Ricardo Pereira Leicester City
Brendan Rodgers withdrew Ricardo Pereira at half-time in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Burnley because of concerns over the defending on the right-hand side. Ricardo didn’t get close enough to Maxwel Cornet for the Ivorian’s goal, and was then out of position as the Burnley winger had an immediate chance to double his tally. And so Timothy Castagne came on in his place. Here’s every word the Leicester City boss had to say on the game.
Q: What were your thoughts on the performance?
BR: “It was a little frustrating in terms of the result. We were much better going forward, we were much more creative, we created numbers of opportunities and scored two excellent goals. Burnley defended their box so well, they made some great blocks and last-ditch tackles. I’m more worried about how we defended, we can be much better in terms of our defending. Overall, we created enough and a point was deserved in the end.”
Q: What was the reason for bringing Ademola Lookman off?
BR: “The reason behind it was that Ade had played in the week and he’s just settling into the squad and into our way of working. He played 65 minutes during the week, and we had taken him off knowing he was going to start in this game. I thought in particular in the second half he was excellent. He started to tire a little bit. The idea was to try to bring in another player who could create something and in my time here, James Maddison, has in the main, been outstanding. It’s a player of real talent that we’re bringing into the team to try to unlock the defence towards the end because we had a lot of ball and pressure in that area. That was the reason why.”
Q: How did you feel about the decision being booed?
BR: “I’ve been here nearly two-and-three-quarter-years, that’s probably the first time the fans have booed, so I’ll take that after that period of time. I would never judge supporters on airing their feelings in the stadium, that’s part of the decision making as a manager. Some you get right, some you won’t, but ultimately you have to be decisive and try to affect the game to try to win the game.”
Q: Just how clinical is Jamie Vardy?
BR: “He’s just a top striker. Both goals were really good team goals, playing through, and then he makes that final pass because of his movement. The first one was a great finish into the corner, but I thought the second one was brilliant. Pope’s coming out and pushes him wide, so he’s off his weaker side to finish, it was superb. He was unfortunate in the first half, there was a really good move. You’ve got to give credit to Lowton getting back in, it’s brilliant defending. He’s on the edge of the box and it looks like Jamie is just going to tap it in, but he gets back in and makes a challenge otherwise he would have had a hat-trick. I think you saw his energy in the game, his freshness, his movement, his work-rate. That was a Jamie Vardy performance. He was a threat all game.”
Q: You conceded another two goals from wide today?
BR: “It was poor defending, there’s no doubt about it. We have to show greater commitment to stop the shot coming in (for the second goal). It’s as simple as that. The corner is unfortunate. Jamie has got under it. The goal last week was from a static position as well with the cross into the box. But the (second) goal and the dynamic of the game, it was a disappointing goal from our perspective so definitely something we would have to improve on.”
Q: Was Ricardo’s substitution at half-time an injury or tactical?
BR: “It was tactics. We needed to defend better on that side of the pitch.”
Q: How do you manage the players over the coming days with a trip to Legia Warsaw and then a trip to Crystal Palace?
BR: “But that was what we wanted. We wanted to do well in the league to get into Europe, and from that you’re going to get games. That’s what it is all about. We’ll recover over the next day or so, then we’ll get ready and prepared, and get out to there. We’re looking forward to the game.”
Q: Would it be fair to say you had lots of possession but were disappointed not to do more with it?
BR: “I think that’s what I’m saying. We arrived into good areas, but we just didn’t quite make the keeper work as much as we would have liked. We still had nine shots or something on target, but we just failed to make the finish.”
Q: Are you missing Jonny Evans?
BR: “It’s as a team. Fundamentally you’ll only attack well and create well if you defend well. For us, we need to work even harder in terms of our defending. The problem now is there is very little time to get that work in, because you’re playing, recovering, and playing again. But there’s no doubt we as a team need to defend better because that’s the basis of your work.”
Q: Are you concerned about the form?
BR: “It’s six games but of course we would like to have done better. For us, it’s about keeping preparing well and as long as we working hard, the confidence in the team returns. When any team is confident, you have that great chance to succeed. We’ll keep working well. I’m disappointed when we can’t win like today. There’s lots for us to improve on.”
Q: Is Evans just not ready?
BR: “He was really sore after the game, it was his first 90 minutes. As much as I’d love to have played him, he’s not ready to come in and play. He needed a few days of recovery, he’ll continue training, and then we’ll see how he is for Thursday.”
Q: There’s been a degree of change during the summer. Has it been difficult to integrate everybody and find the consistency?
BR: “We’re not at our level. There’s no magic formula. You’ve got to keep working hard. That will bring the confidence back, and when the players are starting to gel together and the team synchronise a bit more, I’m pretty sure the results will become more consistent. At the minute, we’re not showing that. But we’ll continue to work and I’m pretty sure that will come with time.”
