Leicester City have fallen into an old habit with their slow starts, manager Brendan Rodgers has said. With slow starts again a problem, Rodgers says it is something he is seeking a solution to.
Brendan Rodgers said: “I think it’s something that goes back, that predates my time coming in. That was something that was mentioned about the team. You go into a game and your idea and your principles are to create a plan that’s based around the clarity and idea of how you want to work, which we give the players. You’ve got to maintain that mentality to attack the game, and that’s something that we need to have a look at. Our way is to impose our style into the game and that’s something we have to be better at. It shouldn’t need a spark, either from the manager at half-time, or for something to happen in the game, in order to create that. That’s something we have to continually talk on, something we have done, but we have to continually repeat that message. The first 10 minutes of any game is very important, no matter who your opponent is. I said when I first came in, it was about going to any stadium and being able to play our game. When we’re really at our best and have that focus on the game, that is something we can do at a very high level. The one thing I will say, is the flip-side of that is that when we maybe don’t start at our best, I don’t think you can question this team’s resilience. In the main, you saw the other night, we went behind in the game and that can clearly affect your confidence, but we get back into the game and by the end of the game, we’re finishing really strongly and should win the game. It’s definitely something we have to be better in, and we have to make that switch in terms of our mentality and look to get off to a good start.”
City have an opportunity to correct that this weekend when they take on Aston Villa, another side who have typically started poorly this term.
