Brendan Rodgers has called on Leicester fans to recognise his team’s winning mentality by not leaving before the final whistle. He said he noticed some supporters heading for the exit on Sunday before Kelechi Iheanacho’s dramatic stoppage-time winner against Everton.
“My message is: ‘Supporters, don’t leave early,’” Rodgers said. “This is a team that whether we’re at 9-0 or 1-1, we want you here because we will go right to the end. This is the stamina and the mentality in the team. It didn’t annoy me [that fans left early] but I want them to stay. I know there can be a bit of a traffic queue getting out but this team is going to go right to the very end. At 1-1 they should never doubt that this team is finished. I’m not sure if anyone left at 9-0 at Southampton, but do not leave at 1-1. We will push to the very end.”
Leicester’s ability to strike late goals – Iheanacho’s was their sixth in the league this season in the 85th minute or later – represents another of the improvements introduced by Rodgers. Under his predecessor, Claude Puel, the team had a bad habit of starting sluggishly and running out of ideas near the end, with the result that they often drew or lost when expected to win.
“There was something when I came in about the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes of games,” Rodgers said. “Hopefully we’ve managed to go on a different road to that. Now look at the intensity and fitness in the team. They’re breaking forward in that last period. That’s a process and the players have been first class.”
Leicester’s next match – at home to Watford on Wednesday – provides a good opportunity to consider how fast fortunes can change. Rodgers’ first match as manager was at Vicarage Road in March, when a last-minute Andre Gray goal gave Watford victory. Now Watford travel as the league’s bottom-placed team while Leicester are second and aiming for a seventh win in a row. Rodgers said that cultivating a winning mentality had been an important part of his work.
“We had a clear vision of how we wanted to play and the standards we set,” he said. “And from that you just go into a process. And that becomes clear the longer you work together. Of course then you’re fostering a mindset and mentality – that’s the magic in it all; it’s amazing to be a part of it. The players have a mentality that every single game – home or away – we can win. That comes from hard work and a lot of planning.”
Rodgers said that he “will always be thankful” to Watford, the club where be began his career as a manager in 2008. He left Vicarage Road after seven months to join Reading, a decision he regrets although – and this may be pertinent in the light of his declaration that he has no desire to leave Leicester for Arsenal – he says the experience has helped him to make better career choices since then. “I said on the record I made the wrong decision to move, but that has helped me in my career because it makes you think.”
Watford arrive under the temporary charge of Hayden Mullins after sacking Quique Sánchez Flores. Rodgers said he was surprised by the removal of the Spaniard, who began his second stint at the club in September.
“They know how he works,” Rodgers said. “He was brought back in presumably because they thought he was a fantastic manager who’d done well for them before and who could revitalise their season. OK, it hasn’t worked out at the beginning like that, but I remember when I went in there it took us a few games to get going. Now there’s so much money in the game that it frightens owners. That means they make changes that much quicker.”