QUICK STARTS, STRONG FINISHES

“My belief is always that the best teams start quickly and finish strong,” said Rodgers at the beginning of April. “I highlighted that when I came in, and now we're starting to get the first goals in games and getting it in that period. That's because we're a team where we have to go and search. It's about a mindset and it's a tactic in our game.”

He’s not wrong. Before Rodgers’ arrival, Leicester had conceded 19 goals in the first and last 15 minutes of matches. Most worrying was the 12 goals they'd conceded in the opening 15 minutes; evidence that Claude Puel was unable to get his players sufficiently focused on the task ahead.

In Rodgers’ first match, against Watford, Leicester conceded in the first five minutes and in stoppage time. That was enough for their new manager to read the riot act to his players about the need for focus.

Since then, Leicester have conceded in neither of those two periods. Furthermore, they have actually become experts in starting and finishing quickly. Against Fulham, they scored in the 78th and 86th minutes to win the game. Against Burnley, they scored a last-minute winner. Against Bournemouth, they scored in both the first and last 15 minutes. Against Huddersfield, they scored twice in the last 12 minutes. The transformation is complete.

good read

Very astute timing of the appointment from the Leicester with a run of relatively straight forward fixtures coming up bit like the timing of Solskjaer getting the United job

Big test will be when they play the better teams, they could still have a say in where the title ends up

He'll be a fantastic appointment for the next 12-18 months be interesting to see if he can take you to the next level, think he might be found wanting a tad but he may of done enough in that 12-18 months to get a bigger club

Leicester board*

Interestingly it was this run of games the last Manager would have struggled with going on previous results.

If he's done well for us that should have us 7th, would a top 6 Club look at him?

Just keep him away from transfers and you guys might just challenge the top6 if you can keep the team together for a few years.

always nice for a manager to come in to a decent set of fixtures, be interesting to see how you play at the Etihad

I'd say outside the top 6 NES is probably the next in line for a big club, then Rodgers/Howe probably equal

We play Man City second from last. I don't think anyone expects anything at the Etihad but there could be some nerves and tired legs around, and we do have someone in Vardy who's scored against them plenty of times before. Either side of that we have Arsenal at home - a real bogey team for us but a team who are struggling away - and Chelsea at home on the final day, who are both unpredictable and may have nothing left to play for except the Europa League trophy. So some fixtures that are tough but interesting for us, particularly if we're properly challenging for 7th and the last Europa League spot.

As for that article, it makes some good points but does miss a couple of key things. It suggests we were playing counterattack under Puel and that wasn't the case: We were trying to play possession football but just weren't any good at it because we were constantly inviting pressure onto ourselves. A reason for having better passing stats in our own half under Rodgers is because we've been successful in pushing the opposition back so it becomes a lot easier. And that relates to the main difference: The pressing is back. We're actually asking questions of the opposition instead of letting them ask tough questions of us. They key now will be to continue that into next season, and hopefully the lure of 7th place and something worth fighting for will help in that.

“It suggests we were playing counterattack under Puel and that wasn't the case: We were trying to play possession football but just weren't any good at it because we were constantly inviting pressure onto ourselves.”
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Yes, I was going to make precisely that point.

The possession football we tried to play too often unraveled. We kept the ball, but failed to be creative enough in the final third and this only invited pressure. This pressure inevitably led to goals against as we didn’t set up to defend like we did in 15/16: a flat back four that kept it’s shape and backed itself to defend crosses and the second ball.

Not to mention the fact we almost always conceded early, which threw the game plan out of the window. It wasn’t a coincidence that we only looked decent when we played a country attacking style against the better teams.

The frustrating thing is that it only seemed like a few small things for Puel to fix that would have made all the difference. A higher press for a start. Getting one of the attacking three to get closer to Vardy in rotation. Even a thing as simple as leaving somebody up field at a corner. It was all: keep ball, keep ball, run out of ideas, concede a goal, chase game .... again and again. Puel’s lack of flexibility was ultimately his downfall.

The possession football we tried to play too often unraveled. We kept the ball, but failed to be creative enough in the final third and this only invited pressure.


this is how we were starting to play under Rodgers

...effect






sorry

Interesting article, TB. I think the biggest change is the pressing - the players look hungry for the first time in a while and we now actually want the ball! Ndidi is unrecognizable compared to earlier in the season and Vards is clearly enjoying himself once again. Happy days. UTF.

Very interesting tactical observations and I can’t add much more to that other than:

I like it
It’s working
Long may it continue!!

It will be interesting to see if Rodgers can keep this going, but so far he’s hardly put a foot wrong.