Steve Cooper has a long way to go to become a fan favourite at Leicester City having taken over from Enzo Maresca in the summer.
Steve Cooper rose to prominence at Leicester City‘s rivals Nottingham Forest, taking the club to the Premier League and surviving in their first season before being sacked last December.
His association with Forest aside, Cooper was also not viewed as the most inspired of appointments given his pragmatic style and the fact his tactics are so different to those that won Leicester the Championship.
What has happened on the pitch has done little to flip this narrative, particularly after a week in which Leicester drew 1-1 at home to bottom of the league Everton before drawing 0-0 with League Two Walsall and eventually scraping through on penalties in the Carabao Cup.
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Steve Cooper insists he wants to play ‘attacking’ football at Leicester City
Many fans feel Cooper made unnecessary defensive substitutions as Leicester squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace a fortnight ago, before his side managed just two shots on target against lowly Everton last week.
A Premier League win remains elusive for Cooper at Leicester and a trip to Arsenal this weekend may well be the last thing he or the team need.
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Cooper was confronted by an angry supporter in the midweek draw at Walsall but has used his pre-Arsenal press conference to explain his style and defend his tactics.
Cooper told the media: “We want to play exciting, attacking football, create overloads in certain areas of the optic that can create hotspots and hurt the opponents.
“That’s with plenty of players in the middle of the pitch and added width with high full-backs and wingers.”
Cooper did concede that his side are far from the finished article, adding: “There’s loads of things we’re working on, some bits are steadily going well and some we need to make strides on, but I always knew that would be the case.
“It’s a challenging job, but one we’re really committed to.”
Cooper may have to opt for pragmatism as Leicester City face Arsenal
Those that have watched Leicester this season will be forgiven for thinking there is a real disparity between the tactics Cooper describes and the reality.
However, it is still very early days for the manager and perhaps it is harsh to critique him too much so soon.
Despite his insistence on wanting to play attacking football, Cooper may have to take a pragmatic approach against Arsenal on Saturday or things could get very messy for Leicester.
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It is likely to be a game in which Leicester must defend for their lives before looking for opportunities on the counter-attack and any sort of result at The Emirates will give Cooper a bit of much-needed breathing room.