Steve Cooper will be a worried man as he prepares his Leicester City side to face Arsenal at The Emirates on Saturday.
Leicester City are still without a win under Steve Cooper in the Premier League and it does not get much tougher than an away game against title-contenders Arsenal.
The pressure is already starting to ramp up on Cooper after a winless start, with the past week really damaging for his relationship with a fanbase who were already unconvinced given the manager’s association with rivals Nottingham Forest.
Leicester welcomed bottom of the table Everton to the King Power last weekend in what represented the perfect opportunity to get a first win in front of the Foxes faithful.
However, this did not materialise as a really poor performance saw Leicester lucky to end up salvaging a draw.
This was followed up by Leicester needing penalties to beat League Two Walsall after a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, with supporters’ anger starting to boil over.
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Steve Cooper must return to Leicester City midfield trio vs Arsenal
A heavy defeat against Arsenal could well spell the end for Cooper at Leicester despite the fact it will be just the sixth league game of the new season.
One of Leicester fans’ gripes with Cooper is his negative tactics but he may have to return to a decision that drew criticism earlier in the campaign to have a chance of upsetting Mikel Arteta’s side.
That is by playing the defensive midfield trio of Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp and Wilfred Ndidi.
Cooper played this midfield in the defeat against Aston Villa and draw at Crystal Palace, with Ndidi operating as the most advanced of the three.
Understandably, this was widely viewed as a very negative tactic, but against Arsenal it could well be the best chance Cooper has of getting a result.
The fact it is such a difficult away trip should also mean Foxes fans appreciate the need for the more cautious tactics, with Arsenal very capable of blowing any side away if they are too expansive.
Cooper could save Leicester city job with result at Arsenal
Things can change very quickly in football and supporters tend to be a very fickle bunch.
Despite the fact Leicester are yet to win in the league this season, they have managed three draws in their five games and currently lie 15th in the table.
Avoiding relegation was the mission objective for Cooper when he took the job and they are currently outside the bottom three.
Cooper knows that the form needs to improve but it is still very early days in his tenure and he is still integrating the nine summer signings.
A result against Arsenal could quickly help get supporters back on side for the Welshman and then they have a run of Bournemouth, Southampton and Nottingham Forest which could have a massive say on Cooper’s future.