Matchday With The Manager – Taking On Brighton & Getting Back Up

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Matchday With The Manager – Taking On Brighton & Getting Back Up

Brendan Rodgers is relishing the tactical challenge which Brighton & Hove Albion will pose on Sunday as Leicester City look to reset their momentum in the Premier League.

2022-01-23T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Taking On Brighton & Getting Back Up

Brendan Rodgers is relishing the tactical challenge which Brighton & Hove Albion will pose on Sunday as Leicester City look to reset their momentum in the Premier League.

2022-01-23T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Taking On Brighton & Getting Back Up

Brendan Rodgers is relishing the tactical challenge which Brighton & Hove Albion will pose on Sunday as Leicester City look to reset their momentum in the Premier League.

2022-01-23T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Taking On Brighton & Getting Back Up

Brendan Rodgers is relishing the tactical challenge which Brighton & Hove Albion will pose on Sunday as Leicester City look to reset their momentum in the Premier League.

2022-01-23T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Taking On Brighton & Getting Back Up

Brendan Rodgers is relishing the tactical challenge which Brighton & Hove Albion will pose on Sunday as Leicester City look to reset their momentum in the Premier League.

2022-01-23T07:00:00.000Z

The Foxes are back in top-flight action four days after the 3-2 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Filbert Way. Leading deep into stoppage time, a scarcely believable brace from Steven Bergwijn ripped victory away from Leicester and sent all three points to north London.

It was a cruel end to a game which City had fought so hard in. Despite riding out several defensively alarming moments, as Spurs drove forward in waves, Leicester had withstood much of that pressure and built an advantage which they held until the very last seconds.

Brighton, though, are next up for Rodgers' men, who had won their previous five home matches in a row, and the Northern Irishman anticipates a tactical battle this weekend. City fell to defeat at AMEX Stadium earlier this season in the league, before coming out on top in the Carabao Cup.

"We’ve played them twice, in the league and the cup," former Liverpool and Celtic manager Rodgers said. "I’ve enjoyed playing against them. It’s always a good tactical battle in the game and I enjoy watching them. They’re a good football team that want to build the game from behind.

"They’ve got good rotation in the team and I enjoy the challenge of playing against them. [Graham Potter’s] done very well. Both of us normally end up changing up shapes or doing things differently within the game. It’s always great from a coaching perspective, that challenge.

"For me, they look to play football similarly to how we want to play. They prepare the game well through the team and give the players the opportunity to come in and play at the highest level. It is a difficult game, like they all are in the Premier League.

"For us, it’s about getting to our level and getting three points this time. We go into every game to win. That’s the nature of it. We want to go in, firstly, to perform well and that’s important to get our confidence back in how we play and how we work.

"If we can take that across the 90-plus minutes, at a high level, it gives you an opportunity to win."

Rodgers can find plenty to praise when he assesses Brighton's recent form – a continuation of a long-term project which has seen them climb the divisions. The 2021/22 campaign could end with the Seagulls in the Premier League's top half as their bid to establish themselves in the division goes on.

"Graham is similar to myself where he makes changes within games to try and surprise an opponent or just bring something different to the game for the opponent to think about," he added. "Of course, that’s always a challenge I’ve enjoyed, whichever club I’ve been at.

"He’s done a fantastic job there, along with Dan Ashworth, who’s gone in and helped create an identity of football at Brighton. They’ve always been a team who’ve played. You can go back to when Gus Poyet was there. They set up and came through the leagues playing a really good brand of football.

"The supporters have bought into that, so they have a really clear identity of how they want to play. Graham has come in and that’s how he wants to work, so it’s a really good fit with him and with Dan as the sporting director. They’re a fantastic club that have come through the levels really well.

"Now they’re starting to establish themselves in the Premier League and they’ve got a fantastic manager helping them do that."

Reflecting on that reverse against Spurs in midweek, Rodgers says Leicester felt as though they'd surrendered a victory they ultimately deserved, but he can pinpoint the areas where the game was won and lost.

"There was a 12-second period which changed the narrative of the game," the 48-year-old explained. "We had played 94 minutes and were 30-odd seconds off a fantastic result and a really good performance. We obviously then conceded the goals.

"We clearly felt we’d lost something that was ours, something we’ve protected and fought so hard for, but then you see the elation of the Tottenham players and supporters to have gained something they never thought they’d get. We’re always honest in our debrief.

"There was lots of really good moments for us in the game. At the end of the game, it’s then about managing that. This group still has so much improvement left in them, but that will come. You do suffer when you have a loss like that. It is painful, but that is football. It’s a game with a lot of adversity in it.

"This group of players have shown a number of times that, when that comes, they have the ability to jump back up and go again. That’s always important. You have to be able to get up and fight again and it’s something we’ll look forward to doing at the weekend."

The mood in the squad remains high, although naturally dented briefly by the emotions of Wednesday evening. That 'bouncebackability' will be key for the Foxes if they are to pick themselves up and rediscover the form which saw them win five home games on the spin, says Rodgers.

"It’s the one thing which allows me to enjoy and love working here every single day," he continued. "The guys here, the spirit’s very strong. We’ve got a lot of young players. Of course naturally, after the result the other night, you can suffer and there is pain.

"We spoke on that this morning and talked about moving on from it. There was lots of positives from the game. We’ve shown many times, even after a disappointing result, we can jump back up again and continue the fight. It’s part of the joy of working here.

"They’re an incredibly honest bunch of players. They come in and love their work. We’ve created an environment which is a very supportive environment for them. It’s an environment which demands us to keep improving. There’s natural disappointment.

"They had a day off yesterday (Thursday), but we’re back in today and getting ready for the weekend. The honesty of the team is what I love. The guys give everything. You can see a little bit of naivety in the team at times, but that’s just experience and that’s always growing.

"It’s about going through these moments. We’ve had adverse moments throughout our time working together and we’ll always look at it while being very open, analytical and honest with it. That always allows you to move on.

"We’re not trying to blindside anyone, we should have won the game, it was there for us to win. We had real control with very few actions left in the game. But there’s a great lesson there. We have a mantra here that everything is possible and I think that game typified that. We had five minutes injury time.

"With 30 seconds to go, you know if you see through that, you go on to win the game and get a great victory. Instead, we make a couple of mistakes in duels and in possession of the ball and, all of a sudden, you’ve lost the game.

"It’s a great lesson for all the players and one that will go through with them for all of their careers. Whether you’re winning the game or losing the game, it’s there to fight for right until the final whistle."

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