'Tactically & Physically Very Good' – City's Start To 2020/21 In Quotes

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'Tactically & Physically Very Good' – City's Start To 2020/21 In Quotes

As the new season looms, LCFC.com charts the opening months of Leicester City's 2020/21 campaign through the lens of quotes from key figures within the Foxes’ dressing room.

2021-07-03T07:47:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

03 Jul, 2021

'Tactically & Physically Very Good' – City's Start To 2020/21 In Quotes

As the new season looms, LCFC.com charts the opening months of Leicester City's 2020/21 campaign through the lens of quotes from key figures within the Foxes’ dressing room.

Sam Jones

2021-07-03T07:47:00.000Z

'Tactically & Physically Very Good' – City's Start To 2020/21 In Quotes

As the new season looms, LCFC.com charts the opening months of Leicester City's 2020/21 campaign through the lens of quotes from key figures within the Foxes’ dressing room.

Sam Jones

2021-07-03T07:47:00.000Z

'Tactically & Physically Very Good' – City's Start To 2020/21 In Quotes

As the new season looms, LCFC.com charts the opening months of Leicester City's 2020/21 campaign through the lens of quotes from key figures within the Foxes’ dressing room.

Sam Jones

2021-07-03T07:47:00.000Z

'Tactically & Physically Very Good' – City's Start To 2020/21 In Quotes

As the new season looms, LCFC.com charts the opening months of Leicester City's 2020/21 campaign through the lens of quotes from key figures within the Foxes’ dressing room.

Sam Jones

2021-07-03T07:47:00.000Z

There was a short turnaround ahead of the new campaign, following Leicester’s fifth-placed finish in 2019/20. Newly promoted West Bromwich Albion provided the earliest challenge of City’s credentials at the Hawthorns.

Ahead of that first game, Brendan Rodgers sat down for his pre-match press conference, explaining why he was excited about the youthful look within the Leicester City squad.

“We have so many younger players, so I think they are going to improve. It’s about quality and we need to improve the depth of our squad. But going into the first game, we are excited by the season, we want to be really competitive, that’s our aim.”

But it happened to be one of the most experienced figures who made a telling contribution to a 3-0 victory on the opening day, as Jamie Vardy tucked away two penalties, which along with a debut goal for Timothy Castagne, made it a perfect start for the Foxes.

Belgian full-back Castagne was thrilled to get off the mark on his maiden Premier League appearance, when he spoke to LCFC TV after the final whistle.

“The most important thing is we won,” he said. “We didn't get goals against us, so it’s a team effort and I’m obviously very happy with my goal. We kept playing, we kept trying, and in the end, we didn’t give anything away. We scored three goals.”

Castagne was voted City’s Man of the Match in the next encounter against Burnley at King Power Stadium too, while another Belgian international also took the headlines on matchday two.

A stunning goal from Dennis Praet rounded off an excellent night for City, who won 4-2 to make it two wins from two in the Premier League.

In his post-match interview, the midfielder had this to say: “We are really happy with our start and now we just have to continue this way. We know Burnley is a tough team. We conceded two goals and that's something we need to work on but we created enough chances to win the game.”

Things were to get even better a week later, when the Foxes faced Manchester City at Etihad Stadium. Despite the daunting prospect of a trip to the then four-time Premier League champions, manager Rodgers challenged the players to match Pep Guardiola’s men.

“The league, especially where we are, is about beating the teams you ‘should’ beat and looking to challenge the teams that are in that supposed top six,” the Northern Irishman commented. “Last year, we beat Arsenal and Tottenham and went close against teams like Chelsea on a couple of occasions. That’s gone now, but can we go and challenge in these games?”

The Foxes certainly did face up to the task, coming away with a 5-2 success, including a Vardy hat-trick and substitute James Maddison’s stunning strike. The England midfielder felt elated to contribute to the victory after previously watching on from the sidelines due to a hip injury.

"It’s much better to be involved in than watch to be honest!" he admitted to LCFC TV. "As a player, you always want to play, but the team's been doing so well, two wins out of out of two.

"I don't know how many times someone's scored five goals past Manchester City here, but it's a very rare thing so something we should be proud of.”

Successive defeats would follow in the league, but the Club’s first UEFA Europa League fixture soon came around. As the team prepared to face Ukrainian outfit Zorya Luhansk, Rodgers revealed the aim was to put in place the foundations to qualify from Group G.

He commented: “It’s a great competition for us to be in and it will be a great experience for a lot of the players. Some of them have never experienced European football before and this itinerary we have, playing on Thursdays and weekends, it really develops you as a player.”

A comfortable 3-0 victory followed, with goals for Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho and in between, a thunderous strike from Harvey Barnes, on his first European start.

