A Good Learning Experience For My Players, Says Rodgers
- Leicester City's defeat by Manchester City will be a useful learning experience, says manager Brendan Rodgers
- The Foxes remain one place above the champions in the Premier League standings
- Rodgers says the clash was an indicator both of the progress made and the improvements required
- Leaders Liverpool are set to visit King Power Stadium on Boxing Day (8pm GMT kick-off)
The Foxes took the lead in Saturday's clash between third and second in the Premier League through Jamie Vardy's 17th goal of the season early on at Etihad Stadium.
However, Pep Guardiola's champions hit back before the break through former Fox Riyad Mahrez and İlkay Gündoğan's penalty, while Gabriel Jesus also added another in the second half.
Rodgers, whose side have lost just three times in 18 matches so far, admits Leicester's performance was below their usual high level, but pointed to the bigger picture in his assessment.
"They’re an exceptional team and I’ve been a big admirer of Pep for many years," he said. "I’ve been a follower of his and that Barcelona methodology. The work he’s done here is incredible.
Manchester City 3 Leicester City 1
Watch extended highlights from Saturday's Premier League encounter between champions Manchester City and Leicester City at Etihad Stadium.
"They've maybe, for them, dropped off a little bit, but you can still see, in a top game, how that level of player can turn it on and that's always going to be difficult for us to bridge that.
"They were outstanding. We didn’t play to our level which is obviously, in terms of performance, disappointing. We got a good start in the game without actually playing well.
"It was a brilliant finish by Jamie, his movement and run were top-class. When we went behind at 2-1, and then it gets to 3-1, they’ve got top players that can manage the game then at that level.
"It’s good learning for us. We've got a young group. It shows you how well they've done at this stage. We're still sat one point ahead of Manchester City having lost against them.
"That shows you the level but also the improvement they can make. We've got a lot of young players that will learn from this and grow."
Rodgers says Leicester were unable to provide their defensive players with adequate support early on in Manchester as the hosts' press limited the functionality of their midfield.
However, the youthful nature of the Foxes' squad gives Rodgers a belief that his talented players will analyse the fixture and emerge from it as better players in the long run.
"I was more disappointed in the first half with how we didn’t take the ball," the Northern Irishman continued. "They obviously pressed up onto us and we didn’t function so well in our midfield.
"You’ve got to give your back-four options when you have the ball, especially when you’re being pressed tight, and we didn’t do that at all.
"We ended up playing longer passes and we were giving the ball away too easily. When you give that quality enough of the ball, it can hurt you.
"The second half was better. Without being at our best, at least we took the ball more centrally and then started to play through a little bit more and we had a chance to make it 2-2.
"When it got to 3-1 and they broke through our press, they managed the game very well from there. For us, we’re a humble group and we know where we’re at.
"We’ve got a fantastic group of young talent that will learn. We'll go away and look at it and where we can be better and, as we approach the half-way point, the players have been absolutely brilliant.
"If you’d have asked me back in August, would I have taken second in the league and a semi-final in the first cup competition, we’d have taken it, knowing we still have so much to improve."