‘Great Quality & More Clinical’ – Quoting City’s 2020/21 Season

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‘Great Quality & More Clinical’ – Quoting City’s 2020/21 Season

Continuing a look back at the 2020/21 campaign through the lens of key quotes from the Leicester City dressing room, here the focus is on a busy Christmas and New Year period.

2021-07-07T07:51:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

07 Jul, 2021

‘Great Quality & More Clinical’ – Quoting City’s 2020/21 Season

Continuing a look back at the 2020/21 campaign through the lens of key quotes from the Leicester City dressing room, here the focus is on a busy Christmas and New Year period.

Sam Jones

2021-07-07T07:51:00.000Z

‘Great Quality & More Clinical’ – Quoting City’s 2020/21 Season

Continuing a look back at the 2020/21 campaign through the lens of key quotes from the Leicester City dressing room, here the focus is on a busy Christmas and New Year period.

Sam Jones

2021-07-07T07:51:00.000Z

‘Great Quality & More Clinical’ – Quoting City’s 2020/21 Season

Continuing a look back at the 2020/21 campaign through the lens of key quotes from the Leicester City dressing room, here the focus is on a busy Christmas and New Year period.

Sam Jones

2021-07-07T07:51:00.000Z

‘Great Quality & More Clinical’ – Quoting City’s 2020/21 Season

Continuing a look back at the 2020/21 campaign through the lens of key quotes from the Leicester City dressing room, here the focus is on a busy Christmas and New Year period.

Sam Jones

2021-07-07T07:51:00.000Z

With the fixture schedule about to become even more hectic, utilising the full squad was going to be crucial, as was a tight-knit group of players all working towards one target.

Ahead of facing Brighton & Hove Albion at King Power Stadium, three days after the Foxes’ latest European triumph, also played on Filbert Way, Youri Tielemans spoke about how that result, combined with three points in the previous Premier League fixture, had helped maintain a good atmosphere.

"You are at the training ground with a big smile, a bit more relaxed and a bit less pressure than when you lose a game, of course,” he told LCFC TV. “Hopefully, we can carry on in that form.”

And that’s exactly what Leicester did, scoring three first-half goals courtesy of a James Maddison double and Jamie Vardy’s latest goal, which moved him into the Premier League’s top 20 all-time goalscoring list.

Brendan Rodgers praised the near-perfect performance post-match and how the players carried out the game-plan: “I really enjoyed the game from a tactical perspective, because we started off in a shape and Brighton surprised us a little bit with how they played. We then had to adjust our shape and then we changed it again at half-time.”

A trip to Tottenham Hotspur on 20 December brought further festive joy and another three points in the capital. Vardy struck again, before a Toby Alderweireld own goal wrapped up a 2-0 victory for the visitors and a third clean sheet in four games.

The returning Timothy Castagne was delighted to be back in the fold after injury: “It’s great to be back, especially with a win here against a very good side. It feels very good. I’ve missed it, and when you can play again, it’s great.

“You see your team-mates, and you want to help, but you cannot, so hopefully it’s not going to happen anymore and I can help as much as I can.”

Manchester United were the next opponents to visit King Power Stadium, on 26 December, with Leicester moving into the impressive new LCFC Training Ground in Seagrave ahead of the fixture.

“To be able to move into one of the most advanced training facilities in the whole world is what we’re all so excited about,” manager Rodgers commented. “I’ve been dropping in there over the last number of months and now it’s finally arrived, the time that we can look to go in.”

The United game itself was a thriller with City twice coming from behind to draw 2-2, firstly thanks to a stunner from Harvey Barnes and then a late own goal from Axel Tuanzebe.

Tielemans felt the Foxes got their reward for a strong performance but was disappointed not to be able to share such an occasion with the Blue Army present, especially for the traditional Boxing Day fixture.

"It's always been like that in England," the Belgian said. "I feel, especially last year, with fans, the atmosphere was amazing at this time of the year, it's very special at Christmas and on Boxing Day.

"But it's a shame they are not here to enjoy it with us. I feel we really pushed for them on the pitch and we tried to make them proud."

That mentality to keep going until the end was evident again two days later as Leicester visited Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace. The in-form Barnes was the hero once more as his 81st-minute leveller rescued another point for Rodgers’ side.