“On a personal level, I'm very pleased,” the Academy graduate told LCFC TV after the game. “As a team, we're also very pleased. We knew it was important to get a good start to the campaign, which we have done tonight. We're obviously happy to get a few goals as well.”

And just three days later, more history was made, this time in the league, as Vardy’s late header saw Leicester win at Arsenal for the first time since 1973.

“I don’t know about masterplan, but it was the plan!” Rodgers said following Vardy’s match-winning introduction off the bench. “It was the idea to deny space and keep our lines tight, and then obviously play through the pressure, so yes, it worked very well for us.”

Soon preparing for the Club’s first away trip in the Europa League, against AEK Athens, Foxes No.1 Kasper Schmeichel was not taking the Greek side lightly.

The Dane said: “I think there’s some good teams in the group. When we played against Luhansk, they created some good chances. Every team that is in the group stages is a good team and we’ve obviously analysed AEK and we know what to expect.”

Goals from Vardy and Hamza Choudhury sealed a second European success with the former also scoring his first goal in the competition.

After coming through the ranks at Leicester, Choudhury was delighted to make his mark on the continental stage and net the winner: “It's a really, really big achievement for me and my family so it's a really nice feeling and an even better one being the winner.”

Away triumphs continued to come in the Premier League, too, as Leeds United were dispatched 4-1 at Elland Road, with a brace from Youri Tielemans helping to take another win back to Leicester.

Rodgers was thrilled with the way his side performed, especially given the short turnaround, coming just four days after the trip to Greece.

“We knew on the back of coming off a European game that this was going to be a test for us physically,” he stated. “Every aspect, tactically and physically, was very, very good. A great win.”

The Foxes hit four for the second consecutive game when SC Braga arrived on Filbert Way in early November. They also went one better by keeping a clean sheet – and recorded the Club’s biggest-ever European victory in the process.

Iheanacho was at the double on a memorable night and the Nigerian international forward also picked up the Man of the Match award.

However, his thoughts were already moving onto the next game, a meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League: "When you win, it gives you more confidence to keep going, to keep improving. So, we keep improving in training and we're now focused on the Premier League."

And Iheanacho’s strike partner, Vardy, was the man involved in the key moment of that clash with Wolves at King Power Stadium, as his converted penalty made it six wins on the bounce.

Versatile defender James Justin spoke to LCFC TV after that one-goal triumph: “It’s an amazing run for us. We've shown this season that we react well to adversity and we showed that in the second half, where we had to dig in.”

Although the Foxes were beaten at Liverpool soon after, City had to demonstrate that resilience once more as a dramatic second meeting with Portuguese outfit Braga drew towards a conclusion.

The visitors to Estadio Municipal de Braga looked set to miss out on the point needed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League when Fransergio scored a 90th minute third for the home side.

Incredibly, as the clock ticked past the fifth minute of added time, however, Leicester’s talismanic No.9 managed to convert Maddison’s cross and secure an all-important 3-3 draw.

In his post-match interview, Rodgers was pleased with the character shown to comeback so late in the game: “It just typifies the mentality in the group to keep going and to get that equaliser right at the end. We thoroughly deserved it and that was obviously an important point for us.”

December brought another two European fixtures and six Premier League matches, as a packed winter schedule continued to test Leicester’s squad.

And at Sheffield United, Vardy came up with a late goal – this time a winner – as the Foxes claimed a 2-1 victory at Bramall Lane.

Maddison, meanwhile, felt mixed emotions after the victory, disappointed not to share such a win with supporters present in the away end.

“There's a fantastic feeling inside the dressing room,” the creative midfielder told LCFC TV. “Wins are just not easy to come by in the Premier League, especially away from home against a team who are really fighting for their lives at the bottom.

“I don't know if you just saw the lads then, they're the moments that we do this for. It gives me goosebumps in there seeing the lads, how happy we are, how much we put into the game, and to win it late it's just a great feeling.

“It's just a shame that the fans weren't here. I know the away fans actually sit that end and I remember Barnesy (Harvey Barnes) whacked one in on the volley last year, and they're the sort of winners that you remember, so it's bittersweet.”

Next up, a Europa League meeting with AEK Athens and a chance for City to finish top of Group G. Leicester duly kept up their 100 per cent home record in the competition, winning 2-0 with early goals from Cengiz Ünder and Barnes.

Young full-back Luke Thomas, who played the full 90 minutes, was enjoying his first full season in the first team and learning a lot.

“It's a great experience,” he said. “Playing next to players like Jonny [Evans] and Wes [Morgan], when he comes on towards the end, they've got great experience throughout their careers and they are great communicators to me as a young player.”

A hectic winter fixture schedule had already begun, but significant tests lay on the horizon...

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