Matchday With The Manager – ‘Contextualising’ The Season Ahead Of Chelsea Bout

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Matchday With The Manager – ‘Contextualising’ The Season Ahead Of Chelsea Bout

Prior to meeting Chelsea in the final away fixture of the 2021/22 Premier League, Brendan Rodgers shared his thoughts on a challenging campaign which has still provided many memorable moments.

2022-05-19T06:00:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

19 May, 2022

Matchday With The Manager – ‘Contextualising’ The Season Ahead Of Chelsea Bout

Prior to meeting Chelsea in the final away fixture of the 2021/22 Premier League, Brendan Rodgers shared his thoughts on a challenging campaign which has still provided many memorable moments.

Sam Jones

2022-05-19T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – ‘Contextualising’ The Season Ahead Of Chelsea Bout

Prior to meeting Chelsea in the final away fixture of the 2021/22 Premier League, Brendan Rodgers shared his thoughts on a challenging campaign which has still provided many memorable moments.

Sam Jones

2022-05-19T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – ‘Contextualising’ The Season Ahead Of Chelsea Bout

Prior to meeting Chelsea in the final away fixture of the 2021/22 Premier League, Brendan Rodgers shared his thoughts on a challenging campaign which has still provided many memorable moments.

Sam Jones

2022-05-19T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – ‘Contextualising’ The Season Ahead Of Chelsea Bout

Prior to meeting Chelsea in the final away fixture of the 2021/22 Premier League, Brendan Rodgers shared his thoughts on a challenging campaign which has still provided many memorable moments.

Sam Jones

2022-05-19T06:00:00.000Z

Reflecting on the season as a whole, which saw Leicester City reach the UEFA Europa Conference League Semi-Final - the Club’s debut last-four appearance in continental competition - and could yet end with an eighth-place finish in the top-flight, Rodgers believes it serves as added motivation to return to an even higher standard in the future.

Speaking to the media from inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground on Tuesday afternoon, the Northern Irishman’s pre-match press conference centred around the areas the team will seek to improve between now and the start of the next campaign.

“The level that the team have been at for these last few years has set a really high bar in terms of performance and what they’ve achieved,” he began. “You can be held against that, but we also have to contextualise the season around players who haven’t been available and everything else.

“For us to [potentially] finish eighth when everyone was talking about what a disappointing season we’ve had, then that really shows where this team have been elevated to. It’s very clear the areas that we need to improve in.

“I’ve highlighted the players; I’ve got nothing but admiration for them. It has been a challenge, especially when you set the bar as high as these players have done over these last couple of years. We’ve been on a historical journey in the three years we’ve worked together.

“There’s been a lot thrown at us as a group this season. If we can finish in the top 10 having got into a European semi-final, with all the difficulties and challenges that we’ve faced this season, I think that’s another really good season for Leicester City Football Club.

“It gives us a great base for the summer to go and hopefully strengthen again, get some work done on the training field and then get ready for a really positive season again next year.

“We will fight, we know there’s more challenges for us next season. That really whets our appetite to get as fit as we can, as strong as we can, as robust as we can in the summer. We’ll look to disrupt the market again. Hopefully we can add players who give us quality and depth and then have a real go next season.”

The former Celtic and Liverpool manager reserved praise for Thursday evening’s opposition, Chelsea, who the Foxes meet in an 8pm BST kick-off at Stamford Bridge.

The London club defeated City 3-0 in the reverse fixture at King Power Stadium back in November and while they have since relinquished top spot and their place in the title race, the Blues reached both domestic cup finals this term, as well as the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals, a competition they will compete in again next season.

Rodgers recalled recent battles with Thomas Tuchel’s side, including the Foxes’ 2021 FA Cup Final triumph, which preceded Champions League glory for Chelsea later that month, a clear indictor of their pedigree.

“I’m a big admirer of Chelsea, the team and the work that Thomas [Tuchel] has done there,” the 49-year-old explained. “They are the best team that we’ve played. When we played them earlier on in the season, when they were at the top of their game, I thought they were outstanding.

“They’ve lost some players and even squads like Chelsea’s need their top players available and over the course of having key players out who make the system function to the highest level, then of course that’s a challenge.

“But they’ve got an outstanding manager who has done a fantastic job. They’re got a group of really good players - top, top talents. They lost again in the final but they’ve so much courage because they keep getting there.

“You’d rather be there in there fighting and losing finals, knowing that it going to be drop your way and you are going to win in the future. They are in the Champions League again for next season and I expect them to be up there challenging again next year.

“A few weeks after we beat them in the FA Cup Final, they became European champions. They’ve got a fantastic squad. At the start of the season, they were up there with Manchester City and Liverpool as having the squad depth and the quality of squad.

“They were beating the likes of Juventus and doing really well. That was a team that had everything in terms of technique, a good tactical idea of how they wanted to play, power in their game, energy in their game and it was functioning at a really top level.

“They are a Champions League team, Champions League winners only a year ago and that tells you everything you need to know about their quality.”

Keen to recognise the efforts of the Blue Army, Rodgers also paid tribute to Leicester fans’ unrelenting support across the campaign, prior to another trip to the capital. He was pleased to be able to reward their loyalty with five goals on their last away outing.

“It’s been absolutely great,” City’s manager said of the backing his side have received. “At Vicarage Road, the end was full and it’s great support. It’s our 56th game of the season and they’ve had some great memories, especially in some of the European games.

“It’s been great to take Leicester into Europe and around the country. It’ll be great to see them there, they push us on and hopefully can support us to a really good performance.”

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