London (AFP) – Brendan Rodgers joked he does not get the credit he deserves because he is not a glamorous foreign manager after outwitting Marcelo Bielsa to take his Leicester side second in the Premier League.
Leicester are a point behind Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool after their 4-1 win against Bielsa’s Leeds at Elland Road on Monday.
Rodgers, 47, has also masterminded victories this season against other vaunted tacticians, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
Leicester have made their joint best-ever start to a top-flight campaign, even better than when they won the title in the 2015/16 campaign.
“Because I’m a British manager, I got lucky, that’s the way it works in these games,” said Rodgers, who comes from Northern Ireland. “But the players were brilliant and got their rewards.”
Jamie Vardy is leading Leicester’s charge, with seven goals so far this season.
Rodgers called the 33-year-old “world class” on the eve of the game and the former England man ran Germany international Robin Koch ragged throughout.
At the back, the former Liverpool and Celtic boss had to re-jig his defence due to a series of injuries, with Caglar Soyuncu, Jonny Evans and Daniel Amartey out of action.
“They were outstanding,” said Rodgers, who came agonisingly close to winning the title with Liverpool in 2014. “We’re missing top international players.”
Rodgers, whose team missed out on a Champions League place after a late collapse last season, is not entertaining title thoughts despite Leicester’s outstanding form.
“It’s so early that it’s not really worth talking about,” he said.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/3oQUeBx
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