Rodgers: We Need To Be More Aggressive
- Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City must show more aggression following their 3-0 loss to Liverpool
- The Foxes saw their six-game winning run come to an end on Sunday at Anfield
- Rodgers has nevertheless been encouraged by City’s start to 2020/21
Headers from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino added to Jonny Evans’ own goal as City were beaten for the first time away from home in 2020/21.
Their first loss in seven outings in all competitions proved to be a frustrating one, and Rodgers highlighted where his side can improve in future games at the full-time whistle.
He said: “[I’m] disappointed with the result and the first half. It was a little bit too passive for my liking, in terms of how we played and then when we had the ball, we gave it away too cheaply looking for the counter-attack moment too early.
“In saying that, we still had a couple of good chances. Harvey [Barnes] was in and seven or eight yards out, it’s a big chance. He’s just got to hit the target.
“Then, JJ (James Justin) goes close with his moment, but we just weren’t, in the first half, aggressive enough, both with and without the ball. The second half was much better. We gave it 15 minutes, we started well, and then we changed the shape of the team.
“Then, if we could get the next goal, that was going to be the important moment in the second half, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.
“Conceding the first goal was disappointing, because in the main, we normally defend set-pieces well, but we’ve had a couple of times now, away at Man City, and away here, we’ve conceded two goals from set-pieces. We’ve got to be more aggressive.”
While he was naturally frustrated with City’s 3-0 reverse at the hands of the current Premier League champions, Rodgers reflected fondly to the Foxes’ exploits so far in the 2020/21 campaign.
“We’ve had tough games in this opening period of the season,” he said. “I’m delighted with how the players have done considering all of the injuries we have. Hopefully, over the next few weeks, we can start to get a few of them back.
“We’ve been away to Man City, been away to Liverpool, been away to Arsenal, away to Leeds – they’re tough games for us – and a newly-promoted team in West Brom.
“I think, where we’re at, I’m delighted. We’re disappointed with tonight, we just lacked that aggression, in particular the first half, and that has cost us. It’s an easy game to analyse. We’ll look at it and move on.”