The Time Today - BR on irreplaceable Vardy & future planning

[JohnnieFoxWalker]

Brendan Rodgers: Jamie Vardy irreplaceable for Leicester but we must plan forward
How Leicester are working to avert spring slump before turning to a summer spend
 
Gregor Robertson
Saturday March 06 2021, 12.01am, The Times

 
After a dispiriting exit from the Europa League, comprehensive defeat by Arsenal and a raft of injuries to key players it has not taken long for Leicester City’s top-four credentials to be questioned.

Perhaps that should come as little surprise after last season’s painful denouement and the defeat by Manchester United in which Leicester lost out on a Champions League place on the final day.

The midweek draw away to Burnley at a time that marks two years of development since Brendan Rodgers’s first game at the helm, took the club to 50 points from 27 games, the same haul as they had at this point last year. The parallels with last season, should you wish to draw them, are clear.

Last season, injuries to Wilfred Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira, James Maddison and Ben Chilwell hindered a team that collected only 12 points from their last 11 games. Tonight, Rodgers will be without Jonny Evans, Ayoze Pérez, James Maddison, Dennis Praet, Harvey Barnes, Wes Morgan, and James Justin for the game away to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Defeat against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup semi-final last season, robbing Leicester of a visit to Wembley, was a significant blow; the performance in defeat against Slavia Prague in the Europa League ten days ago was equally disappointing and raised the early prospect of another springtime slump.

Yet as Rodgers noted on Thursday, Leicester have taken 11 points from the last available 18. “We’ve lost one [league] game, when we weren’t at our level. We’re certainly not dwelling on the negativity,” he said. “We have a tremendous spirit in the squad. So when everyone talks about the injuries, we tend not to. We just deal with it and look to be the best we can be. OK, the game might look slightly different because of the quality we can put out. But we still want to put out a team that can get results.”

Rodgers may have his critics but he has demonstrated Leicester’s tactical flexibility this season — for instance, a switch to a three-man defence to combat injuries to the defenders Caglar Soyuncu, Evans or Wesley Fofana, or ceding possession and striking on the break in wins against Manchester City, Arsenal (away), Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool.

And despite the spate of recent injuries, Leicester’s squad is stronger than ever. The emergence of Luke Thomas, coupled with the arrival of Fofana and Timothy Castagne, the return of Pereira and the re-emergence of Nampalys Mendy, have given Leicester options in all but one area of the pitch.

Whether or not the coffers are boosted by Champions League qualification another option up front will be high on Leicester’s list of priorities this summer. Jamie Vardy has laboured since returning from hernia surgery last month and while Kelechi Iheanacho’s sumptuous volley against Burnley on Wednesday reaffirmed the Nigerian’s value, Leicester must begin to move away from their reliance on their talisman. “It’s something we’re well understanding of within the club,” Rodgers said. “And it’s the same for every player, in any position, you’re having to plan forward. The idea in the summer will be to strengthen the squad again.

 

“For me he’s [Vardy] irreplaceable. His story, his qualities and what he’s given to Leicester City and the Premier League is so unique. I’ll always look to have speed at the top of the field, but there are other attributes that we would look for.”

Leicester’s recruitment has, of course, long been the envy of their rivals and the club’s move into a state of the art £100 million training facility will also house an academy from which there are more ready to follow in the footsteps of Thomas and Barnes, who joined the club aged seven and nine respectively.

Despite a 70 per cent growth in revenue in the five years to 2018-19, Leicester are still dwarfed by the traditional “big six”, whose incomes (pre-pandemic) were between 55 and 70 per cent greater than Leicester’s £178 million.

“We have to find a different way. We can’t go out and buy the £60 million player like those clubs will be able to do,” Rodgers said. “But that doesn’t stop us wanting to be competitive. That’s the test for us every single day, to try and bridge that gap, and it’s a really exciting project to be involved in. We’ve looked to adjust the mindset, in terms of being ambitious, and have this drive to complete.

“We know it’s a huge challenge, but thus far, we’ve been able to be up there or thereabouts, be seen at that level, and the job is to consistently see if we can stay there.”

 

 

 

Edited 6 March 2021 by davieG
re - Posted as 'Plain Text'

[HighPeakFox]

This might get comments.

[StanSP]

3 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

This might get comments.

Only once I'm done scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling... 

[mozartfox]

No comment.

[1972 Fox]

17 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

This might get comments.

 

23 minutes ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

And despite the spate of recent injuries, Leicester’s squad is stronger than ever.

[JohnnieFoxWalker]

Apologies; cropped all the cr*p at the bottom just now.

[JohnnieFoxWalker]

I said back in Jan that we should look at buying Pukki & Cantwell as cover for Madders & JV......could have offered them Perez & Gray?

[davieG]

6 minutes ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

I said back in Jan that we should look at buying Pukki & Cantwell as cover for Madders & JV......could have offered them Perez & Gray?

If only it was that easy.

[Dahnsouff]

12 minutes ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

I said back in Jan that we should look at buying Pukki & Cantwell as cover for Madders & JV......could have offered them Perez & Gray?

