Cooper: We Didn’t Do Enough
- Leicester City were beaten 3-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford
- Steve Cooper gave his thoughts following the Premier League defeat
- The Foxes remain on 10 points from 11 games with the international break coming up
Bruno Fernandes’ goal got things underway at Old Trafford, followed by an unfortunate Victor Kristiansen own goal that the United captain also had a hand in. The third from Alejandro Garnacho sealed three points for the Red Devils and ended Leicester’s run of scoring in every Premier League game up to this point.
While enjoying passages of possession throughout the game, there was a lack of a cutting edge, Cooper believes, which proved to be City’s downfall in Manchester.
“Obviously it’s a disappointing result and scoreline,” the Manager reflected. “It was two shots from outside the box and a cross and a free contact for the second goal. The reality is that we can do more in terms of getting up to the ball and stopping two easy shots from distance and balls into the box. That’s cost us.
“People will talk about the quality of the finishing around the box and United do have that, but we’ve got to look at ourselves and we can definitely do more. The phases of play have come from our corners and that really summed up today in terms of our real intent and willingness to score and not concede.
“At the other end, we’ve got in more than enough positions to be a threat, whether it be in one vs. one, in and around the box, players ahead of the ball and overall we just haven’t done enough as a team to be a threat on goal and that’s why the scoreline was the scoreline.
“We need to do more to stop shots and crosses around the box and do more at the other end to be a real threat on United’s goal. In defining moments, we’ve fallen short. In the general game, you never thought there was going to be one team that would score, but in certain moments we didn’t do enough to stop goals and at the same time, create as well.
“We don’t want to be a team that plays well sometimes in games and there’s no purpose to it. You want to play in games because you get up the other end of the pitch and turn play into a threat on goal and we didn’t do that today.
“The game was fairly even for large parts but when you get towards goal, you need to do everything it takes to score a goal. They did that better than us today for sure.”
The Foxes were without both Jamie Vardy and Ricardo Pereira on Sunday, missing through injury, and Cooper was able to provide an update on both of their conditions.
“Vards is a little bit inconclusive,” he explained. “He picked up a back injury last week at Ipswich and struggled to shake it off so we’re still seeing how that goes in terms of how long he will be out for.
'We Can Do More'
Foxes Manager Steve Cooper on Leicester City's 3-0 reverse at Old Trafford.
“Ricky is more conclusive. It’s a serious muscle injury that will rule him out for three to four months, so it’s a real blow for everyone, especially him, and it’s a bad time but now we need to support him with his recovery and his attitude is brilliant with everything so I’ve no doubt he’ll be the same with this.”
There’s now time to reset heading into the international break, with Chelsea due at King Power Stadium a week on Saturday for the Premier League’s return.
The 44-year-old added: “Nothing changes in terms of what we’ve got planned for the next couple of weeks. The first week is less intense because you’re not preparing for a game but there’s still a lot of work to do with the players who are here and off the training pitch as well to start reviewing, planning and seeing what is next for when we recommence.”