Steve Cooper’s rein as Leicester City manager will reach it’s first significant landmark on Saturday as the club kick off their pre-season against Villarreal.
Steve Cooper was the man chosen to replace promotion-winning manager Enzo Maresca following his departure for Chelsea this summer.
It has been a tough start to life in charge of Leicester City for Cooper, who has seen the club’s best player leave already this summer in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Given his connections to Leicester’s rivals Nottingham Forest, Cooper may also have some work to do to win over the Foxes faithful.
He can start that work with the first friendly of pre-season on Saturday, but it will not be easy as Leicester start with a tough test against La Liga side Villarreal in France.
Whilst it will be difficult for fans to get a first glimpse of a new-look Leicester given the game will be played behind closed doors, here are three things we could learn from Cooper’s first game in charge.
Steve Cooper could reveal chosen Leicester formation v Villarreal
The first thing that should quickly become apparent against Villarreal regardless of which players feature is the system that Cooper wants his Leicester side to play.
The Welsh manager has enjoyed success playing both a back three and a back four, so Leicester fans could get some real insight into what formation Cooper feels is right for the players he has at his disposal.
When it is a back four, Cooper tends to prefer a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, whilst he has tended to use a 3-4-3 when he’s used a back three in the past.
It could be that Cooper wants his side to have a couple of different systems up their sleeve ready for the start of the season, so whatever formation is chosen against Villarreal won’t be definitive in terms of what we will see in the first competitive game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur.
First Leicester friendly could hint at role of Harry Winks
Harry Winks was a crucial member of the Championship-winning side last season, with Maresca’s possession-based tactics suiting his skillset perfectly.
Cooper’s principles are not so possession heavy and there is a chance Winks could be a victim of this as the former Forest manager often favours more physical centre-midfielders.
However, one tactic that is often a feature of Cooper’s teams is having a holding midfield player who can dictate the tempo whilst the rest of the midfield push high up the pitch to give him space in which to operate.
The game against Villarreal could give a real clue as to whether this is a role Cooper has earmarked for Winks.
If not, then the 28-year-old could potentially find his impact reduced next season.
Where will Leicester’s new signings fit in?
Leicester have made four signings this summer, although one of these is Abdul Fatawu whose loan from Sporting Lisbon has now been made permanent.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid has signed on a free and will be familiar to Premier League fans after six years at Fulham but, given his versatility, the friendly against Villarreal could give an indication of where Cooper intends to play him.
- READ MORE: Steve Cooper’s next Leicester City transfer ‘priority’ now emerges after Bobby De Cordova-Reid
Centre-back Caleb Okoli has signed from Atalanta but the formation used could hint at whether he has been brought in to play in a back three, displace one of Jannik Vestergaard or Wout Faes at centre-back, or act as back-up.
The final signing is 18-year-old midfielder Michael Golding who arrived for £5 million from Chelsea.
Having made just one senior appearance in his career to date, it is unclear at this stage whether Golding has been signed as one for the present or the future.
The Villarreal game alone won’t answer that question, but how heavily he is involved with the first-team throughout pre-season could.