Jordan Blackwell, Leicestershire Live: Cooper was dealt a very difficult hand | OneFootball

Jordan Blackwell, Leicester City correspondent for Leicestershire Live, believes that Steve Cooper “was dealt a very difficult hand” at King Power Stadium.

Cooper was dismissed last Sunday with the Foxes 16th in the Premier League table after 12 games.

This weekend’s visitors to Gtech Community Stadium were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea last time out - a side managed by former boss Enzo Maresca.

Cooper took over from Maresca in the summer after the Italian had led Leicester to promotion back into the Premier League.

Leicester are 16th in the Premier League table, with two wins from their first 12 games. What have you made of their season so far?

It has been difficult, as it often is for a newly promoted club.

I know they have got a very decent recent history in the Premier League, but when you do drop down to the Championship and come back up, you are still a newly promoted club, no matter what has happened previously, and the focus is on survival.

In that respect, being 16th in the table is not too bad, but there has been a slight worry over the underlying performances that have clearly prompted a managerial change and also suggested they could be in trouble towards the end of the season.

There are a few good characteristics about the team and there have been a few games where they have been trailing at half-time, fought their way back into the game and picked up some good results.

They were losing at half-time at Tottenham and drew that game, they were losing 2-0 at half-time at Southampton and came back to win 3-2, and they scored a last-minute equaliser against Ipswich.

They have got fight about them, but I just think there is a real lack of quality, particularly at the start of games, that is a little bit concerning. That has been the big issue, really.

They have not started games particularly well over the course of the season so far and have put themselves in a bit of trouble, which they have sometimes responded to and sometimes not.

The club parted company with Steve Cooper last Sunday after only five months in the job. What did you make of the decision?

It was surprising in that I thought the club would give him more time, based on their past approach to managers.

A couple of seasons ago, Brendan Rodgers was struggling but lasted until early April before he was sacked - and he had a much better squad at his disposal as well.

That is probably why it is a surprise they have made the decision after only 12 games. I think it is a recognition of the underlying performances; if you look at the stats, they do concede a lot of shots and they do not have that many.

They have got a decent scoring record - there is only one game they have not scored in - but they have been very clinical and, arguably, it looks like the goals might dry up at some point unless they improve their chance creation.

With the level of performances, I do not think it is too much of a surprise, but the timing probably is a surprise.

Cooper was dealt a very difficult hand. His Nottingham Forest connection provided an obstacle, but not an insurmountable one, though it did make life a little bit more difficult for him because it meant the fans were not immediately on board as much as they would be with a new manager.

He was also coming into a team where he had replaced a popular manager in Enzo Maresca, who had won the league with the team previously, so convincing the squad to adapt to new ideas after replacing someone they really liked was a difficult task for him.

He was determined to make it work but he could not do that and I think the sense was that the club could not see that changing, so that is why they have made the decision to change managers.

With the January transfer window a month away now, what do you think Leicester need to add to aid their survival hopes?

If you asked any Leicester fan, they would say a striker. They do not lack numbers up front, but I think there is still perhaps an overreliance on Jamie Vardy.

Vardy only played one full 90-minute match last season but has already played six this season and he turns 38 in January. He is not doing too badly and has scored four goals, which is more than he scored last time they were in the Premier League, but the feeling is they need something a little bit different.

Patson Daka is fit again, but he is a very similar striker to Vardy and the feeling is they need an alternative no.9.

That is the fans’ view, but I would say they need to strengthen at full-back. That is probably where they have been weakest this season. Ricardo Pereira missed games at the start of the season through selection, came into the team for a couple of games and is now injured for four months, so they are a little bit short of numbers at full-back, but they could also do with strengthening there as well.

Generally, they have got a pretty balanced squad. I suppose you could argue a winger on loan would not go down badly now Abdul Fatawu has been ruled out for the season with an ACL injury.

Maybe there are a couple of deals to be done, but I do not think they are desperate as teams sometimes are in January.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on at the Gtech?

Facundo Buonanotte, quite comfortably. He missed the Chelsea game because he was suspended after picking up five yellow cards, but he has been Leicester’s star man this season.

The feeling when they got him on loan from Brighton was that not many fans were particularly enthused about it because I think it felt like they are always having to loan in players from rival clubs without any possibility of signing them.

It has not taken long for him to really get people excited and he is just a joy to watch. When he was breaking through in Argentina, there were comparisons to Lionel Messi and you can see that in his game, with the way he weaves in and out; he has very good ball control and he is left-footed.

He is still only a teenager, but he is the sort of player you pay to watch. He is creative, he links play well and dribbles round defenders really comfortably, but he also works very hard as well.

He will nip at ankles trying to win the ball back, which explains why he has picked up so many yellow cards so far. He has been really good.

I suspect he will start and I think Brentford fans will notice him. It is hard not to when he plays like he has done this season.

It might be difficult to say for certain after Cooper’s departure, but based on Leicester’s season so far, what should Brentford expect in terms of shape and style?

I think it will be too soon for too many changes to be made, so I think it will be similar, but there may be a slight reversion towards how they played under Maresca last season.

The feeling was that, coming into the Premier League, they could not play that possession-dominant style, but I think the players would quite like to play that way and I think they will give that a go against Brentford.

They will try to keep more of the ball than they have done in previous games, and I think they will not seek long balls as much as they perhaps have done in recent weeks.

Stephy Mavididi will probably come into the side and they will get their talented attacking players on the ball as often as possible. Jannik Vestergaard might come back into the team, too, as he is their best ball-playing defender.

I think that will be the focus, because if a new manager comes in, it is going to be with not a lot of time to work with the squad, but the one thing they can do is just try and keep the ball a little bit better because that has been part of their downfall; the reason they have conceded so many shots is because they are just not keeping the ball well enough.

Looking at the stats at the weekend, in the first 25 minutes they had one touch of the ball in Chelsea's half, so they are just putting themselves under pressure. If they can get players in the team that can keep the ball really well, that should help them at least a little bit.

What is your score prediction?

The home record is astonishingly good, but I suppose it would be typical if a team like Leicester, who have been struggling, are the team to end Brentford’s unbeaten home record! But I do think Brentford will win 2-1.