Matchday With The Manager – City's Increasing Experience Levels

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Matchday With The Manager – City's Increasing Experience Levels

Brendan Rodgers wants to see Leicester City build on their growing maturity in games when the Foxes tackle Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

2022-05-01T06:00:00.000Z

by Sam Stevens

Published

01 May, 2022

Matchday With The Manager – City's Increasing Experience Levels

Brendan Rodgers wants to see Leicester City build on their growing maturity in games when the Foxes tackle Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Sam Stevens

2022-05-01T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – City's Increasing Experience Levels

Brendan Rodgers wants to see Leicester City build on their growing maturity in games when the Foxes tackle Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Sam Stevens

2022-05-01T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – City's Increasing Experience Levels

Brendan Rodgers wants to see Leicester City build on their growing maturity in games when the Foxes tackle Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Sam Stevens

2022-05-01T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – City's Increasing Experience Levels

Brendan Rodgers wants to see Leicester City build on their growing maturity in games when the Foxes tackle Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Sam Stevens

2022-05-01T06:00:00.000Z

The Foxes recovered from an early setback in Thursday's UEFA Europa Conference League Semi-Final first leg tie against Roma – going behind through Lorenzo Pellegrini's strike – to force a second-half own goal from Gianluca Mancini. In truth, City could have won, but settled for a 1-1 draw.

Before that huge second-leg tie in Rome next week, Leicester head to north London on Sunday to face Tottenham in the Premier League. It promises to be another stern test for Rodgers' men as they look to finish as high as possible in the Premier League and reach a first-ever European final.

The Northern Irishman was struck by one observation from Roma manager José Mourinho in particular after a tense encounter at King Power Stadium. Speaking in post-match media, the Portuguese explained why he expects Leicester to approach the final chapter of their last-four tie with confidence.

"I was so pleased," Leicester's manager told the press on Friday afternoon. "Firstly, with the authority we had in the game, right from the kick-off. We were playing against an experienced opponent who are used to European football. Gradually, I see us grow in the game in these types of ties.

"We’ve been developing the experiences in Rennes and at PSV. I just see a maturity within the team. To go and play with that authority and that quality makes me really, really pleased. It’s something we want to continue with and the guys will get that through more experiences.

"José made a comment after the game which actually I took a great pride in. One of the things I said when I came into here is that I wanted to develop a team that can go into any stadium and play with no fear and play the game.

"He mentioned that he didn’t think [in Rome] that we would change or sit back, we would go and play how we want to play. That’s the beauty of the game. We can write our story in the game. That makes me happy.

"To do that, you have to play with confidence, you have to feel that you can play in any stadium you want without fear and just go and play your game. That’s what we’ll look to do when the game comes next week.

"If we play to the level we did [on Thursday] and be a bit more decisive, then of course we’re in with a great chance of reaching the final."

The quick turnaround in fixtures continues to be a challenge for City this season. They've already contested 51 fixtures in 2021/22 and have at least another seven before the campaign comes to a close. That places a toll on players, but Rodgers went on to explain how managers and coaches adapt too.

"The process, for myself, is that I’ll get back after the [Thursday] game and watch it back," he explained. "You get to bed around about half past two in the morning, where your adrenaline is still up anyway, but you’re trying to maximise the time in preparation for the next game.

"We arrive [at LCFC Training Ground] in the morning, do an MOT on all the players, to see how they sit after the game. Some of them need that little bit of work, so we’ll do that, and then we’ll prepare the plan for the game after the press conference. I sit with the staff and go through and analyse Tottenham.

"Obviously, I watch a lot of football anyway, so I’ve got a pretty good idea of how they’ll work, but our analysts and other coaches will come up with some other details. Then we’ll plan and get ready, finally, tomorrow before we travel down and play the game."

Spurs, on the other hand, are striving to qualify for the UEFA Champions League after a two-year absence from European football's platinum club competition. They currently sit two points behind rivals Arsenal in the race for fourth place after picking up just one point from their past two outings.

It has been pointed out over recent days that the north London outfit have not registered a shot on target during those games – a 1-0 home reverse to Brighton & Hove Albion and a 0-0 draw at Brentford. Rodgers, though, is well aware of the talents within Spurs' usually prolific forward line.

"Hopefully it’s three, with a bit of luck!" Rodgers laughed. "They’re a very talented team but we’re going there with confidence. How we lost the last game against them I will never know. We were 2-1 up with 30 seconds to go and we had the ball in our control.

"To draw a game like that is disappointing enough, but to lose it was incredible really. Hopefully we can go and perform to the level we have been and let’s see where it takes us.

"It’s a team that’s very well coached in the system that they play. There’s a clear structure to their game and they then have top players that can make that system very efficient – the likes of [Harry] Kane and Son [Heung-min] and these guys, they’re big talents.

"They have individual quality which makes a big difference for their team. They’ve got a very good manager and they score and create goals. They’re of the very highest level. Whenever we’ve played against Tottenham, those are two players you really have to look out for.

"Antonio [Conte’s] come in and been very clear how he wants to play. You can see they're very well coached within that 5-4-1 system that develops into 4-3-3 when they’ve got the ball. It’s up to us to play with the quality we have been and let’s see if we can give them a problem as well."

While pleased on the whole with Leicester's recent form, losing just once in the eight games since the start of April, the former Liverpool and Celtic manager is looking for more potency in attack from his players. City dominated for large spells against Roma but were repelled by the visitors' rearguard action.

"It’s a young squad with a lot of young players who want to prove the point and the consistency in the Premier League," the 49-year-old said. "That’s the focus – it’s the next game. We go to Tottenham, which is an amazing stadium, and I’m looking forward to going there with the supporters.

"We’ve played there when it was empty, and it was still a very inspiring stadium. The performance level has been much better. The thing we’re looking at, even from [Thursday] night’s game, is how we arrived into that final third with regularity and quality.

"It’s just about being more decisive and making those final actions count and just making better decisions when we arrive there. The overall performances, with and against the ball, have been good. A clean sheet is important, but of course it’s not everything, if you win a game 2-1.

"You want to defend well as a team which, in the main, we have. I look at the goals we’ve conceded recently and they’re just small details. The team aren’t really getting cut open. The goal we conceded [on Thursday] night was from a throw-in, so that’s just a lack of concentration not to be in the right positions.

"It then leads the team to have to chase and the space opens up. Overall, the team isn’t getting opened up as much, so it’s just collectively being together and then playing the football that we have been playing."

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