Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City's Humble Belgium Stars

After the arrival of Timothy Castagne swelled Leicester City's contingent of Belgium internationals to three, Brendan Rodgers has discussed the impact that trio can have on the Club's future aspirations.

2020-09-20T09:45:00.000Z

After the arrival of Timothy Castagne swelled Leicester City's contingent of Belgium internationals to three, Brendan Rodgers has discussed the impact that trio can have on the Club's future aspirations.

2020-09-20T09:45:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City's Humble Belgium Stars

After the arrival of Timothy Castagne swelled Leicester City's contingent of Belgium internationals to three, Brendan Rodgers has discussed the impact that trio can have on the Club's future aspirations.

2020-09-20T09:45:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City's Humble Belgium Stars

After the arrival of Timothy Castagne swelled Leicester City's contingent of Belgium internationals to three, Brendan Rodgers has discussed the impact that trio can have on the Club's future aspirations.

2020-09-20T09:45:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City's Humble Belgium Stars

After the arrival of Timothy Castagne swelled Leicester City's contingent of Belgium internationals to three, Brendan Rodgers has discussed the impact that trio can have on the Club's future aspirations.

2020-09-20T09:45:00.000Z

Castagne, 24, joined the Foxes from Italian outfit Atalanta earlier this summer and marked his Premier League debut with a goal in Sunday's 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

It means Rodgers can call upon the services of three senior internationals - all still youthful and with exciting potential - from the world's highest-ranked international team.

Dennis Praet in fact laid on the assist for Castagne's header at the Hawthorns, while Youri Tielemans was his typical industrious and creative presence in the heart of the Foxes midfield.

Rodgers, now into his second full season in charge at King Power Stadium, believes Belgian footballers possess a humility in their work, which in turn produces results on the pitch.

"For me, I think they’re in a real golden generation of players, the talents that they have," he said. "Firstly, they’re very professional in how they prepare themselves for the life of a football player.

"They have a very good tactical understanding of the game. The players that we have are young players, the likes of Youri, but they have a real understanding of the tactics.

"They have a winning mentality. These boys want to win and they devote their lives to that, so they’ve been absolutely first-class to work with.

"When they go away with the national team, they go into a group of players that are the no.1 ranked team in the world, with a real strong group of talents.

"They carry that mentality here with them as well, so that’s what you want as a manager. You want a group of players that are very focused on their life as players.

"They work hard every single day to be the best they can be and to help the team. All of them have been first-class."

With Belgium regularly among the favourites to win major honours, under the management of Roberto Martínez, Rodgers believes working in that environment aids their development.

"All the boys we have possess a real humility," he continued. "I wouldn’t say they ever get carried away. When they’ve been away, they’ve come back with the same humility.

"Of course, when you go away and work at that level with those types of players, it’s good for your confidence, but I think they’ve always enjoyed being here.

"It’s nice to see Timothy come in as well after playing with Youri and Dennis. I’ve monitored his talents over the last number of years, but he’s slotted in very well.

"That’s because he’s the profile of player that we like, but also the right type of person, which allows him to fit into the group seamlessly.

"They come back with a confidence, but they’re very humble guys as well."

Castagne has settled quickly into life in Leicester and has been welcomed with open arms by a squad of players who have developed a close-knit ethos at the Club's Belvoir Drive training ground.

That camaraderie is central to Rodgers' plans for the Club, building a tight changing room environment centred on players working hard for one another to achieve City's objectives.

"When you come into this group, they’re a great bunch of guys," the Northern Irishman explained. "Every player that has come in always talks about the changing room and the spirit within that.

"That will always make it easy and it’s that type of environment we like to create so that players who come in feel at home straight away.

"This is a changing room that’s very good at that. Timothy is a top player, coming in at a really good age, with good experiences for club and country.

"He arrives as a player who will continue to improve but also at a really high level. That always makes it easier and he’s just slotted into the intensity of training straight away.

"That, along with the players, means it’s normally an easy transition."

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