Cooper: A Good Feeling

- Leicester City drew 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur at King Power Stadium
- Jamie Vardy opened his account for the season in the second half
- Steve Cooper praised the performance from his team after falling behind
- Tweaking some tactical aspects led to a big improvement following half-time

Jamie Vardy’s second-half header saw Leicester claim a point on their Premier League return, with City’s captain cancelling out Pedro Porro’s opener for the Lilywhites. The proverbial game of two halves, Cooper praised the attitude from his team after the break, looking like a different team, and making it count at the top end of the pitch.

“We definitely leave the pitch feeling more positive at full-time than we did at half-time, that’s for sure,” he analysed after the final whistle. “We didn’t get some of the gameplan right in the first half, there’s no doubt about that. That’s not what we want to be and who we are.

“Because we didn’t quite get our out of possession game right, we didn’t get our in possession right, that was clear. We showed a few clips to the players and we all took responsibility and then I thought you saw a good performance in the second half.

“We got it right and got it going. We were good for the equaliser, and good for another goal as well. My job is to also look at the first half and get that right as well. I won’t be ignoring that.”

Summer recruits Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Facundo Buonanotte both started for their competitive Club debuts, while Mads Hermansen, Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu all made Premier League bows in the draw.

Cooper, meanwhile, was more than pleased to experience the matchday atmosphere for the first time in the home dugout and believes that will be a huge contributing factor if Leicester are to have a successful season.

City’s Manager continued: “We had lots of Premier League and Club debuts and lads playing more minutes than they have done already. There’s a lot going on behind the team which will help and all of those things going on, there were bound to be some nerves and anxiety, especially after we didn’t play well against Lens.

“With that second half, the guys know that they can succeed at this level, they can play well, they can have a good impact, they can dominate against a good team. This is a team who will be fighting right at the top, there’s no doubt, with the level of players they have.

“We had some really good moments against them in the second half. We became a really difficult opponent and it will be a really difficult environment for any Premier League team to come and play in. I felt that. It’s great for me and the new guys to experience the stadium as it was.

“It’s a reminder to the guys who have been here for a while what this stadium is like. I’m really grateful for that and I know the players will be as well. It just seemed like a proper place in the second half and I don’t think any team will want to play here, against us, with how we played with this crowd behind us.

“I love being here, it’s my new home. I really enjoyed it and I like how the fans gave a bit of acceptance to being back in the Premier League and got behind the team and then when we responded, the fans responded even more and that was on repeat. 

“It was a fairly positive start, but we want to be winning games. We’ve won many games over the years here and Leicester fans will be used to that, but we’ve got to recreate that. This is a Premier League Football Club, but we’ve got to become a Premier League team again – that’s the aim.”

Cooper saved a word for Vardy, who made his return to action in the opening fixture, having been injured since the first game of pre-season. The mercurial No.9 was eager to play his part and did just that, striking the crucial blow.

The 44-year-old added: “If the game was yesterday or Saturday, I don’t think he would have played. It wasn’t sitting right that we were going into the game without an experienced centre forward. He came to see me and declared himself fit. I have a really strong relationship with him, I trust him, we played him and then he does what he does.”