Rodgers Calls For More Physicality After Arsenal Reverse
- Leicester City lost 2-0 to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday
- Goals from Thomas Partey and Alexandre Lacazette were the difference in north London
- Manager Brendan Rodgers says the Foxes needed to take advantage of their positive play
- He also looks ahead to Thursday's UEFA Europa Conference League tie at Rennes
An early header from Thomas Partey was added to by Alexandre Lacazette's penalty in the second half to inflict a first defeat in five matches on the Foxes. The visitors, though, had spells within the game where they looked likely to make more of a contest of the encounter at Emirates Stadium.
Speaking afterwards, Rodgers provided his verdict on the clash, which leaves Leicester 12th in the Premier League. The Northern Irishman pointed to areas where his players can improve, but also highlighted some of the more pleasing aspects against a Gunners outfit who have now won five in a row.
"We’re a little bit disappointed in the end," the 49-year-old told LCFC TV in north London. "We started okay. We maybe rushed our passes a little bit in the early part of the game. We conceded a disappointing goal, from a corner yet again, but then we worked ourselves into the game.
"We had some really good moments and their ‘keeper made a great save (from Harvey Barnes' header) to stop it becoming 1-1. We know their threats, we know their qualities, but we played some good football in the first half. We got into some good areas.
"At half-time, we were starting to look a real threat in the game. The penalty in the second half killed us really and it was a disappointment."
City must be more physical in fixtures of that nature, Rodgers added, before the Foxes manager turned his attention to his side's next outing. Leicester travel to France in the week to face Rennes in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday (5:45pm GMT kick-off). They lead 2-0 on aggregate.
"You never like to lose a game, but there’s elements of the performance which I was really pleased with," he explained. "We could be more physical, even though that’s difficult when you’ve played on a Thursday night, while they’ve had a full week to prepare.
"We needed a fraction more physicality in our game and to press them a little bit more. If we can continue to work on that and do that, then we’ll get the ball more. We’ll recover and get our preparation right for the game on Thursday and look to go and be aggressive there and play our football."