Matchday With The Manager – Leicester's Principles & Competing On All Fronts

Returning to the principles which have enabled Leicester City to win silverware and challenge the country's elite clubs is high on the agenda for Brendan Rodgers as the Foxes visit Norwich City on Saturday.

2021-08-28T06:00:00.000Z

Returning to the principles which have enabled Leicester City to win silverware and challenge the country's elite clubs is high on the agenda for Brendan Rodgers as the Foxes visit Norwich City on Saturday.

2021-08-28T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Leicester's Principles & Competing On All Fronts

Returning to the principles which have enabled Leicester City to win silverware and challenge the country's elite clubs is high on the agenda for Brendan Rodgers as the Foxes visit Norwich City on Saturday.

2021-08-28T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Leicester's Principles & Competing On All Fronts

Returning to the principles which have enabled Leicester City to win silverware and challenge the country's elite clubs is high on the agenda for Brendan Rodgers as the Foxes visit Norwich City on Saturday.

2021-08-28T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Leicester's Principles & Competing On All Fronts

Returning to the principles which have enabled Leicester City to win silverware and challenge the country's elite clubs is high on the agenda for Brendan Rodgers as the Foxes visit Norwich City on Saturday.

2021-08-28T06:00:00.000Z

A 4-1 defeat by West Ham United at London Stadium on Monday was a rare disappointment for Leicester after their season started with lifting the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium before starting the Premier League campaign with a victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Saturday's trip to Carrow Road is an opportunity for the Foxes to get back to winning ways ahead of the international break. On Thursday, Rodgers openly discussed the improvements he is seeking when he spoke to the national media at LCFC Training Ground.

"In the [West Ham] game, from our perspective, we didn’t meet the standard that we would want, even with 11 men," the Northern Irishman said. "The organisation of our team was nowhere near what we would want.

"The principles which we’ve played with here over the last two-and-a-half years are about defending the spaces well, being aggressive, defending forward, moving forward as a team and we were nowhere near that level. That’s the reality of it.

"But that’s the beauty of working with this group of players. We can be very honest in our assessment. The spirit will always be there. You saw the players fight to the very end.

"They gave everything to get to 2-1 and then we conceded the two other goals after that. I don’t worry about the mentality of the team or the spirit, but certainly we need to return to the principles of our game and, if we can do that, we’ve shown consistently we can be a very good side.

"I’m always honest in my appraisal with the players, but they’re accepting of that. They know they fall below the levels. It was a disappointing result for us. Of course, losing a man is never easy, but we’ve had situations like that before and we’ve won with 10 men.

"I don’t like to use it as an excuse, or not having players available. We weren’t so good in our game, in the structure of our game. There was too much space and if you give that to good players, they can punish you, and that’s what West Ham did."

Norwich are yet to win on their return to the top flight, but their opening games have been against the two most recent Premier League champions, while they got back on track in the Carabao Cup with a 6-0 triumph over Sky Bet Championship outfit AFC Bournemouth.

"They had two tough games against Liverpool and then Manchester City," Rodgers added. "It’s a tough start, but they played well in the week and will gain some confidence from that.

"We arrive into the game knowing it’s going to be a tough game. Daniel Farke’s teams are always very positive, they work well and they’ve got some really good players, so we’ll have to look to control that, but of course, I’m looking at our performance.

"It’s about making sure that we perform to our level with the ideas of how we play and then we will always have a good chance of getting a good result."

With almost every side with title or European ambitions strengthening well this summer, including Leicester, Rodgers expects the 2021/22 season to be among the most competitive of recent times. Although keen to take things slowly, from one international break to the next, the 48-year-old is excited by the quality.

"It’s still early, we’re two games in," he continued. "I would say you’d assess it after 10 games to see where you’re at and then you then look forward from there. It’s still so early in the season with so many games to play and there will be ups and downs over the course of this season.

"For me, it was about getting through to this international break, and then the players’ fitness will develop and increased. Then, we’ll come back after that and have another push until the next international break. But anything beyond that, there’s still so much to play for.

"All the top teams, most of them certainly, have invested by bringing in really, really top-class players that can make a difference for them. That’s for squads that are already very, very capable. If you look at the level of the squads, I’m pretty sure it will be [very competitive]."

Since the Foxes manager spoke to the media earlier this week, the Club have been drawn into Group C of the UEFA Europa League alongside SSC Napoli, Spartak Moskva and Legia Warszawa. Although yet to discuss the opposition specifically, Rodgers hopes his side can compete on the continent.

"We want to challenge in every competition," the former Liverpool and Celtic manager explained. "We were in a good position in it last year and then we had a spell where we had a couple of injured players.

"I’m hoping, fingers crossed, we can have a squad that can stay as fit and as injury free as possible. If you can have that bit of luck with injuries, it allows you to challenge in every competition. That’s something we’ve always done since I’ve been here.

"Whether it’s the League Cup, the Premier League, or the FA Cup, we’ve always tried to be really competitive and we’ll look to do that in the Europa League as well."

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