Matchday With The Manager – Enjoy The Occasion
The Foxes are back on their travels once more this midweek, facing Newcastle United in the quarter-finals of the competition, just three days after defeating Gillingham to progress into the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Speaking a day prior to the 8pm GMT kick-off, City’s manager discussed how his side will look to approach the fixture, while speaking to the assembled media inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground…
Learning from the recent Newcastle reverse
The Magpies came out on top when the two sides met in the Premier League on Boxing Day, convincingly winning 3-0 at King Power Stadium. Rodgers identified plenty of areas to work on from that game, in order to produce a more positive display against their North East opponents this time around.
“It’s a fantastic game,” City’s manager enthused. “We’ve got experience now in cup competitions. We always treat it seriously and this, here, is a brilliant game for us. When we played Newcastle a few weeks ago, we didn’t show our true selves. In the first 10 minutes, we shot ourselves in the foot.
“There’s no doubt that game was a surprise to us. The lesson from that is that you can’t start like that and make those mistakes against a really good side and not expect to get punished. It’s important we stay strong in the first 20 minutes.
“You start well yourselves and look to play with that attacking mentality. St. James’ Park is an amazing place to go and play, the atmosphere will be great, and that’s what you want as a player and a manager, to be able to go into games like this, here.
“If you’re going to do well in cup competitions, you have to win some tough games home and away. We’re really looking forward to the challenge of that. We know that we have the capacity to get a good result.”
Praising the opposition
Newcastle have started the season well, sitting third in the top flight, losing just one league game this campaign, though they did suffer a 2-1 defeat to Sky Bet League 1 side Sheffield Wednesday in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup at the weekend.
“It’s a combination of things,” the Northern Irishman mused on the form of Tuesday’s opponents. “Eddie [Howe], in terms of his management, has done great with the players that he has. The recruitment and investment in the squad has been very good and given them a real strong base to build from.
“With the confidence and the support that they have – it’s an amazing stadium to go and play in. How fanatic the supporters are and how they support the team, I think if you combine that with a team playing well, then that makes it a difficult place to go, and it’s always been that.
“It’s one of the few grounds I’ve always loved going to, to be involved in a game there, because it feels like a real occasion at St. James’ Park. But, of course, now they are doing very well and playing consistently well.
“They’ve made a really good start to the league and, of course, they’ll be disappointed from the weekend but they’ll want to make a semi-final like we do tomorrow night.”
The required mindset
Targeting a performance worthy of progressing to a second League Cup semi-final in four seasons, that will be no easy task for the travelling Foxes, given the stretched squad, tight turnaround between games, and expected raucous atmosphere.
The 49-year-old added: “It’s these types of atmospheres that you’re playing for. You have to stay calm and controlled. Of course, you are playing with emotion in the game. You have to defend strongly and have maximum concentration and commitment.
“It can go the other way if you start well, there can be nervousness in the ground. From the start, it should be a great evening’s football, and we’re looking forward to it.
“We’ve always tried to be honest in our approach in the cup competitions, even though it’s a challenge for us with the depth of squad that we have. We put out teams to win the games.
“This is a quarter-final game with a chance to reach a semi-final. It’s a great opportunity for us. We’re in these competitions to try and win them and if we play as well as we can, we have a chance.
“Performance-wise, I didn’t think we deserved to lose against Fulham or Liverpool. However, you can’t make mistakes. Concentration has to be high and, if we do that, we always believe that we can score goals. So that’s what is important, getting back to our process again.”