The Crucial Decision Steve Cooper Should Have Made to Match His Own Call for Ruthlessness at Leicester City
Key Takeaways from Leicester City's 2-1 Defeat to Aston Villa: Substitutions, Midfield Setup, Caleb Okoli, Possession Stats, and the Relegation Fight
“Results in this league aren’t handed to you; you have to earn them.
Part of that involves being ruthless. Do we need to be ruthless in games to achieve our goals? Absolutely.”
This was Leicester City manager Steve Cooper’s statement on Thursday as he prepared for his team’s match against Aston Villa.
His assessment was accurate, but putting it into practice proved more challenging.
It’s not just the players who need to be more ruthless—Cooper does too.
There was an opportunity against Villa, but it seemed Cooper didn’t seize it until it was too late.
Lamare Bogarde was clearly a weak link for Villa. A 20-year-old center-back with no experience above League One was making his Premier League debut at right-back, and it showed.
He appeared nervous both with and without the ball.
Jordan Ayew, with his sharp footballing mind, quickly exploited this, managing to dispossess Bogarde a few times or pressure him into misplaced passes.
However, Ayew’s strength isn’t in beating defenders one-on-one. He’s more about hard work, ball retention, and drawing fouls than outpacing a full-back with quick moves and speed.
Ayew played well and didn’t necessarily deserve to be substituted, but if Cooper had made a more ruthless decision, he would have identified Bogarde’s vulnerability and brought on Stephy Mavididi at halftime.
Even against Tranmere earlier in the week, Mavididi showed he could be inconsistent, but over the past year, he’s proven to be Leicester City’s best one-on-one attacking option on the left wing.
Bringing him on at halftime would have been a bold move, but after missing that chance, Cooper had another opportunity in the 55th minute when Bogarde was booked, putting him in an even more precarious position. Yet again, Cooper stuck with the same lineup.
It wasn’t until Jhon Duran, one of Villa’s substitutes, scored to make it 2-0 that Cooper made changes, including bringing on Mavididi.
Just five minutes later, Mavididi burst past Bogarde and set up Facundo Buonanotte’s goal.