The England winger talked through his goal and came away frustrated to only take a draw, something which they would rectify in the first game of 2021.

“The left foot seems to be working at the minute,” Barnes joked! “But, obviously, I'm happy to, of course, get the goal, but it came too late in the game. We didn't give ourselves enough time to go and get another goal.

“We did have chances after that, but nothing where we could go and steal the points, so as a whole and personally, we're disappointed.”

Newcastle United hosted the opening fixture of the new year and strikes from Maddison and Tielemans secured a perfect start in the north east, as the Foxes kept up an impressive away record.

“[It was a] terrific away performance,” goalscorer Maddison said post-match. “[It was] one where we had to show a bit of everything, to be honest – a bit of patience, a bit of quality when the chances came, and then resilience at the end, which we’ve shown this season.”

January continued to be fruitful as attention turned to the Emirates FA Cup Third Round and a trip to Stoke City. The Championship side were blown away by a ruthless display which included four goals - from James Justin, Marc Albrighton, Ayoze Pérez and Barnes.

Justin’s strike was the pick of the goals but after the game he was focused on the team performance which sent City through to round four.

The defender told LCFC TV: "We just had to grind out, keep on fighting, and the result was deserved in the end. We showed how devastating we could be on the counter, which is obviously what we're known for at the end of the day.

"It just goes to show how much everyone wants to run for the team and always got that in the back of their minds, and [it was] clinical finishing at the top end of the pitch that sent us through."

The group’s togetherness was clear to see again when Southampton were dispatched 2-0 in the return to Premier League action. Barnes and Maddison did the damage once more as Leicester recorded a victory on home soil.

Rodgers was still searching for further improvement from his in-form side, however. “They’ve got great quality and they can score goals, but I thought we should have had more than two if we’d been a little bit more clinical and been a little bit more greedy, we could have finished better," he said.

And better was to come just three days later when Frank Lampard’s Chelsea visited King Power Stadium. A rare Wilfred Ndidi goal, followed by yet another Maddison strike, sealed a 2-0 success, which moved the Foxes up to the Premier League summit.

The Nigerian midfielder expressed his joy at helping to carve out such a result with his first goal since September 2019: “If I count, [I’ve scored] maybe four or so, with my left foot,” he said. “It comes once in a while, but I just keep trying, you know! It was really good. It lifted the team.”

A fifth consecutive win in all competitions arrived in the FA Cup Fourth Round as Brentford were defeated 3-1 courtesy of second half goals for Cengiz Ünder, Tielemans and Maddison – his fourth in as many games.

Young full-back Luke Thomas, playing in the competition for the first time, was thrilled to get the nod and play his part in the comeback win.

“I was buzzing to be playing today,” he beamed. “[In] every game I play, I feel like there’s a great opportunity for me to show everyone the qualities which I’ve got and hopefully I can continue to do that.”

Tielemans’ equaliser at Goodison Park then stretched the unbeaten run to nine games with a 1-1 draw away to Everton and Pérez was quick to praise the team’s consistent level in his post-match interview.

He said: “The mentality’s improving, it’s growing, for ourselves as a big team, a quality team. That’s why we’re up there, fighting with the best teams in the league and we’re proving it in every game we play.”

Following a home defeat to Leeds United, City were eager to get back on track with Rodgers referencing the need for a response in his pre-match press conference ahead of taking on Fulham three days later.

“Our season has been defined by some of the setbacks we’ve had and how we pressed the reset button,” he told the media. “So we’ll be nice and positive again for Wednesday’s game.”

That positivity was displayed by the players as Kelechi Iheanacho and Justin made the difference at Craven Cottage, in a 2-0 triumph that racked up a 13th top-flight success of 2020/21.

Nigerian forward Iheanacho gave his post-match thoughts to LCFC TV: " It’s a clean sheet and we are really happy we’re back to winning ways. We need to get going now and focus on the next games.”

A second successive shutout, meanwhile, soon brought mixed emotions for Albrighton, who spoke following the goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“I think a point, on reflection, was a good point," he commented. "A hard-fought point and one that we can be pleased with and feel like we've earned.

"That's been our motto a lot this season, in terms of I think at the start of season we were either winning games or losing games and we had to get back to: if we can't win it, don't lose it.”

The following three months would provide plenty more Premier League drama, European action and FA Cup exploits for the Foxes.

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