Matchday With The Manager: 'Exceptional' Bielsa & 'World-Class' Vardy

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Matchday With The Manager: 'Exceptional' Bielsa & 'World-Class' Vardy

A personal admiration for Marcelo Bielsa and the progress the Argentinian has made at Leeds United means Brendan Rodgers has no doubts about the scale of Leicester City's task at Elland Road today.

2020-11-02T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: 'Exceptional' Bielsa & 'World-Class' Vardy

A personal admiration for Marcelo Bielsa and the progress the Argentinian has made at Leeds United means Brendan Rodgers has no doubts about the scale of Leicester City's task at Elland Road today.

2020-11-02T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: 'Exceptional' Bielsa & 'World-Class' Vardy

A personal admiration for Marcelo Bielsa and the progress the Argentinian has made at Leeds United means Brendan Rodgers has no doubts about the scale of Leicester City's task at Elland Road today.

2020-11-02T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: 'Exceptional' Bielsa & 'World-Class' Vardy

A personal admiration for Marcelo Bielsa and the progress the Argentinian has made at Leeds United means Brendan Rodgers has no doubts about the scale of Leicester City's task at Elland Road today.

2020-11-02T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: 'Exceptional' Bielsa & 'World-Class' Vardy

A personal admiration for Marcelo Bielsa and the progress the Argentinian has made at Leeds United means Brendan Rodgers has no doubts about the scale of Leicester City's task at Elland Road today.

2020-11-02T07:00:00.000Z

The Northern Irishman has overseen three consecutive victories, two of which came in the UEFA Europa League, despite several injury concerns for prominent first team players.

City's next challenge is a trip to Yorkshire on Monday (8pm GMT kick-off) which will pit two sides in admirable form head-to-head amid a hectic schedule for the Foxes on two fronts.

After defeating AEK Athens in the Greek capital last Thursday, Monday's visit to Leeds is swiftly followed by a home clash with SC Braga in Group G of the Europa League this Thursday.

Looking ahead to tackling the three-time English champions, winners of the Sky Bet Championship last term, Rodgers outlined his long-held admiration for the coach he will go up against.

"I’ve loved Marcelo Bielsa from way back," the Northern Irishman said. "I started coaching back in the ‘90s and when I was looking into different managers and styles, he came onto my radar at Argentina.

"I’ve followed his progress from back there, from when he was at Argentina into Chile, where he did an exceptional job, and then back into club football, at Athletic Bilbao.

"That was when he came into Europe and you could see the unique style that he has, in terms of man-marking and the intensity in which his teams play.

"I’ve been an admirer of his work for a long time and I was delighted when he went to Leeds, a great club with a great tradition here in the British game who’d been out of the Premier League for such a long time.

"It didn’t quite work out in the first year, but in the second year he got them over the line and his style, experience and qualities would always shine through in the Premier League.

"They’ve come in and been outstanding, so it will be a tough, tough game for us."

As a manager who, like Bielsa, has guided a team into the Premier League, Rodgers believes, in the same vein as his Swansea City side in 2011, there is something different about this Leeds side.

"I know, having taken Swansea up, the challenges that you have as a newly promoted team," he added. "It’s certainly not a mistake I’ll make in terms of approaching them like a newly promoted team.

"I felt when we got promoted at Swansea, it was deemed we were just a team coming out the Championship and it wasn’t until after games that teams realised the level of our game.

"It’s one where you can see the level they play and the quality they have, you see the focus in the game, the mobility, the rotation in the team, so they’re playing at a really, really high level."

"For us, of course, we need to be really concentrated, but we also know there’s going to be a lot of space in the game for us and we’ve got players we hope that can exploit that."

Jamie Vardy's penalty in Athens was the 33-year-old's seventh goal in 2020/21, which has included two games in which he was absent with injury, after winning last season's Premier League Golden Boot for the first time.

Rodgers believes Leicester City possess a 'world-class' striker in Vardy, whose endeavour, both in training and on the field of play, separates him from many others at the top level of the game.

"I think from the outside looking in, you see his devilment, you see his finishing, but when you work with someone on a day-to-day basis, you find out more about their personality," he explained.

"I think the biggest surprise for me is tactically how good he is. People talk about his running through on goal and his speed, but his runs are virtually perfect every time.

"How he stays on onside, the different types of runs he can make to get his opportunities… he’s a really, really special player and I was so lucky to have him here when I got here.

"When I arrived, I was so glad he was here because I’ve always liked that penetration at the top of the pitch. He likes to run forward and he wants to score goals.

"For me, he’s been an absolute breath of fresh air, a genuinely world-class striker. If he didn’t have the path that he’d had as a player, he’d probably be talked about much more.

"People see him as the guy that’s come through from Non League and played his way into the Premier League at 25, but this is a top, top level striker.

"When he plays at home or away, he’s such a threat to the opposition and, thankfully, he is still quick and still got the hunger, so hopefully that’ll continue for a number of years."

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