Leicester City played out a thrilling draw against Everton at the King Power Stadium.
Iliman Ndiaye gave the Toffees a deserved lead early in the match. The visitors dominated the first half and started the second half well but could not extend their lead despite a few good opportunities. The Foxes piled the pressure on Everton in the second half and eventually got the equaliser from an inspired Stephy Mavididi. Despite pushing for a winner, Leicester had to settle for a draw,
Steve Cooper frustrated again with his substitutions
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A big talking point from the game was Steve Cooper’s substitutions. This is not the first time he has been criticised for his in-game decision-making. The common theme with Cooper’s changes has been that they usually come too late in the game and are sometimes the wrong choices.
Against Everton, it initially looked like Cooper was willing to be braver with his substitutions. The manager took off Bilal El Khannouss before the hour mark — a much-needed change. However, with Jamie Vardy looking ineffective, it was confusing why Odsonne Edouard wasn’t brought on earlier. Additionally, Jordan Ayew appeared to be tired in the second half and wasn’t making much of an impact.
Despite this, Steve Cooper kept Ayew on the pitch for the entire game and instead took off Mavididi, Leicester’s best player, for Abdul Fatawu. Not only was Leicester’s biggest threat taken off, but the substitution only happened in the 90th minute, giving Fatawu no time to make an impact. Additionally, Fatawu was played on the left wing, although he’s at his best when playing on the right flank.
“He had run his race” says Steve Cooper
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Cooper defended his decision in the post-match interview, stating that Mavididi had “run his race”. Surely he could have played another four minutes?
“He’d (Mavididi) run his race,” Steve Cooper said. “I can understand the fans’ frustration. I get that and accept it. He was excellent second half and we felt like our likely chances were going to come from that side.
“But he’d run his race physically, absolutely run his race. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s normal for an attacking player to run out of steam. We just thought we would put fresh legs on and let Abdul one or two moments. He got involved in winning a corner.
“We’re really happy with Stephy, and he didn’t come off because of his performance, let’s be clear. He came off because he had to run a lot in the first half, not in the way we wanted him to, and that accumulated into the second half. He ran out of steam. That’s all it was.”
The post Steve Cooper defends his decision of substituting Mavididi first appeared on Premier League News Now. Source - premierleaguenewsnow.com