Pattern emerges in three Steve Cooper decisions with one more Leicester City change significant
With Harry Winks dropped for the victory over Bournemouth, the Leicester City line-up took another small step to feeling distinctly that of manager Steve Cooper
One more change to the Leicester City line-up that defeated Bournemouth and Steve Cooper may have an 11 that feels distinctly his.
With Harry Winks making way for the 1-0 win over the Cherries, just six of the regular City starting line-up from the Championship triumph remained. One more and the majority of last year’s team will have been changed.
Cooper did not have the chance to select Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, the midfielder sold to Chelsea before pre-season training had even begun, but it has been the manager’s decision to leave out Ricardo Pereira, Jannik Vestergaard, Abdul Fatawu, and now Winks.
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Fatawu is a unique case. He did start the first three Premier League matches before being dropped for Stephy Mavididi, another regular from last season. In Cooper’s system, for now, it seems like there’s only space for one of the two.
Both are seen as out-and-out wingers, who thrive in one-on-ones when staring down their full-backs near the touchline. But in Cooper’s set-up, one of the wingers needs to be adept at drifting inside and playing as an attacking midfielder. The likes of Facundo Buonanotte, Jordan Ayew, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid are more suited to such a role.
But for Ricardo, Vestergaard, and now Winks, there’s a theme. Each have been replaced in the line-up by a player who may not be technically as good, but is physically stronger.
Ricardo, one of the best technicians in the squad, has lost his place to Victor Kristiansen, the Dane capable of flying up and down the flank for 90 minutes. It’s the same for James Justin too, so Cooper can trust either to play that role, with the other tucking in to join the centre-backs.
Vestergaard, integral to the last season’s team with his passing through the lines, has been ousted by Caleb Okoli. It’s not that Vestergaard cannot defend. If he has to sit in a low block, he will marshal the penalty area very well. But he is vulnerable when chasing attackers one-on-one, which is something Okoli is much more comfortable with.
Oliver Skipp is the man who has come in for Winks. It’s just one game for now and Cooper did explain after Bournemouth that he has a host of midfield options and wants “certain things for certain games”. He didn’t rule out Winks coming back in.
But the manager did also say that City “hadn’t won for six games and so you’re looking for little solutions”. That City did succeed after the change was made means the midfield combination of Skipp and Wilfred Ndidi feels likely to continue against Southampton next weekend.
