Rodgers On City’s Quality, Resilience & Spirit
- Brendan Rodgers highlighted areas of improvement, but was pleased with Leicester City’s ‘great win’ against Sheffield United
- The Foxes registered a 2-1 triumph at Bramall Lane thanks to goals from Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes
- Extra-Time will review the victory live on LCFC Radio from 6pm BST on Monday
The Foxes took the lead seven minutes before half-time after Jamie Vardy converted James Maddison’s excellent assist, but Oli McBurnie levelled matters just after the hour mark.
However, Harvey Barnes' superb half-volley secured a 2-1 triumph at Bramall Lane – City’s maiden victory of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign.
“It was a great win for us,” Rodgers told LCFC TV. “It’s a tough place to come and they’ve got really good momentum over the last couple of years here, Sheffield United.
“The supporters, having had their first three points last week, it was going to be a tough place for us, but I thought we showed many different aspects to the game today.
“We had to have resilience and we had to defend the box. They put a lot of crosses in. At times, we showed real good quality in the game.
“We need to be better in certain moments, we need to be able to play quicker and a bit cleaner with our passing building through the game, but what we showed was a fantastic resilience in the game, to dig in and score two quality goals.
“Like I say, games like this really test your spirit as a team and you can see that mentality, it was there in bucket loads.”
Rodgers says a change in tactics in the second period meant his side were able to deal with the Blades’ threat, and go on to win the game thanks to Barnes’ special goal.
He said: “We pressed the game really well in the middle of the field, and James Maddison has played one of the best passes you’ll see throughout the season with the outside of his foot.
“It’s an absolutely sensational pass, and Jamie [Vardy] does what he does best. He just lets it run across his body and finishes. That gave us a good start in the game. We had a bit of pressure that we had to deal with in the second half and obviously they got their goal.
“They changed the two strikers and their two strikers go into the box. The two boys in the first half for Sheffield United probably played more outside, so they were in the box and from crosses, it was starting to hurt us a little bit. We made the change.
“Tactically, we bring in Wes [Morgan] and we go to a 3-5-2 and it worked well for us. We got the winning goal through an absolutely brilliant strike by Harvey [Barnes]. It was so good for the supporters to have that right in front of them. It was wonderful technique.”
When asked about his initial reaction to Barnes’ goal, the manager added: “I was, of course, very, very happy. It’s a tough place to come, so knowing that we’ve got quality players and they’re going to keep going, was important.
“To score a goal of that technique and quality having just come into the game, I’m so pleased for him. He’s a boy that’s got a big future here at the Club, and like I say, it was a brilliant goal.”