No chance that was achievable, Norwich were and are pushing to bounce back, so derailing their squad would not have been likely

[filbertway]

13 minutes ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

I said back in Jan that we should look at buying Pukki & Cantwell as cover for Madders & JV......could have offered them Perez & Gray?

Spending 50 odd million on 2 very average players would have been a master stroke

[nnfox]

So a new striker in the summer and next season we'll start to see less of Jamie Vardy.

[1972 Fox]

1 hour ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

I said back in Jan that we should look at buying Pukki & Cantwell as cover for Madders & JV......could have offered them Perez & Gray?

Good swap deal @Chocolate Teapot?

[hejammy]

Well there's nothing we all don't know there so 

[SkidsFox]

Do we get an invite to the retirement party?

[mozartfox]

4 hours ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

I said back in Jan that we should look at buying Pukki & Cantwell as cover for Madders & JV......could have offered them Perez & Gray?

Thanks Congers. 

[Collymore]

5 hours ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

“We have to find a different way. We can’t go out and buy the £60 million player like those clubs will be able to do

I swear I've heard Rodgers say this about 10 times now. 

 

I wonder if it's partly to help drive prices down when we're bidding for players but he bangs on about this so much it makes me feel there's a hidden agenda with it somewhere... 

 

 

 

 

[HighPeakFox]

5 minutes ago, Collymore said:

I swear I've heard Rodgers say this about 10 times now. 

 

I wonder if it's partly to help drive prices down when we're bidding for players but he bangs on about this so much it makes me feel there's a hidden agenda with it somewhere... 

I think it's because we can't afford to go out and buy £60 million players.

[jayfox26]

4 hours ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

I said back in Jan that we should look at buying Pukki & Cantwell as cover for Madders & JV......could have offered them Perez & Gray?

Pukki nowhere near good enough and also not young and Cantwell hasn't been great this season from what I've seen. And there is no way Norwich could afford the wages of Gray and Perez. 

 

And Gray given a chance between Leverkusen and Norwich? He definitely wouldn't have gone to Norwich 

Edited 6 March 2021 by jayfox26

[jayfox26]

15 minutes ago, Collymore said:

I swear I've heard Rodgers say this about 10 times now. 

 

I wonder if it's partly to help drive prices down when we're bidding for players but he bangs on about this so much it makes me feel there's a hidden agenda with it somewhere... 

 

 

 

 

I think he's probably managing expectations of some of our fans. Whilst alot of fans understand our transfer model and the fact we are miles behind the "big 6" in terms of finances, there are always some idiots that think we should be signing 5 World class players every summer and spending £200m on new signings. Other than Youri and Fofana, we haven't really done well with players that have cost alot of money. I personally don't care if we spend £10m or £50m on a player so long as they are good enough. Id rather we kept hold of all of our top players than having to sell to buy like we have done previously. Champs league money would help with this 

[Collymore]

5 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I think it's because we can't afford to go out and buy £60 million players.

Exactly, you've hit the nail on the head. The fans know this, the media knows this as it's so obvious. For him to say it once or twice is understandable but it's been his soundbite for a while now even though I can't see who he's answering to. 

 

I think it's likely a way for him to take pressure of himself and the squad or like I said before, drive prices down perhaps... 

[HighPeakFox]

1 minute ago, Collymore said:

Exactly, you've hit the nail on the head. The fans know this, the media knows this as it's so obvious. For him to say it once or twice is understandable but it's been his soundbite for a while now even though I can't see who he's answering to. 

 

I think it's likely a way for him to take pressure of himself and the squad or like I said before, drive prices down perhaps... 

He's saying it (not sure it's as many as 10 times, but who's counting?) to point out the reality of the difficulty of competing with those clubs that can spaff that much randomly.

[Collymore]

4 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

He's saying it (not sure it's as many as 10 times, but who's counting?) to point out the reality of the difficulty of competing with those clubs that can spaff that much randomly.

I think the fact he's so specific with amount makes me wonder if we're after £50m players instead!

 

Probably me just over analysing it 😂

[Collymore]

9 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

I think he's probably managing expectations of some of our fans. Whilst alot of fans understand our transfer model and the fact we are miles behind the "big 6" in terms of finances, there are always some idiots that think we should be signing 5 World class players every summer and spending £200m on new signings. Other than Youri and Fofana, we haven't really done well with players that have cost alot of money. I personally don't care if we spend £10m or £50m on a player so long as they are good enough. Id rather we kept hold of all of our top players than having to sell to buy like we have done previously. Champs league money would help with this 

Yeah I think you've summed it up nicely there. 

 

He also might be protecting himself so people realise just how well he's doing with relatively limited resources.

Edited 6 March 2021 by Collymore

[jayfox26]

16 minutes ago, Collymore said:

Yeah I think you've summed it up nicely there. 

 

He also might be protecting himself so people realise just how well he's doing with relatively limited resources.

Possibly protecting himself/saying to the "big clubs" look how good i am...

[adejo92]

Let's hope he gets back to form else my gran will be replacing him next week.