Steve Cooper did not regret withdrawing Stephy Mavididi even though the change was greeted by boos by the Leicester City fans.
Cooper replaced Mavididi for the final few minutes of City’s 1-1 draw with Everton, despite the winger scoring the equaliser and posing the biggest threat to the Toffees’ back-line, continually beating James Garner. When his number was put up, the crowd responded with jeers.
Explaining the sub, Cooper said Mavididi had “run his race physically” and wanted a fresh option in Abdul Fatawu. Faced with the same situation, he would repeat the sub.
“He’d run his race,” City boss 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.
“Sometimes you make decisions and after you think you may have not got it right. But the rationale was a clear one and probably something we’d do again. Stephy was excellent in the second half, it was just that he’d run his race physically.”
Mavididi’s second-half display inspired City to fight back after a poor first half in torrid conditions at the King Power Stadium. City were second best throughout against Everton, who had lost all four league matches prior to Saturday’s draw.
Without creating any clear-cut chances, City looked most likely to score a winner late on. But it wasn’t one they would have deserved, Cooper believes.
“We were definitely the stronger team in the second half but we were nowhere near the level in the first half and it would be wrong to try to say it was something else,” Cooper said. “The players wouldn’t want that either.
“We wanted to take the game to Everton, we wanted to attack the game, and we did anything but that. We didn’t move the ball quickly enough, we didn’t play forward quickly enough, when we did get it forward, we didn’t up the intensity and really threaten Everton’s back-line enough.
“If you don’t do that, you’re not going to be a threat on any opponent’s goal. Without the ball, we were second best in duels and races and second balls. We showed them into one area and then let them come out, things like that, the goal was an example. We were deservedly losing the game.
“The players knew that and I told them as well. When you play like that, there’s two things that can happen. You can go under and hide and the game can become even worse, or you can do what we did. First and foremost, we fought a bit more and ran a bit more, we won more duels and tackles. Yes, they were going to be a threat on the counter attack. But I felt like were pushing and showing the right intent in the game.
“Stephy in the second half had a big impact. They were deep and we weren’t creating loads of chances, but I felt like a chance would come from territory. We ended up getting set-pieces and scoring from one. After that, I thought we would go on and win.
“We were looking for that second goal, but only managed to get the point. When I look at it, it’s a game and a result that should have been better, but the way we played in the first half and the way the game panned out, it could have been worse. So we deserve no more than a point.”
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