not yet at master level. If he met the 13 year old version of myself with all those lads mags, he would have met someone who had reached the "master" level

Grebfromgrebland · 6 October 2024

6 hours ago, brookfox said:

@StriderHiryu, interested in your take on Ayews contribution and what he’s bringing to the team. Think (along with Ricardo) he’s the name in the team that most baffles the fans, but is he bringing something to the team beyond the traditional attacking stats of shots, assists and goals? Was trying to watch him objectively yesterday and yes he presses a bit, carries the ball up the pitch a bit and gets fouled, but even on this he’s a bit meh.

His only job is to get the ball and get fouled. Would prefer someone who could create a chance or something but there you go.

Posthorn54 · 6 October 2024

He brings on Reid and even worse Soumare. We had Ricky P and Winks on the bench. Coopers subs are appalling. The man is either clueless or had fallouts with some players. I think it’s both.

Bourbon Fox · 6 October 2024

1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said:

I actually think he's a good baiter, but not yet at master level. If he met the 13 year old version of myself with all those lads mags, he would have met someone who had reached the "master" level

Upon consideration I have decided that giving this comment a 'thumbs up' would be inappropriate and may be misconstrued as some sort of instruction

Edited 6 October 2024 by Bourbon Fox

jv1 · 6 October 2024

Absolutely tremendous analysis as usual @StriderHiryu - honestly I’d guess that’s on par with what the actual premier league back room staff do in regards to level of detail - superb

I’ll be a lot less eloquent than you in my assessment of yesterday and this season so please bare with me but this is what my actual eyes are telling me

My opinion is split like many I’m seeing - in so many regards yesterday was horrible - very little attacking threat and my god what a second half set up that was to try and hold onto a lead - would I have set us up like that or choose to play that way second half - absolutely not

I do however give cooper the smallest amount of credit - we haven’t been battered ‘result’ wise by anyone - yes I know we have been second best for the majority of nearly every game BUT and it’s a big but - we are bang in games - I see it with my own eyes - a half against spurs , most of the game against villa , most of the game at palace - (yes arsenal hammered us but they are proper decent) - I look at what is being served up and I can’t help but have some pride in how much the lads are competitive as hell - there is a huge amount of negativity towards cooper and I get it - maresca was the saviour supposedly and we should all play like that - NOPE - I don’t buy it - like Southampton we would have been humped with our team from last year playing like that every week

I say it again the lads are absolutely game as hell and I’m not buying the line they are not playing for the gaffer - they definitely are - well they are playing for someone or something anyway be it us or the gaffer or the club - they are trying their hearts out

Im old enough to look back at Oneill , Pearson , ranieri and shaky teams and I think this lot relate to a lot of that kind of football and effort

cooper is quite obviously very limited - but I’m choosing to back the boys , my team , my club and cooper

it’s not 2018- 2020 anymore- it’s 2013 and 2014 again - it 1999 again - that’s not a bad thing - we are my beautiful Leicester city and always will be - get behind the team - unite and be the noise that the ground needs - atmospheres like Saturday don’t help anyone

apologies for the big message but sometimes it’s as much about love than stats - peace out - foxes never quit 🦊

Edited 6 October 2024 by jv1

Sunbury Fox · 6 October 2024

1 hour ago, Posthorn54 said:

He brings on Reid and even worse Soumare. We had Ricky P and Winks on the bench. Coopers subs are appalling. The man is either clueless or had fallouts with some players. I think it’s both.

All of Enzo's most trusted outfield lieutentants have now been ostracised - Ricky P, Vesty and Winks. You have to think these are players who have expressed concerns about Cooper's approach and paid the price by losing their place.

Dahnsouff · 6 October 2024

1 minute ago, Sunbury Fox said:

All of Enzo's most trusted outfield lieutentants have now been ostracised - Ricky P, Vesty and Winks. You have to think these are players who have expressed concerns about Cooper's approach and paid the price by losing their place.

Suspect the choice of JJ (this type) tells you why all 3 are not selected in favour of recent alternatives.

Vlad the Fox · 6 October 2024

1 hour ago, Posthorn54 said:

He brings on Reid and even worse Soumare. We had Ricky P and Winks on the bench. Coopers subs are appalling. The man is either clueless or had fallouts with some players. I think it’s both.

I felt that his headline should have been ‘Reid and Soumare secure 3 points’

Mike1983 · 6 October 2024

Excellent analysis as always. I really look forward to reading these.

As for Vestergaard, I thought he was still injured? I think he's our smartest CB, and one of the most accurate progressive passers in the team.

StriderHiryu · 7 October 2024

11 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Suspect the choice of JJ (this type) tells you why all 3 are not selected in favour of recent alternatives.

Cooper clearly heavily values physicality in his sides. When we’re under pressure and try to get out we’ll try to hit a long ball to JJ, Ndidi, Mavididi or Ayew on the flanks who will drift out there. Vestergaard we know is slow so if he wants to play a higher line then going with Okoli makes sense.

Personally I think a good manager would find a way to use some of the most talented members of our squad, but I’m not in charge!

Dahnsouff · 7 October 2024

18 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Cooper clearly heavily values physicality in his sides. When we’re under pressure and try to get out we’ll try to hit a long ball to JJ, Ndidi, Mavididi or Ayew on the flanks who will drift out there. Vestergaard we know is slow so if he wants to play a higher line then going with Okoli makes sense.

Personally I think a good manager would find a way to use some of the most talented members of our squad, but I’m not in charge!

Damn right on this. I was and still am disappointed not to see Jannik pinging the balls from defence, and Ricardo as a Rolls Royce in midfield or defence.

Cooper seems stubborn, which rings an alarm bell of familiarity, but he has not done enough quite yet to get the boot in my mind, and anyway, Okoli and Faes looks good and fancy we may not need a Jannik if that duo continues to flourish. If he was right on that, maybe with time he may get other things right :dunno:

Edited 7 October 2024 by Dahnsouff

dr.o.ball · 7 October 2024

Brilliant analysis 👏

Aus Fox · 7 October 2024

11 hours ago, Sunbury Fox said:

All of Enzo's most trusted outfield lieutentants have now been ostracised - Ricky P, Vesty and Winks. You have to think these are players who have expressed concerns about Cooper's approach and paid the price by losing their place.

They’ve hardly been ostracised have they, Vestergaard has been injured, Winks played every game until Bournemouth, where Skipp was in my opinion rightfully selected ahead of him and Ricardo although not fancied for what ever reason , was captain for the league cup tie recently.

We have a big squad and can only choose 11 to play.

For what it’s worth, right now the only selection that’s up for debate is Ricardo, and he wasn’t particularly great in the cup games he has played.

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