Rodgers on Leicester’s season-changing game

Rodgers’ delight

Speaking to the media after the game, Rodgers was quick to praise the atmosphere that the fans created:

"‘[…T]he supporters were brilliant and set a great atmosphere, and that lifted the players. Right from the first whistle, you saw the desire and quality in the game. I’m very pleased, it was an excellent performance.’"

Asked if he has felt the result coming in the games played this season, Rodgers responded by stating:

"‘[It’s] hard to justify that when you’re at the bottom of the league, but we have played well in periods of games, but haven’t been able to finish them off. The international break was a chance for us to reboot and we knew we needed to have a greater desire to press and stop goals going in, and we know we have a football idea that can allow us to create opportunities.’"

To be fair to Rodgers, the result has been coming for some time, but the Foxes haven’t been able to string together a full 90 minutes of quality needed to see out games. In the league, Leicester have only failed to score in one game this season – the 1-0 home loss to Manchester United.

On Monday, Sky Sports put out a damning statistic that City have given up 11 points from winnings positions across their matches this season, the joint most with opponents Forest. Goals haven’t been the problem; the defence has with a record-breaking 22 goals conceded in their opening 7 Premier League games.

Then asked what it means for the rest of the season, Rodgers put out a rallying call for his squad not to lose the momentum that this result has created:

"‘I said before it was a season-changing game for us if we could get the result because it’s been too long, for how we’ve been used to working, to not be winning. We had a tough start on the back of a tough summer but tonight feels like the first game of the season. The performance level was there. It feels like we can now push on and start climbing the league.’"

Finally, Rodgers was asked if he felt relieved after ending the worst run of his managerial career. The gaffer was initially reluctant to focus on himself, praising his players and the fans, before commenting of how he personally felt:

"‘I’m just more pleased for everyone else. It was a big night for us. We needed to repay the supporters […] It’s a good feeling. For me, I love working with the players here and I’ll continue to encourage to support them and manage them and prepare them to be the best they can be. Hopefully now we can push on.’ All quotes provided by LeicestershireLive"

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