The more you think about it, the less Leicester City’s 4-2 defeat to Arsenal makes sense. Was this a drubbing or a daylight robbery? Somehow, it seemed to be both at once.
Steve Cooper’s side conceded a staggering 4.62 expected goals (xG) from 36 shots, with Leicester’s goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen, breaking a Premier League record by making 13 saves in the game.
Despite that, Leicester were level with Arsenal until the 94th minute, when the floodgates finally opened. Arsenal’s first goal was shrouded in controversy after a clear foul on Jamie Vardy was overlooked in the build-up.
To make matters worse, Riccardo Calafiori could and probably should have been sent off, while Wilfred Ndidi’s own goal was a deflection that summed up Leicester’s bad luck on the day.
It was a match that epitomised fine margins, even as the statistics overwhelmingly favoured Arsenal. Leicester, however, are now six games into their return to the Premier League without a single win. That alone has left supporters questioning just what has gone wrong.
Inevitably, much of the criticism has been aimed at manager Steve Cooper, the former Nottingham Forest boss who was the most affordable option after Enzo Maresca’s departure to Chelsea.
Cooper, who built a reputation at Forest for defensive pragmatism, was expected to bring solidity and results, but neither has materialised thus far.
He is not known for free-flowing football, but fans hoped his experience would steady the ship.
Instead, Leicester have the joint-lowest shots per game in the league, while conceding the most at the other end, averaging 19.3 shots against per match.
Their expected goals (xG) is the lowest in the division at 5.38, suggesting even their meagre goal tally has been a technical overachievement.
Leicester’s only win this season came in a 4-0 thrashing of Tranmere in the EFL Cup. They even needed penalties to edge out Walsall after a dire 0-0 draw.
It was during that latter game that a fan broke onto the pitch in an attempt to confront Cooper, while chants of “Cooper, sort it out” echoed through the away end.
Remarkably, it took only seven competitive matches for a section of Leicester’s supporters to turn on their new boss.
“There’s a perception with Cooper that he’s overly cautious and when he can pick a hard-working defensive player over a more popular attacking one, he will,” James Knight of The Fosse Way Podcast explained.
“That’s caused a lot of personal antagonism towards him. When you marry that with the lack of wins, that’s caused some of the frustration.”
This frustration, it seems, is not entirely of Cooper’s making. The discontent stems from deeper issues, dating back to Brendan Rodgers’ tenure, where poor results and a lack of strategic direction festered among the fanbase.
“The reality is there’s been an undercurrent of anger for a long time, going back to when Brendan Rodgers was manager. It bubbles out from under the surface after every poor run of results,” Knight added.
Though the current malaise at Leicester isn’t solely Cooper’s fault, he finds himself the most visible target for fan discontent. Director of football Jon Rudkin remains an elusive figure, rarely engaging with supporters even in the club’s better moments.
Many feel Rudkin’s role is questionable, with some accusing him of riding on the emotional goodwill Leicester built during their title-winning campaign, despite several poor transfer decisions and last season’s relegation.
“There’s a lot of anger towards Rudkin,” Knight said.
“There’s a sense that Cooper was the cheap option, that they picked him because he was free and available. Look at the Odsonne Edouard signing too – it just seemed like he was suddenly available, rather than any long-term planning for a player they wanted. It’s hard for a manager to turn that into a functioning team.”
This lack of clear direction within the club’s backroom has left Leicester in a state of limbo. Even after spending £77.4m this summer on nine new signings while waving goodbye to 10 players, the squad feels like a mishmash of ideas.
On the one hand, Cooper’s pragmatic approach prioritises physicality and defensive structure, while on the other, the club has players more suited to the possession-heavy, technical style introduced by Maresca.
“It feels stuck between what Cooper wants to do – a more physical, direct style – and the players he has, which aren’t really there for that,” Knight said.
“His team selections have reflected that. They’ve started every game really slow, it’s almost like they’ve started trying to get through an hour and see where they are.”
One particularly frustrating example of this came in Leicester’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
With his side leading 2-1, Cooper brought on centre-back Conor Coady, defensive midfielder Hamza Choudhury, and winger Abdul Fatawu for an attacking midfielder and two wingers.
Leicester conceded a 91st-minute penalty which Coady gave away, leading to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s equaliser. It’s decisions like these that have compounded fans’ frustrations.
The one silver lining Leicester supporters had hoped for was the club’s successful appeal against a potential points deduction, a situation that seemed inevitable as the season approached. Yet, even that victory feels hollow amidst their struggles.
“The disappointing results on the pitch have diluted [the impact of the points deduction] a bit. There was no big moment on the pitch where you felt like the clouds had cleared a bit. It was one of those things where there was a lot of Twitter celebration when it got thrown out,” Knight observed.
“But I don’t think there was any sign of that in the crowd. You need to get some football momentum to really benefit from that and they just haven’t had that at all.”
There is, however, a chance for Cooper and his team to turn things around. Leicester’s next four fixtures pit them against Bournemouth, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, and Ipswich – four teams who have only managed three league wins between them this season. These are games Leicester must capitalise on if they’re to pull themselves out of their current slump.
“The next four are going to be very important,” Knight emphasised.
“If they don’t win a couple of those, there is going to be a lot of pressure. I trust that Cooper will get this right given a bit more time. But a couple of more bad results, especially at home, and it is going to get very toxic. All bets are off at that point – if he loses the crowd with his Forest connections as well, it’s going to be very difficult for the players.”
Leicester’s home matches, in particular, have been cauldrons of frustration in recent years. During their relegation campaign, every home defeat was met with palpable anger, a cycle that threatened to boil over at every setback.
Cooper will need to win over his doubters soon, or risk finding himself at the centre of a storm, much like the one that ultimately led to the club’s relegation.