365 days of Brendan Rodgers: How has the former Celtic manager revived Leicester City?
The last week of February marked Brendan Rodgers’ one-year anniversary at Leicester City and, whilst he hasn’t taken the Foxes back to the dizzying heights of favourites to win the Premier League in football odds today they are on the cusp of Champions League qualification – a feat that looked impossible under former boss Claude Puel.
Puel was sacked following a 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace, leaving Leicester 12 th in the table. The Foxes vice-chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, moved quickly to appoint the former Liverpool manager as the Frenchman’s successor, and Rodgers took the reins at the King Power Stadium just two days later, with Celtic receiving £9 million in compensation.
Many doubted the former Hoops boss, who had major success in Scotland, due to his failed tenure at Liverpool. However, Rodgers won six of the 10 Premier League games he was in charge of last season, including an impressive 3-0 thumping of Arsenal, although he could do no better than secure a ninth-place finish for Leicester in the few months he had to turn their campaign around.
However, this term, the Foxes look destined for a return to Champions League football. Rodgers’ side are currently third in the table having lost just seven of their 27 league games to date – winning 15. They have a six point cushion over Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in fourth, whilst they are nine points clear of Manchester United in fifth with just 11 games left to play.
Before the turn of the New Year, Leicester City were sitting second in the Premier League table and looked like Liverpool’s main competitors, although a dip in their form has seen them win just three of their last 10 matches.
The signings of Ayoze Pérez from Newcastle United and the permanent signing of Youri Tielemans, who spent last term on loan at the King Power, have proved vital for Rodgers with Pérez scoring seven league goals to date and adding a further four assists, whilst Tielemans has contributed three goals, five assists and has been a midfield general for the Foxes.
Rodgers has taken a bunch of average Premier League players and turned them into some of the best in England in their positions. Çağlar Söyüncü was playing second fiddle to Harry Maguire before the latter’s mega-money move to Manchester United and is now one of the most cool, calm and collected defenders in the top flight, whilst Wilfred Ndidi is now considered one of the best defensive midfielders in the league.
Jamie Vardy was back to his goal-scoring best earlier in the season and is just one goal behind last season’s tally of 18 with 11 games to go, whilst James Maddison and Ben Chilwell are regular performers for the Foxes and the Three Lions.
“Brendan’s got a really positive attitude and his experiences of being at Celtic and Liverpool give us confidence,” Jonny Evans told the Telegraph.
“He’s able to relay those experiences and he can back it all up because we’ve seen it with our own eyes. He gives us clarity and makes it simple.
“I experienced this type of training under Louis van Gaal at Manchester United and you can see the players thrive on it. Brendan wants us to play a high-pressing game and we need to replicate that in training. He wants us to start games fast.”
There is no doubt that Rodgers’ revival has the Leicester fans dreaming again, and all going to plan, they should be going on a European tour next season.