Rodgers: We're Seeing The Development Of The Team

- Brendan Rodgers reflects on an encouraging start to the 2020/21 season for Leicester City
- The Foxes climbed to fourth in the Premier League with a 1-0 success at Arsenal on Sunday night
- Rodgers' men also sit top of Group G in the UEFA Europa League ahead of Thursday's visit to AEK Athens
- Leicester have shown several different qualities in their performances this term, Rodgers adds

City sit fourth in the early Premier League table and top of Group G in the UEFA Europa League after an encouraging start to the Club's seventh consecutive top-flight campaign.

Speaking following Sunday's 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, Leicester's first win at the north London outfit since 1973, Rodgers underlined his pride at the performance.

"If you play against Arsenal, you see their quality," the Northern Irishman said. "You see how they move it about, so you’ve got to be really, really disciplined.

"It’s about deciding where you close down the space. They’re very good in the build-up phase and, normally, once they play through, they score goals because they’re away.

"They have such fast and dynamic players, so for us, it was about trying to press it from the static goal-kick. Once we were beaten in that phase, it’s then about getting back into shape.

"Tactically, you need a big focus and concentration and you need to get your distances right and, for that, the players were brilliant.

"Of course, when you get the ball back, you’ve got to play, and we had that confidence to do that."

Jamie Vardy's sixth goal of 2020/21 ultimately sealed the points for the Foxes in the capital and Rodgers admits the 33-year-old rarely surprises him with his quality. 

"It’s always the case," he continued. "In every game, he looks like scoring. He’s disappointed he didn’t have another one from when he was through one-on-one, on a slight angle.

"He was obviously unfortunate to not score, but he’s a world-class striker. I always like my strikers to be able to stretch the game and get in behind and he does that so well.

"He’s up there for the ball to be squared and finished, he’s an incredible talent. We’d have loved to start him, but having been out with his calf, we needed to nurse him back in.

"The plan was always to make sure we were in the game and then he could come in for 30 minutes and really stretch the game for us."

Reflecting more generally on City's start to the new season, the 47-year-old also highlighted the different types of stratagems deployed by the Foxes to secure five victories in seven games.

"In these six [league] games, we’ve had tough away games," he added. "To go to Man City and win was an exceptional performance and it was a different type of performance here, but it’s an outstanding win for us against a top club.

"We’ve shown our learning and we’ve shown different ways to win. In all six games, we’ve pressed the game really well. West Brom was a tough test for us in the first game.

"In other games we dug in and scored goals, against Burnley in particularly, so we’ve had different types of wins and that’s what’s pleased me most about our start.

"The development of the team, they’ve shown they can win in different ways, and we have the flexibility to play in different systems. That’s fantastic.

"The young players are learning and gaining confidence too, so this was another tick of the box for their development as a team and it was a deserved victory for us."