Ahead of the EFL Cup third round match away to Walsall, Leicester City manager Stephen Cooper spoke to the club's officials about the team's recent progress, the players' form and the upcoming match.
Speaking about Ricardo Pereira, a key player in the team, Cooper had high praise: "Ricardo Pereira is an outstanding professional in our team who plays a crucial role in the locker room and in the culture of the team as a whole. He always leads by example, and although he is eager to play, he understands that there are opportunities and challenges for every player in a competitive environment. We have a strong position at right back and whichever player plays will bring consistency to the team."
Commenting on the upcoming EFL Cup clash with Walsall, Cooper said, "In deciding our strategy for Tuesday's game, we will take into full consideration the fitness of our players after Saturday's game in order to come up with the most appropriate plan. We are eager to win this game and will field an experienced and strong team. Whether we make changes to the lineup or continue to use our starters from the league, our goal is the same - to win the game."
Looking back at the 1-1 draw with Everton in the last league game, Cooper was blunt about his team's problems: "We did play much better in the second half, but the first half was far from our level. It's not right for us to try and find other excuses and the players themselves know that. We should have controlled the tempo of the game and attacked Everton aggressively, but unfortunately we didn't do that. The passing wasn't quick enough and the attacking push lacked intensity, resulting in us not really threatening the opposition's back line."
Cooper further analyzed, "Without the ball, we were at a disadvantage in terms of confrontation, scrambling and handling of the second ball, a performance that made us deserve to lose the game. However, the players showed the right intention to play the game and chose to run and scramble more aggressively, thus winning more confrontations and shoveling opportunities. Although Everton were still a threat on the counter-attack, especially with players like Llewellyn, we were able to get a set-piece opportunity through relentless work and managed to score."
Finally, Cooper summarized the result of the game: "Looking back at the whole game and the result, we could have done better. However, considering the first half performance and the way the game progressed, being able to get a point is an acceptable result for us. We need to continue to improve and improve in future games to ensure that we can take more chances."
