With the dust settling on a disappointing night in the Europa league, it’s almost gone under the radar that Brendan Rodgers has now been at the club 2 years, so how do we judge him?
Retrospectives are never a good idea on the back of one of the worst displays of the season but when the blame game and general hysteria are setting in, maybe this might be an ideal time for us all to gain some much needed perspective. Brendan Rodgers is one of the best managers Leicester City have had in a long time, but has it all been perfect?
A coaching improvement
During Claude Puel’s last game in charge (an embarrassing 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace) many Leicester fans were going through the motions and not looking forward to attending games. The football was drab, the results were getting worse and team selections were just strange – There were occasions where Jamie Vardy was benched in favour of Demarai Gray and Shinji Okazaki. The passing game also lacked a lot of purpose or variety. So when Rodgers came in, the urgency and calmness in possession was a breath of fresh air.
We now have a team that is a pleasure to watch that plays through the lines, is devastating on the attack and presses. There is also significant improvement in the players all round with each of them comfortable with being given the ball in tight areas and eager to draw out the opposition from the back line. This football is modern, effective and releasing the players potential.
131 Premier League points
131 points is an impressive tally and when you stretch that over 74 games it gives you an average points per game of 1.77. If Leicester were to continue that they would finish on 67 points for the season. Whether that would be enough for their Champions League dreams remains to be seen.
In his first full season with the club Rodgers finished 5th – the second highest top flight finish since 1963. The harsh reality was that the players came up short when it mattered and somehow achieved throwing away a near certain Champions League place when being seemingly out of touching distance of Manchester United and Chelsea. Hopefully this season they have enough to get the job done. But let’s not forget that the previous manager claimed it was impossible to be a top 6 club in 2018, the current manager has achieved that almost immediately and somehow the east Midlanders are still justifiably disappointed.
FA Cup – No surprises….for now
Quarter final defeats are something of a Leicester specialty under numerous managers. with the FA cup in particular causing too many near misses. Brendan Rodgers added to this tally last year with a drab defeat against Chelsea. He has an opportunity to get Leicester to their first FA cup semi final for 39 years when he takes on Manchester United in March.
League Cup – the nearly men
The less said about this season’s reserve team defeat to Arsenal the better. Last season though the defeat to Aston Villa still sticks in the throat with the Foxes dominating large parts of the tie to be dealt a late sucker punch and a shocking missed handball to compound. In reality though Leicester didn’t really show up when it mattered and losing to a team battling relegation at the time was disappointing especially when it would have meant the first cup final for 20 years.
Europa League – Rodgers achilles heel
Before Christmas, Rodgers navigated the group stages of the Europa league expertly whilst never having to compromise the league form. He mixed up the team and utilised the squad effectively and kept everyone on song whilst winning his group comfortably.
The knockout games against Slavia Prague were still seemingly managed with the tone and effort of a group stage match instead of a knockout clash. Slavia seemed far better equipped and ready for the battle as they pressed Leicester hard and cannily won and made cheap fouls effectively. By leaving ‘man of the moment’ Harvey Barnes and two of the finest full backs in Ricardo and Castagne on the bench was an error in judgement. If Leicester go on to continue their Premier League form then this will be seen as a necessary sacrifice, if not then familiar questions will be asked.
On a personal level Rodgers has now failed to qualify through the last 32 of a European competition yet again. Whether this is something that concerns him above Leicester’s goals this season remains to be seen.
From a club progressional point of view this is only the third time the foxes have competed in European competition this century and will hopefully give them a taste for more of the same.
Professional conduct
Brendan Rodgers is a huge asset to the club for many reasons, his sound bites and quips might not generate the same level of media interest as ‘King Claudio’ but he is great value. Notice how often he has complained about injuries, referees or anything in general. He is a positive character and the players seem to have smiles on their faces when playing. They are enjoying their football and we are enjoying watching them. This ‘David Brent’ nonsense that followed him after the infamous ‘Liverpool’ documentary should now be put to bed.
Nearly men?
Since the infamous Gerrard slip at Anfield, Rodgers has had to cope with the tag of a ‘nearly man’. He took Liverpool as close as they had been to Premier League glory until his successor arrived. Time at Celtic gave him much needed room to build his own legacy of success, but deep down everyone knows that the Scottish Premier league lacks the competition to truly test a coaches ability. Rodgers came to Leicester to fulfil his and the clubs potential.
Leicester City are now potentially a top four club that can challenge for trophies. Rodgers has shown plenty of moments that he is a manager worthy of achieving that with the club. He is making constant progress across the board to get Leicester there. Note this season how often he has beaten those big 6 sides compared to last season.
Nevertheless, with crucial steps in some competitions still not quite being achieved, frustrations inevitably creep in. More patience is going to be needed until Leicester make those crucial steps in league and cup. Personally I’d take an FA Cup semi final and top 4 finish right now as that would be yet again more progress for the club.
Rodgers simply gets a buzz out of making the players he works with and clubs he is at ‘better’. Although we as fans should definitely push hard for success we should also remember that we have one of the best British coaches at the helm. I’m sure the Leicester fanbase would welcome many more years of ‘Brendanball’ at the King Power. Happy anniversary Brendan, here’s to more success!