WHEN Brendan Rodgers speaks, it can be difficult to sift wheat from the chaff. There is nobody in English football right now as fond of syrupy romanticism, of overly emotive cliches, as he is. And yet there has been an unfamiliar realism to Rodgers’ remarks since taking over at Leicester City, stating ‘a cup, Europe and top six’ to be his long term for the club.
The Northern Irishman has made a good start on that vow since his appointment at the King Power Stadium in March. With two games left of the season, Leicester are three points off finishing as ‘best of the rest’ in the Premier League table. Best of the rest won’t be good enough for Rodgers going forward, though.
If Rodgers has his sights on a top six finish, as he has stated, then he also, inadvertently, believes a top four push is possible. Only five points currently separate Tottenham Hotspur in third place and Manchester United in sixth and so if Leicester are to be in that mix next season, their ceiling won’t be merely making Europe, but maybe even qualifying for the Champions League.
A man on a mission pic.twitter.com/SMMgq7Dpup
— Leicester City (@LCFC) April 30, 2019
Of course, such a notion might seem fanciful. The gulf between the best and the rest in the Premier League has never been vaster than it is now, with a new overseas broadcast deal only likely to widen that gulf even further from next season. Leicester City famously defied the odds just a few seasons ago, but the odds for teams of their stature are getting longer.
Nonetheless, Leicester City boast a stronger platform than any other side outside the top six. There remains a lingering whiff of their Premier League title win, not just in the raised expectations of the club as a whole, but in the quality of the players signed using the money that came from being a Champions League outfit, even if it was just for one season.
Ben Chilwell, Harry Maguire, Wilfried Ndidi and Ricardo Pereira, all signed using that cash, are elite level players. In particular, Chilwell, reportedly a target for Manchester City this summer, and Maguire, the subject of a £50 million bid from Manchester United last summer, are good enough to play for pretty much any team in England.
Then there’s James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemens, three of the most exciting young players in the Premier League at this moment. On top of this, Jamie Vardy is still the best striker not at a top six club, with the likes of Jonny Evans, Marc Albrighton and Kasper Schmeichel bringing top level experience.
⚽️ @vardy7 100 league goals for @LCFC
9 goals in 8 PL apps under Brendan Rodgers pic.twitter.com/1znP80DZil— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) April 28, 2019
Seventh place is the bare minimum this Leicester City squad should be achieving. Wolves are the only club outside the top six who can boast a similarly equipped side and even then there is a sense of overachievement to their success this season. Rodgers has a more balanced, more experienced and arguably more talented squad.
While the former Celtic and Liverpool manager might claim top six to be his objective, he is quietly preparing Leicester for a top four challenge. Rodgers has restored the Foxes’ identity as a side with ruthless efficiency in transition, with their performance against Arsenal on Sunday the greatest demonstration yet of their recent progress.
To finish in the top four, Rodgers must develop Leicester City’s capacity for control, but this is something he has done at each of his last three clubs. After success following a similar blueprint at Swansea City, Liverpool and Celtic there’s no reason to believe the Northern Irishman won’t pull the same thing off at the King Power Stadium.
Rodgers is a brutally ambitious character. He still feels slighted by what happened to him at Liverpool and so everything since then has been planned and shaped to return him to that level. Taking over at Leicester City kept his rebound going. Finishing seventh will do little to propel Rodgers back to the elite level, though. Not even sixth will do that. Rodgers knows this.
