Transfers, tactics and the Enzo Maresca legacy – Steve Cooper’s five key tasks at Leicester City

While Steve Cooper has been busy working at Leicester City’s Seagrave training base for the past two weeks, he now has the chance to get his hands on it.

The players are back in pre-season training and so preparations for the new Premier League campaign are intensifying. In the six weeks until City host Spurs on Monday, August 19 (8pm), Cooper has plenty to do.

Here, we note five key tasks for the new City boss, with transfers, tactics and Enzo Maresca’s legacy all featuring on his ‘to do’ checklist. If Cooper can do these things, it should lead to a positive season…

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Evaluates team to determine transfer business

Cooper said he watched almost all of City’s games last season so will have ideas on how players can be used and how they could fit into his plans. From there, Cooper can decide which ones are surplus to requirements and which positions need to be strengthened.

But Cooper won’t have been able to see everything from last season’s games. He needs pre-season training and friendlies to get a better idea of ​​the players’ qualities and how they might perform in his system.

For example, there will be players who have barely emerged under Maresca, such as Harry Souttar, who will need to be thoroughly assessed in pre-season, as Cooper’s research will have revealed little. Then there are loanees from last season, such as Boubakary Soumare, for whom the same applies.

Victor Kristiansen is a particularly interesting case. The left-back hasn’t featured in Maresca’s line-up but looks ideal if Cooper wants to play with his preferred full-back formation. While it looked like the Dane was destined for a permanent exit this summer, Cooper may see a young, developing player committed and feel he is worth keeping.

Cooper will also need to assess the club’s young players. Will Alves, Sammy Braybrooke, Logan Briggs and Silko Thomas all look set to be in first-team training and if they can hit a level in pre-season that convinces Cooper they are ready for a permanent role in the senior set-up, that make it easier. pressure on the transfer market.

Work with the recruitment team on objectives

Good progress has already been made on the transfer front with three players signed and the permanent return of Abdul Fatawu set to make it four. However, there are still areas that need improvement, particularly in the offensive midfield and perhaps up front.

For the remaining business that Cooper feels City need to do, he needs to work with the club’s recruitment team. They have shown that they deserve to be trusted.

Transfers can sometimes be at the center of a power struggle between a manager and the club he works for, but Cooper should heed the advice of head of recruitment Martyn Glover. He was praised by Maresca for discovering Fatawu, while bids for lesser-known players such as Mads Hermansen and Stephy Mavididi also paid off. He knows what he’s doing and can make sure Cooper has the right players to meet his requirements.

Players win after Maresca exits

Unlike when a manager has been sacked and players are perhaps more open to new ideas to change form, Cooper takes over a team that not only won a title but liked the man who led them to it. He will have to work to show that he is worthy of being Maresca’s successor.

The players are professionals and will get on with the job, but they were impressed with both Maresca’s tactical knowledge and work rate. To convince the team that he can maintain his good form in a higher division, Cooper will have to prove that he can close with Maresca on both fronts.

Execute the tactics for the return to the Premier League

City arrived in the Premier League with a very clear way of playing. Cooper must determine what to keep from Maresca’s year at the helm and what to change.

Most managers have distinct playing styles and will not consider what their predecessor did. But when Claudio Ranieri took over, he made the sensible decision not to change much at all from a side that had been in good form before his appointment, and that proved to be a master stroke.

Conor Coady said on the final day of last season that City needed to stick to their values ​​and philosophy in the Premier League, showing faith in the methods that got them promoted. But perhaps an element of pragmatism needs to be added to the mix, knowing that City will not recover in the first place. Cooper needs to establish that balance and then put it into practice throughout the pre-season friendlies.

No more club drop kicks

For too long, game pieces have been a problem. Defensively, they caused City all sorts of problems for several years in the Premier League, so much so that it was overlooked how bad they were in attack.

It’s something that continued last season. According to Opta data, City ranked 22nd out of 24 clubs for expected goals from kicks, ranking just ahead of Birmingham and Plymouth. Considering the number of corners and free kicks they have had compared to their rivals, this is pretty bad. In defending set pieces, they did better, but still not as well as would have been hoped, ranking 13th for expected goals conceded from set pieces.

In the Premier League, it will be more difficult to mark and defend your set pieces, so it’s really an area that Cooper needs to address if City are to stay up. The good news is that he has already made progress on this front.

Andy Hughes was brought in as first team coach from Norwich, where he handled the club’s set pieces. The Canaries have been one of the best at attacking dead balls in the last quarter, so the appointment of Hughes will make City a bigger threat from corners and free-kicks. For Cooper, the task is to ensure Hughes has enough time to train the players each week.

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