Leicester City have had a very tough start to the season after losing 6 consecutive games following their opening day draw vs Brentford. Manager, Brendan Rodgers, has been under an intense amount of pressure with many Leicester fans calling for a managerial change. However, the Leicester City owner, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, ultimately chose to place his trust and faith in Rodgers and we are now starting to see the rewards of that decision.
The foxes have won 3 out of their last 5 games including two 4-0 victories over midlands rivals, Nottingham Forrest and Wolves. Leicester have also significantly improved defensively after keeping 4 clean sheets from 5, the joint 2nd most of any side in the Premier League. That is vastly improved considering Leicester broke the record for the most goals conceded after seven games of a Premier League season (22).
But why has there been such a drastic turnaround? Well there is no doubt, Rodgers has got it spot on with his substitutions in games. At the start of the season it was a criticism of his that he would either make substitutions too little or too late but over the last number of games he has tactically made the right calls throughout. The summer recruit Wout Faes has had a huge influence on the solidity of the defence, his warrior like spirit has been infectious on the team and his will to fight for every ball has certainly aided the turnaround in form. At just £15M he is already looking like a bargain in today's market.
Naturally when a side starts to gain confidence and momentum it makes the manager's job in the media a lot easier and I think we are seeing that with Rodgers. At stages this season he has had to ride the wave of heavy criticism and tough questioning when conducting his media duties but now the pressure is slowly easing off and that will certainly be a relief for the Northern Irishmen. His focus will be on maintaining the positive feeling around the club and he will certainly be looking to go into the World Cup break with the foxes continuing this vain of form. Manchester City awaits them on Saturday and I'm sure the fans will be in high spirits at the King Power Stadium, certainly more so than any of the other home game this season. Everton and West ham are the following fixtures and with the league table so tight at the minute, just 3 points separate Leicester in 17th and West Ham in 10th.
There is still a lot of work for Rodgers and his Leicester side to do and they won't be getting carried away, but there is positive signs of improvement and fans will be hoping for a good showing against the champions on Saturday.
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