Matchday With The Manager: Grasp The Opportunity With Both Hands

The magnitude of Sunday's Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final tie at Wembley Stadium is not lost on Brendan Rodgers, but the Leicester City manager says the Club's players will do all they can to make the Blue Army proud.

2021-04-18T06:00:00.000Z

The magnitude of Sunday's Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final tie at Wembley Stadium is not lost on Brendan Rodgers, but the Leicester City manager says the Club's players will do all they can to make the Blue Army proud.

2021-04-18T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Grasp The Opportunity With Both Hands

The magnitude of Sunday's Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final tie at Wembley Stadium is not lost on Brendan Rodgers, but the Leicester City manager says the Club's players will do all they can to make the Blue Army proud.

2021-04-18T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Grasp The Opportunity With Both Hands

The magnitude of Sunday's Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final tie at Wembley Stadium is not lost on Brendan Rodgers, but the Leicester City manager says the Club's players will do all they can to make the Blue Army proud.

2021-04-18T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Grasp The Opportunity With Both Hands

The magnitude of Sunday's Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final tie at Wembley Stadium is not lost on Brendan Rodgers, but the Leicester City manager says the Club's players will do all they can to make the Blue Army proud.

2021-04-18T06:00:00.000Z

Cup ties at Wembley can be settled by a wide range of factors. Sometimes, performance alone is enough to see you overcome an opponent. But luck or a moment of exceptional individual quality can dramatically swing the pendulum in one side's favour too.

As a winner of five domestic cup competitions in Scotland and the Sky Bet Championship play-offs at Swansea City, Rodgers has experience of successfully navigating fraught knockout ties before lifting trophies. Only title deciders or finals overshadow an FA Cup last-four tie in England.

Ahead of Sunday's clash with Southampton at Wembley, Leicester's first appearance at this stage of the competition since 1982, Rodgers sat down, albeit virtually, with the national media to discuss the exciting challenge which lies ahead for his Foxes outfit in the capital.

"You don’t need to magnify it any more," the Northern Irishman said in the King Power Centre. "The importance of a game of this magnitude, of course, is clear. You don’t need to shine a torch on it any more. For me, I always think, especially in these moments, that ability to have self-control is very important.

"Where it counts most is when you’re severely under pressure. It’s important you have that mentality. We want to arrive in the final, absolutely. But you can only do that through performing well. Sometimes, if you overthink it or get too nervous, it can demobilise you as a player or a team.

"You don’t quite run or work quite the same. It’s important you go into this game with the right energy and the right mentality. My feeling is to always work with the players to make sure you don’t over-do the week. You stay calm, you give clarity to the team and then you look to go and play your game.

"We can’t control what Southampton will bring to the match, but we can certainly control what we do. If we can go and play to a high level, then we’ll always be in with a good chance."

One less successful instant in Rodgers' cup record came in last season's last-four defeat by Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup. It was settled in the final moment of a tense two-legged tie at a raucous Villa Park in January 2020. Learning the lessons from that night, though, has been key for Rodgers and his squad.

"That’s what failure brings if you work the process well," he explained. "You have to see it as a learning. Any team, any successful individual, you have to unfortunately go down that road of failure in order to learn.

"These players showed, from that, that they were able to then go on and respond and now we’re in another semi-final. You can never guarantee anything, no matter if your squad is brimming with talent, it’s always difficult.

"Certainly, the learning from that and being able to look back on it and reflect on it will hopefully help us this weekend. Southampton are a very good side. Both teams lost their games before entering into this semi-final, but we can only control the game that we bring.

"We’ll also respect their qualities, but for us, our focus is very much on ourselves. We have an opportunity to reach a major cup final and we want to grasp it with both hands.

"When we arrived in here just over a couple of years ago, our challenge was to compete in the league and in the cup competitions. Each year, we look to try and keep making steps forward. If we can get to the final, it will be another step forward for us.

"It’s important that we’re competitive and we’ve been that. Now, we’re competing for a chance to get into a final. That will be our aim."

So what does it take to win a semi-final of any cup competition? When asked that question directly, Rodgers replied: "You need a bit of everything. You have to control the occasion, that’s what counts in these types of moments. You cannot overthink it.

"I don’t go away for three days prior to a final or a semi-final and prepare. It’s your next game. It’s a huge game, it’s a big game, but you prepare the same. You give clarity to the team and then send them out with energy and confidence to perform. If you get a little bit of luck along the way, you can make it."

The Blue Army will be watching on from home willing their beloved Foxes on to, hopefully, reach the Club's first FA Cup Final since 1969. Leicester, though, hold the unenviable record of having never lifted the famous trophy despite reaching four showpiece finals in their history.

Rodgers' message for the Club's fans was simple. His players will do their all to reach another one.

"Hopefully, they enjoy the game and, hopefully, they enjoy a really good performance," he added. "It's a chance for us to make the final. What I do know is that we'll be giving our best. We're super motivated to arrive there (in the final) and I trust in the team that we can get the result.

"I’m fully aware (of the fans' desire to win the FA Cup). I’m very relaxed about it, but I’m very motivated by giving the fans what they would like, which is the opportunity to win the FA Cup. In order to do that, you have to get into the final. I’m excited for the team.

"I’m looking forward to seeing us play and looking forward to the game and, hopefully, we can do it for the supporters. They’ve lost four finals. I’ve been made aware of that history since I arrived here in Leicester. That gives me an even greater motivation to be able to help the team and the Club achieve that.

"First, let’s get there. Let’s get to the final. We’ll give everything we can at the weekend and, hopefully, it’ll be enough for us to go through."

LATEST HEADLINES

‘A Group That Loved Being Together’ – Fuchs’ 15/16 Memories Christian Fuchs is coming back to Leicester this month – to celebrate our unimaginable Premier League title glory a decade ago – and the former full-back still finds it difficult to put into words the magnitude of that achievement.

49 Mins Ago

Vote For Your Goal Of The Month Voting for April’s Goal of the Month competition is now open, brought to you by Lite Finance.

1 Hour 49 Mins Ago

Wes Morgan Joins Silver Foxes For Mental Health Awareness Week Club legend and our Premier League winning captain, Wes Morgan, surprised participants from Leicester City in the Community’s Silver Foxes programme with a special visit to mark Mental Health Awareness Week.

4 Hours 49 Mins Ago

Join Ranieri, Morgan & More: 5000/1 Anniversary Match Tickets On Sale Tickets are on sale for our 5000/1 Anniversary Match at King Power Stadium on Saturday 30 May (2pm kick-off), which will support local causes through the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation.

20 Hours 49 Mins Ago