Matchday With The Manager – Encouragement From Recent Displays
A promising run of four games unbeaten in all competitions was stopped in its tracks by an in-form Manchester United side last Sunday, with the Foxes now focusing on repeating the highs of beating Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
Prior to welcoming Arsenal to King Power Stadium on Saturday, journalists gathered in the King Power Centre within the Foxes’ complex at LCFC Training Ground to pose questions to Rodgers, who took time out from making plans for the game.
Arsenal setting the pace
The leaders’ strengths have been evident over the course of the campaign to date, with the Gunners sitting at the summit of the league table with a two-point cushion over Manchester City having played a game fewer.
The north London outfit have already beaten Leicester once this term – a 4-2 scoreline at Emirates Stadium in City’s first away game of the season back in August, in which summer signing Gabriel Jesus scored twice on his home debut.
“They’ve had a fantastic season up until now,” the Northern Irishman assessed in his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon. “I think you sensed right at the start of the season when we played [them], they had signed the two players who were game changers for them in terms of mentality.
“When you look at the likes of Kiernan Tierney, who is an outstanding player, on the bench because [Oleksandr] Zinchenko is playing, it really shows you the quality of squad that they have. Zinchenko and Jesus coming in really helped them and gave them that mindset.
“[William] Saliba coming in at the back too, and obviously the other players improving, they played very well on that day. Whenever we got close to them, we made mistakes which gave them a cushion in the game.
“Arsenal have top-class players there. It’s no coincidence that bringing those in have probably demonstrated how they work every day and the intensity of how they work. I’m pretty sure Eddie Nketiah, who is a fantastic young player, will have seen what it takes to be a top player.
“Then when his chance comes, his intensity is greater, he’s working harder and I’m pretty sure that’s from seeing a first-class player operate every day. When you bring in that mentality, especially with young players that can be influenced, they hopefully will follow the top players. When you have that, it’s a great ingredient to succeed.
“You could see in that early part that there was a good feeling around the place and that’s continued throughout the season. I think Mikel [Arteta] has done a fantastic job with them. There’s a long way to go, 15 games to play, but they’ve had a very good season so far.”
Lessons learned from Old Trafford
Despite being on the front foot in the first half against Manchester United last time out, City went in at the break with a one-goal deficit, which was further increased via Marcus Rasfhord’s second of the afternoon and, subsequently, Jadon Sancho’s goal.
Leicester applying their principles throughout the 90 minutes against Arsenal will be key, according to the former Liverpool and Celtic manager.
The 50-year-old explained: “It was an easy game to dissect and digest. I think [in the] first half, we did really well, got punished a mistake, but could have been ahead and overall did very well in the game. [In the] second half, we gave away two quick goals and then the game got away from us and we deserved to lose by the end.
“The first half, along with how we’ve been over the last number of weeks, gives us great encouragement. We’ve analysed the second-half performance and areas we can be better in and look to bring that into this game.
“Our job, and most team’s job, is always to protect the middle, whether that’s with the ball or defending against it. The three goals last week were easily preventable. We make a mistake, give the ball away and we’re in possession so that’s something that can’t happen.
“You give that against good teams and they can exploit that very quickly and score. The two other ones are positioning and tracking runners. These are the basics of the game. If you get those right, it gives you the opportunity to win.”
Expectations for this weekend
Rodgers identified several promising aspects from recent games, with the foundations for success being built on core principles within Leicester’s play. Anticipating the quality that Arsenal will bring to Filbert Way, attaining a positive result against the north Londoners will be no mean feat.
“Both teams want to play,” he added. “That’s the identity and philosophy of both Mikel and myself. We want to create and score goals. I think we’ve shown that in our time here. But, of course, you have to be mindful of the quality that they have.
“So, like all big games against the top teams, you have to defend well, you have to be strong, you’ve got to do all the basics of the game well. You’ve got to track runners; you have to be competitive and then believe in your football. I think we’ve done that. It should be a fantastic football game.
“We saw against Tottenham in our last home game – we were strong, we were aggressive, we closed the spaces, we were progressive in our defending - and then that leads to us being aggressive in our attack.
“It’s the same idea here. This team is very, very good with the ball, positioning is good, with players with a high level technically and have speed on the outside. It’s going to be a big challenge for us, but that’s the challenge that we want. It’s similar to our last game.
“We respect the qualities, we know we have quality, we know we can score goals. but we have to defend collectively. If we can do that, we always believe we have a chance of winning.”