‘Take A Good Feeling Into The Season’ – Cooper’s Message
Tottenham Hotspur are due at King Power Stadium this Monday night (8pm kick-off) for the Foxes’ first top-flight fixture since May 2023, and ahead of the encounter with Ange Postecoglou's side, City’s Manager spoke to the media in his first pre-match press conference in charge of the Foxes…
‘Working together’
As excitement builds for the new season, the hard work on and off the pitch continues, Cooper confirmed, leaving no stone unturned in the quest to be as competitive as possible when the first whistle goes.
He told reporters from the Club’s training base in Seagrave: “I’ve had a few pre-seasons now and I’ve gone into some of them feeling full of confidence and then maybe haven’t had the start that I thought we would get, and I’ve had the opposite as well where we haven’t got to levels in pre-season but started the season much better than what I thought.
“You never quite know until the game starts. What I do know is that the guys did amazing last year in terms of bouncing back by winning the league and getting back to the Premier League. They’re really looking forward to applying their work now in the Premier League.
“We’re trying to contribute to what the guys did last year with a stronger team and squad for the Premier League. Everybody is working hard to get to where we want to be, some things haven’t gone our way.
“If we can add to what is already good at the Club and support them, then that’s what we’ll be hoping to do. Every season you want to reinforce, you want to strengthen when you come up from the Championship, you want to change – every club will be the same. We’re no different and we’re still going through that process, but the Club is working together.
“We really believe in the guys that are here. We’re giving them everything. They feel good and let’s hope we can take that good feeling and good work into the new season. There’s a real excitement and good vibe about being back in the league and for us that’s the headline of our thoughts.
“There’s also a strong motivation to show their worth again and I guess that’s the feeling around the Club, including myself. We need to channel all that now into Monday night and onwards from there.”
‘Positive vibes’
While under no illusions about the task in hand, not just on Monday, but across the season, Cooper believes having an upbeat mood around the Club, carrying the momentum from promotion, can be a factor in helping to begin 2024/25 on a good footing.
“We’re really just focusing on Monday night because that’s the only thing that we can influence,” the 44-year-old continued. “That’s where our concentration and motivation is. There’s a real positive vibe around the training ground.
“I can’t wait to get back. It’s always club first but the Premier League is a brilliant place to be. I missed it, there’s no doubt about that. It’s an exciting challenge, a good challenge and it’s been a good pre-season while transitioning into becoming a Premier League team, so we’re really looking forward to continuing that challenge with the next step of the season starting.
“This is a hard-working and together group of players, which is natural and normal after a successful season. We very much want to keep a lot of that going, while balancing the challenge of the Premier League and what might need to change and adapt, because obviously it’s completely different.
“The step up is a huge one. We’ve got a nice mixture of some guys who have been there before and have come back to the Premier League, and players who are going into it for the first time and that adds a nice variety of personal motivation, linked to the team objectives.
“That’s always the case, there’s always a point to prove and a goal to strive for. It’s good for each other to understand their stories as well because that’s how you become a team and have each other’s backs. Everything has been gearing to being ready, but time will tell.”
‘Have an impact’
Without both Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka through injury, City will have to look elsewhere for goals against the Lilywhites, who will themselves pose a serious threat, and Cooper called upon everyone to step up in the attacking department against a top tier opponent.
Leicester’s Manager explained: “It’s not the perfect situation in terms of no.9s going into this game, but we have to find a solution and the right strategy for the gameplan to make sure that we can be a threat against Spurs on Monday.
“We’ve got to believe in our own way and the things that we’re doing and that they can have a massive impact on the game, including the top end of the pitch and creating and scoring goals.
“That just isn’t the striker, they can be the focal point, but it’s how you get it there and other guys at the top end of the pitch. We’ve got enough players who are more than capable of making it happen. Let’s hope we can make the right plan to get the most out of them.
“Obviously, Spurs are a really good team and play in a really defined way with some positions on the pitch that are really fixed and some which are really fluid. We’re fully aware of that and we’ve got to make sure we’ll be ready for that.
“We’re at home, it’s the first game of the season, we’ve worked incredibly hard to get back into the league and continued that through pre-season, so we really want to be focused on what we can do to have the right impact on the game and that’s where our focus is.
“Of course, Spurs have got some brilliant players and a really good manager, but that’s going to be the case every single week in the Premier League. You have to understand what the opponent does but that can never outweigh what you want to do yourself. That’s exactly where our mindset is.”