‘A Real Commitment & Togetherness’ – Cooper’s Assessment Prior To Palace
The Premier League season, just three games old when interrupted by international fixtures, is still very much in its early stages, and its return takes the Foxes into south London, heading to Selhurst Park for a meeting with Crystal Palace.
Sitting down with reporters ahead of Saturday’s 3pm BST kick-off, City’s Manager gave his verdict on what the past week has brought, as well as the plans put in place to earn that first league victory of the campaign.
‘Implementing what we want to be’
While the international break can stall any momentum built up in the opening weeks, Cooper very much tried to use it to his team’s advantage, working on several aspects of their tactical ideas and fitness with the members of the squad not called away on national team duty, while also continuing to build the spirit of the team.
“We’ve tried to maximise the international break as much as we can,” he revealed in his press conference from LCFC Training Ground. “A lot of players have left and represented their countries, but we’ve had a good core of players who have stayed here and got some good work in.
“With players signing late in the window, we’re still going through a natural transition of getting back into the Premier League and a change of coach and still trying to implement what we want to be as a team now.
“We're getting the senior players to go with it and drive it and embrace the challenge I’m putting on them, which I feel is a good one, and they’re taking on that challenge. It also gives me a good opportunity to see the players taking on the ideas. We’ve managed to continue that.”
‘We need to start now’
It’s a results business and the 44-year-old was keen not to shy away from that, despite seeing some good signs against Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Aston Villa. However, that first win will be a significant milestone to reach, aiding the sense of togetherness in the camp.
The Welshman continued: “Hopefully now we’re back into games, starting at Palace, we can definitely improve results. We could have got more points than we have for sure, but we’ve got to make that the case.
“The last thing we want to be doing, like Villa, is getting applauded off for a good performance without getting the result, and definitely trying to get something out of the game.
“Albeit we know there were a lot of positives in the performances and stuff to improve on, we want to be getting the results and that’s what we need to start doing now. We’ve got to own that – staff, players, particularly the senior players driving that forward and with the belief that we can do that.
“Parts of every performance have been good and other parts haven’t and that’s all aspects. Rising to the challenge of Championship to Premier League, we’re under no illusions how hard it can be when you come back up, but we really feel we can progress.
“The signs are good and the main thing is how together the lads are and how good training is. You have definitely seen a real commitment and a real togetherness in the first three games so far in our team and the ideas I’m asking them to play and finding a way with that.”
New talent bedding in
It’s still early days for the likes of Bilal El Khannouss, who made his Foxes debut as a substitute against Aston Villa before being called up to represent Morocco. Odsonne Édouard will have to wait a little longer for his City bow however; ineligible to face his parent club this weekend.
Cooper added: “In the latter part of the window, we’ve signed players who can operate at the top end of the pitch. Bilal, for example, he managed to get on the pitch against Villa and then went straight to international duty. I saw him yesterday (on Wednesday) for the first time. He has only had a couple of sessions with us.
“It’s frustrating that Odsonne can’t play on Saturday, but we’re looking forward to introducing him when we can, as well as the other players who we’ve got now at the top end of the pitch, adding to the talented boys we’ve already got here. With players coming in, we have to develop these connections.
“There’s really good competition and we want the guys to be pushing each other and really driving the ideas to make sure we get to a place where we really want to be in games. There’s a few things that we’re still building in the team around our identity and the different challenges of the Premier League.”