Cooper Missed the Ideal Chance to Unleash Leicester City’s ‘Special’ Talent Against Walsall – Opinion

Caleb Okoli was the only Leicester City player from the draw against Everton who retained his place for the match against League Two side Walsall, where Steve Cooper’s side required penalties to secure a win.

It was a worrying evening for Cooper and Leicester, as a team filled with experienced fringe players struggled to create opportunities against Walsall, managing only two shots on target throughout the match.

Players like Ricardo Pereira, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, and Odsonne Edouard failed to make the most of their chances, leaving Leicester heavily reliant on goalkeeper Danny Ward.

Ward stepped up during the penalty shootout, saving all three of Walsall’s penalties after a 0-0 draw in regular time.

One notable decision from Cooper was the exclusion of young talent Will Alves, despite the match seeming like an ideal opportunity for Leicester’s promising youngsters to gain valuable experience.

Even though Cooper made ten changes to the starting XI, the only academy graduates to feature were Luke Thomas and Hamza Choudhury, aged 23 and 26, respectively.

This was surprising, considering that the match was against lower-tier opposition and in a competition with less significance on Leicester’s priority list.

Alves, a 19-year-old attacking midfielder, was included in the matchday squad but was not given any playing time.

Alves has made three senior appearances for Leicester so far in his career, including 18 minutes off the bench in the 4-0 win over Tranmere Rovers in the previous round of the Carabao Cup.

Despite Leicester’s clear lack of attacking creativity, Cooper opted not to bring on the highly-rated youngster.

Alves’ potential has been acknowledged by previous Leicester City managers. Enzo Maresca, Cooper’s predecessor, was particularly impressed with the midfielder.

Alves might have seen more first-team action had it not been for a significant setback in early 2023 when he was sidelined for ten months following ACL surgery.

He had made his debut under Brendan Rodgers in 2022, and after returning from injury, he rejoined Leicester’s first-team training under Maresca’s guidance.

Speaking about Alves in October during his recovery process, Maresca expressed his admiration for the player’s potential.

He told Leicestershire Live: “Because it was a very long injury, he has to work every day, train every day, enjoy every day, and then slowly come with us.

But we’ll see. For sure, we’ve had him for a couple of sessions, and we can see that he looks like he has something important, something special.”

With Leicester facing pressure in the Premier League, it remains uncertain whether Alves will get further opportunities this season.

If Cooper chose not to utilize him in a cup match against a League Two side, his chances for first-team action might be limited this season.