Leicester

Michael Beardmore
BBC Sport Journalist at Poundland Bescot Stadium

Image source, Getty Images

Mere weeks into his Leicester tenure, Steve Cooper heard his first real cat-calls – and vowed after the game he would not shy away from them.

Chants of ‘Cooper, sort it out’ and ‘this is embarrassing’ punctuated the second half at the Poundland Bescot Stadium as Leicester looked prime cup-shock material.

The boos at the final whistle were replaced by cheers after the penalty shootout triumph but Cooper admitted afterwards the outcome glossed over a display he termed “average at best”.

Rather than attempting to deflect the unrest, however, Cooper said he was determined to tackle it head on and “prove himself” to the Leicester support.

His vow to “own” the criticism made a refreshing change from so many bosses who either ignore fan unhappiness or wheel out excuses.

Cooper did none of that – but he did defend his decision to make 10 changes, insisting the team he put out should have been experienced enough to prevail.

Ultimately, they did – but the fact they needed penalties to eke past a League Two side will raise concerns about the depth of quality at his disposal.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Leicester’s performance, external

Come back to this page on Wednesday to find a selection of your replies

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton thinks Leicester, along with all the promoted teams, would take avoiding relegation from the Premier League "by any means".

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, Sutton believes Steve Cooper has "a really difficult job" and is "still striving to find out what his best first XI is."

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Kate Blakemore
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester weathered the storm on Saturday (literally!) and the performance, particularly the first half, was a damp squib.

The season's first 'six pointer' had fans fired up, eagerly anticipating the first win, against the Toffees who were in a sticky spot. However, the first half was lacklustre and littered with errors, with many fans questioning Steve Cooper's future.

We're used to a distinct identity under Enzo Maresca’s philosophy - although that didn't escape fan criticism either. It was arguably much easier for Maresca to instil his philosophy in the Championship; a much more forgiving league away from the spotlight. Cooper's philosophy is opaque, he's unsure of his best 11 and, while we've seen glimpses, we're still waiting for things to click into place.

I think fans justifying Cooper’s sacking is largely based on his time at Forest; a completely different structure, team and set up. This can't be the stick to beat him with – he needs time.

Of the five league games, three were while the transfer window was still open/closing (and included Spurs and Villa); the squad wasn't finalised. Therefore, this squad have had just two games together and of the 14 players used on Saturday, six have little or no Premier League experience.

It’ll be a tough season; everyone said that as we lifted the Championship trophy. Now that's being borne out and the task is upon us, it's clear how tough it is for a promoted team, regardless of manager. We’ve competed and scored in every game and are 15th in the table; I’d take that after 38 games! The players have their part to play - Vardy's one-on-one miss against Spurs and Coady's error last week being examples. Rome wasn’t built in a day. In the words of the great Dolly Parton, 'if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain'.

Find more from Kate Blakemore at Leicester Till I Die, external

Antalyaspor and former Premier League midfielder Andros Townsend speaking about the Premier League's promoted clubs on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "I don't think at the moment (they should be concerned) because especially watching the Ipswich and Southampton game, both teams have got a clear identity of how they want to play and I think if you go back to Luton last season, we didn't get that until maybe the end of October, early November so I think they're already ahead of where we were.

"For Southampton, obviously it's just cutting out the silly mistakes. They're playing out from the back and they're losing it and conceding goals but I don't think they should just throw everything out that they learnt from the Championship. I think they should continue doing it and improving those players and players will improve.

"With Ipswich, the majority of that group have come up from League One into the Championship then into the Premier League so there's always going to be a bit of adaptation and I can see they're improving every game. I think it's still too early to see which teams are going to be in big trouble this season."

Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester manager Steve Cooper says he will pick an "experienced and strong" team to face League Two side Walsall in the Carabao Cup third round (Tuesday, 20:00 BST).

"It's a game we want to win, it's a game where the team we put out will be an experienced and strong one," said Cooper, whose side are yet to win in the Premier League this season.

"Whether we decide to make changes or go with players who play in the league, it will be an experienced team and a game we want to win."

Among those who could be involved is Ricardo Pereira, who was a mainstay in the team that won the Championship title last season but has made only one appearance for the Foxes this season - in the second-round victory over Tranmere.

