Matchday With The Manager: The Europa League Challenge & Analysing Slavia Prague

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Matchday With The Manager: The Europa League Challenge & Analysing Slavia Prague

Leicester City's UEFA Europa League ambitions and the test presented by their last 32 opponents were both discussed during Brendan Rodgers' virtual meeting with the media on Wednesday morning.

2021-02-18T07:00:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

18 Feb, 2021

Matchday With The Manager: The Europa League Challenge & Analysing Slavia Prague

Leicester City's UEFA Europa League ambitions and the test presented by their last 32 opponents were both discussed during Brendan Rodgers' virtual meeting with the media on Wednesday morning.

Sam Jones

2021-02-18T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: The Europa League Challenge & Analysing Slavia Prague

Leicester City's UEFA Europa League ambitions and the test presented by their last 32 opponents were both discussed during Brendan Rodgers' virtual meeting with the media on Wednesday morning.

Sam Jones

2021-02-18T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: The Europa League Challenge & Analysing Slavia Prague

Leicester City's UEFA Europa League ambitions and the test presented by their last 32 opponents were both discussed during Brendan Rodgers' virtual meeting with the media on Wednesday morning.

Sam Jones

2021-02-18T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: The Europa League Challenge & Analysing Slavia Prague

Leicester City's UEFA Europa League ambitions and the test presented by their last 32 opponents were both discussed during Brendan Rodgers' virtual meeting with the media on Wednesday morning.

Sam Jones

2021-02-18T07:00:00.000Z

Progressing through to the first knockout round as winners of Group G, Rodgers' men now travel to face a Slavia Prague side who are unbeaten in their domestic division this season.

Initially focusing on the journey to reach this stage of the competition for the first time, the Northern Irishman also highlighted the Czech Republic top flight champions' strengths and why they will pose a difficult challenge during Thursday's first leg at Sinobo Stadium.

"We wanted to do well in this competition, we’ve come into the group, we've won the group, we’ve now got a tough game against Slavia Prague," the 48-year-old told the national and international media during his press conference from the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground, ahead of flying out for the 5:55pm GMT kick-off.

"We’re all very excited about the European challenge as well and we want to qualify for the last 16.

"It's a team that's set up well. They obviously have confidence from being the top team in the country and winning their league and you see from their results that they are used to winning, so that always breeds confidence.

"The two wingers are fast and dynamic but it's not something that we won't have come across before. When you're operating in the Premier League, you're playing against all different styles and of course the Premier League is arguably the most competitive in world football.

"It's going to be a difficult game over the two legs for us. We're very ambitious to get through the round, but we know that we're going to have to work really well and be as concentrated as we would in any game we were playing in the Premier League.

"We're looking forward to the challenge. The first leg, it's important for us to go and play well and accept the challenge of Slavia and know that they are a good side."

Unbeaten in four games and recording back-to-back home wins heading into the encounter with Prague, there have been plenty of impressive performances throughout the squad in recent weeks.

Rodgers expressed why he is pleased with the form of winger Harvey Barnes, who scored the Foxes' third goal in Saturday's Premier League win over Liverpool, wrapping up a 3-1 victory on Filbert Way. The 23-year-old has found the net on 12 occasions across all competitions this campaign, while also registering three assists.

"He’s been absolutely incredible in his consistency," the former Celtic manager commented. "The area of his game that we wanted to develop was his tactical ideas, which we felt would allow him to get into more positions to score.

"And the great thing with Harvey is that he's very, very coachable. He's such a great lad, he trains every day, he wants to get better and what you're seeing is that consistency and the threat that he has in every game.

"He’s an absolutely brilliant young player who is only going to get better and better. You saw him at the weekend, just his directness, his running ability, but also how hard he works in the game. It's really pleasing to see.

"He's shown an intelligence in his game that we've always wanted to help him develop. At the very highest level, you've got to have that ability and that intelligence to be able to play out of different systems when required. I'm absolutely delighted with him and he's been a huge asset for us, but he knows there's still a lot more to come."

Meanwhile, Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi's combative performances in the middle of the park have been a key factor in the Foxes' successful campaign to date, highlighted by his display against the Premier League champions last weekend.

"Wilf (Wilfred Ndidi) has been absolutely brilliant since I've been here," Rodgers continued. "The balance he gives the team, he's one of the top players in world football in terms of recovering the ball.

"His reading of the game is so good and the quality in his football is improving all the time, so for us, he's irreplaceable. We have very good players who can play in that position, but what Wilf gives the team is quite unique and for such a young player.

"He's been fantastic and what's really pleasing as a coach is that we see his development, his improvement. and because of his ability, he's very coachable, he wants to learn and he will continue to improve game by game. He's an absolutely fantastic player and I'm so happy he plays in my team."

Following progression into the latter stages of the Emirates FA Cup, combined with the impressive league form shown by the third-placed Foxes, a careful consideration on team selection has been required, even before the resumption of the European competition this month.

Rodgers believes the whole squad continues to show immense resilience in the face of the relentless nature of competing on three fronts.

"You are always managing the energy levels," he added. "The players have been brilliant in terms of the physicality. You can see from our game last week, we had a really tough game in midweek against Brighton, then we had a 12:30pm kick-off against Liverpool on Saturday, one of the most physical teams you can come across and the players had to cope with it.

"The bravery and the physicality that they have shown within the game was fantastic. That is something that you have to manage, there’s certainly no way you can play the same players in every single game. You have to look at each game and what that game may need."

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