Palace 2-2 Leicester: 3 Foxes Talking Points

Heartbreak for Leicester City 

As FoL reported, with the exception of Patson Daka - laid up for a few months with an ankle injury - the Foxes encountered Palace with a full squad of players to choose from. Those away on international duty came back with a clean bill of health. Steve Cooper again relied on a mixture of experience and a preference for the players brought in since his appointment. Oliver Skipp, Caleb Okoli and Jordan Ayew kept their places and Stephy Mavididi came in on the left with Abdul Fatawu missing out.

The result was heartbreaking for Foxes fans. A solid first half performance led to Vardy opening the scoring after 20 minutes with a trademark finish. Leicester went in at half time still ahead with Palace offering little. The early part of the second half was crazy with the Foxes extending their lead through Mavididi only for Palace to claw one back moments later after a lengthy VAR check. As the half progressed Leicester were pushed back and two minutes into stoppage time, a rash challenge by substitute Conor Conor gifted Palace a penalty which Jean-Phillipe Mateta slotted home. 

Has Cooper got it right?

It’s clear that the Leicester boss is intent on not repeating his experience with Forest in their first season back in the Premier League. Then, his team’s attempt to replicate the high press attacking football that had got them promoted resulted in a succession of defeats. A more defensive set up ultimately kept the East Midlands club up. As Rob Tanner noted in The Athletic, Cooper is much more pragmatic than Enzo Maresca. As Southamption have found out this term, and Burnley last year, to persist dogmatically with a possession-based game for newly promoted sides does not appear to work.

From the off with his new club the Leicester boss has opted for defensive solidity. Against Palace, he started with Harry Winks, Skipp and Wilfred Ndidi as his midfield three with the hardworking Ayew on the right. For a large portion of the match, Cooper’s tactics were vindicated. However, his substitutions were questionable. Bringing on Coady for Ayew and Hamza Choudhury for Ndidi in an attempt to shore up the points resulted in Leicester giving up possession to Palace and retreating deeper and deeper. Arguably, although it’s not possible to legislate for an experienced defender like Coady making the error that gifted Palace their penalty, these tactics made an equaliser more likely. 

A land that time forgot

If you need reminding that we live on a crowded island a trip to Selhurst Park is strongly recommended. It took our coach three hours to reach Selhurst Park from the outskirts of London on the M25 as we wound our way through the congested streets of south London. 

Getting there, we could be forgiven for thinking we had passed through a time warp. The ground is a real blast from the past. Aesthetically, that might be no bad thing but when it hinders the viewing of the match that is unacceptable. Sitting (or, to be more accurate, standing) towards the rear of the Arthur Wait stand, a gantry running its entire length enables a view of the pitch but the game becomes a mystery when the ball is in the air. The other three stands are barely visible too. With all the money splashing around the Premier League, and Palace’s longevity in the division, I find it amazing that they have not improved the ground or, as many other clubs have done, built a new one.