Cooper said: "Ricky is an excellent pro, a very important player in the dressing room and the culture, he leads by example.

"He'll want to play games and he knows he's in a competition like every other player is and sometimes you have the shirt and other times you haven't.

"We are in a strong position at right-back."

Image source, PA Media

Five games into the Premier League season, Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton - the three clubs promoted from the Championship - are yet to win a league match.

They have taken a combined seven points from those games, which is the joint-second lowest tally from a set of promoted teams since the Premier League began in 1992-93.

Only last season's promoted trio - Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United - have collected fewer points from their first five league matches of a campaign.

The good news - for Leicester and Ipswich, at least - is their three points apiece are enough to keep them out of the relegation zone at the moment.

Statistics collated by BBC Sport statistician Chris Collinson

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Leicester City and Everton.

Here are some of your comments:

Leicester fans

Andy: I feel like our squad is reasonably strong and some of our players are playing well but I just can't understand Steve Cooper's tactics. I'm not sure what he is trying to achieve. Watching Jordan Ayew trying to beat full-backs is painful. Starting a 33-year-old winger ahead of Abdul Fatawu and Kasey McAteer is baffling, especially when he's up against Ashley Young.

John: Could do better, so the saying goes. Playing too passively and not pressing teams early on - it's as if they are playing away at home games. This emanates from the manager, as does the questionable team selections and tactics. Urgent improvement needed or the worst will happen.

Dino: Pretty poor for most of the game. I don’t think we have an identity. Whether you liked Enzo Maresca's style or not, at least you knew what we were about. We seem to be stuck between styles. Stephy Mavididi was our best player but did get taken off!

James: Once again, it's a combination of too little, too late, and coming out of the starting blocks too slowly. Leicester were very poor in the first half and deserved to be behind. Tactics and substitutions were once again questionable, but still somehow salvaged a point. The Foxes once again showed they can compete, just too inconsistently to survive.

Everton fans

Carl: I just knew Leicester would score. We had chances to put the game to bed but we crumble in the last 20 minutes of games and Sean Dyche's subs are a joke. Too negative of a manager

Tony: We're scoring goals. We're making opportunities - that's progress on last season. We've got a manager with a sense of realism and players that care about the outcome. It's hard for fans who want more - the problem is without having money to buy the club or the ability to play there's not a lot of influence you can bring to bear. I have faith.

Ian: Two points lost. Why take Jesper Lindstrom off for Jack Harrison? That was a defensive move, when we should have been looking for a second. Then, to take Iliman Ndiaye off totally lost our attacking front. At least we got a point. Onwards and upwards.

Chris: We need to start defending better. It's great going in front, but this is the Premier League. If you don't take the other chances when they fall your way and you don't defend properly for 90-plus minutes you are going to get punished. There were one or two positives today, but we need to do much better if we are going to climb up the table.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper has been looking for the positives after Steve Cooper's side managed to rescue a draw against "bang average" Everton at King Power Stadium.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast straight after the game, Piper praised "really good" left-winger Stephy Mavididi: "He got his full-back [James Garner] on a booking and was beating him every time he got the ball in the second half. He was taking Garner on with ease and creating chances down that left-hand side.

"But then the manager brought him off - and left Jordan Ayew on down that right-hand side! Ayew does work hard and he put a bit of a shift in, but there was not too much end product and he looked like he was tiring towards the end of the game.

"As soon as you see Abdul Fatawu warming up, you think he is 100% coming on for Ayew but then Steve Cooper took Mavididi off. He was our best player in that second half - so I don't quite understand that."

While pleased by Mavididi's display, Piper was unimpressed generally with the level of performance from Cooper's side.

"Often, if you play like Leicester did in the first half and second half, then you will lose Premier League matches," he said.

"It was only because they came up against another bang-average and often poor side that has had a poor start to the season - I think that was the only reason we got anything from that game.

"I thought that it was a desperately poor football match really. The weather was shocking. The game was poor. It wasn't a great Saturday."

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Gary Lineker presents highlights and analysis from Saturday's eight Premier League fixtures.

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Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth

• Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester United