Foxes of Leicester
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Leicester 1-1 Tottenham: Three things we learnt from draw

Leicester City’s Steve Cooper put out an interesting squad, with plenty of initial controversy, and yet the Foxes managed to survive a flurry and became a storm. Here is what we learnt about how Leicester are going to play under the Welshman.

By Elliot Mackness

Leicester City FC v Tottenham Hotspur FC - Premier League
Leicester City FC v Tottenham Hotspur FC - Premier League / Malcolm Couzens/GettyImages
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A tactical game

In and out of possession, we got to see what Cooper wants out of Leicester City. The squad obviously had two different positional setups when in or out of possession and a counter-attacking game plan based around the striker.

When out of possession, the Foxes deployed a 4-4-2 formation. The Argentinian midfielder formed part of a high-pressing front two with Vardy. This occasionally changed depending on which defender had the ball when the press was triggered, but overall we saw two players pressing a defender trying to get between them and any safe passing lanes the player could have taken. This was particularly successful in the second half when Victor Kristiansen and Stephy Mavididi pushed on the left-flank heavily gaining the ball a few times from doing so.

In possession, the wings were perhaps the most interesting tactical decision. The Welshman sacrificed the wings for an overload in midfield, and pushed the corresponding fullback into a wing-back or winger position. This is why the Danish left-back started: he is an attacker through and through and can act to work well with forwards and midfielders to create opportunities. It is also why I am confused Ricardo Pereira did not feature.

Nevertheless, we usually saw Bobby De-Cordova Reid come into the attacking-midfield position to work alongside the Argentinian loanee. That is where Tottenham Hotspur are weakest - in the centre - and that is where Cooper focused his most important players. Little flicks, short passes, and intelligently timed runs. Overall, the King Power team played exactly how they had to in that second half.

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