Steve Cooper opted against using one forgotten player, despite injuries in the side against RC Lens.
Leicester City lost out to Ligue 1 side RC Lens in their final pre-season bout before the start of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.
Despite the poor performance on the road, the Foxes had new signings on show in France with both Caleb Okoli, Issahaku Fatawu and Bobby De Cordova-Reid getting valuable minutes as part of Steve Cooper’s side that took on the Ligue 1 outfit.
However, bad news arose for Cooper, who saw striker Patson Daka hobble off the field in the first half with a suspected injury, which makes the current absence of Jamie Vardy that much more catastrophic for Leicester City.
Despite having a striker on the bench, Cooper surprisingly turned to winger Stephy Mavididi to provide a goal threat, which came as a surprise to one journalist in particular.
There is no doubt that this has created uncertainty over the absent attacker’s future at Leicester City, with fans wondering why he wasn’t utilised in the first half and was instead not brought on until the 67th minute whilst Cooper’s side were 3-0 down.
Steve Cooper left Tom Cannon on the bench for Stephy Mavididi
When Daka’s injury concerns forced him to come off the pitch, with Cooper undoubtedly not wanting the striker to aggravate any potential injury over a pre-season friendly, many would assume that the former Nottingham Forest manager would turn to Tom Cannon on the bench, with striker being his obvious and natural position.
However, Cooper opted to bring on Mavididi in place of Daka, leaving Rob Tanner on X to write ‘make of that what you will’ in response to Cooper’s decision to leave the Englishman on the bench.
Cannon is gaining traction from Championship clubs, who are willing to sign the striker on loan for the 2024/25 campaign.
Steve Cooper’s management of Tom Cannon could come back to bite Leicester City
It looks as if Cooper is unlikely to have Cannon as part of his plans ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League season, which is an incredibly bold move for the Leicester City boss considering the state of play and his current attacking options.
Winger depth at this moment for the Foxes is brilliant, and they may even be about to improve that with the potential loan signing of Wilfred Zaha, however at striker it looks very scarce.
Vardy is not only ageing, but is also currently unavailable. Daka could easily be out for an extended period of time following his injury in the pre-season friendly, leaving Cannon as the only current fit senior striker.
For Cooper to almost isolate the striker with this decision could massively backfire, as there is little chance that slotting any of the Foxes’ wingers at striker would have the same goalscoring impact as Cannon.