A NEW BREND OF FOOTBALL
Evans: Rodgers will succeed.. and make us more streetwise
JONNY EVANS is backing Brendan Rodgers to make Leicester more “streetwise” – despite being mugged in his first game.
New boss Rodgers began his Foxes reign with a last-gasp defeat at Watford, but Evans is confident brighter times are just around the corner at the King Power.
Rodgers was fast-tracked into the job after a section of Leicester fans turned on his predecessor Claude Puel, whose measured approach was not universally popular among senior players.
And Evans, part of a new-look, three-at-the-back formation, believes the setback at Vicarage Road was only a bump in the road, not a symptom of more fundamental weakness.
The Northern Ireland defender (right) said: “It’s a tough one to take but we have to move on from it now and make sure we get it right next week. There were some encouraging signs, like the team’s shape, and we felt pretty comfortable.
“I’ve been a long-time admirer of the new manager’s work – he’s done great things at the clubs where he’s worked before so it’s great to see him come to our football club.
“I think everyone’s really excited to work with Brendan Rodgers and see what he can offer us as individuals and as a team. He’s a top-drawer manager with a good reputation and his arrival has given everyone a boost. I played against his Liverpool team and it was always so tough, one of the most difficult games in the Premier League – they had two strikers, real pace, and they were dynamic. “And what he achieved at Celtic was fantastic. I watched a few of their games in Europe and it was fantastic football: Hopefully he can get us playing in a good, attacking way. “I think he wants quick, fast players in attacking areas – we’ve got players like that here and I hope he can give us a structure, and the belief that we can cause teams problems. “We’ve talked about being more streetwise in games because we conceded early and right at the death against Watford. He will make us more streetwise because we’ve got great talent. We’ve just got to learn how to manage games a bit better.” For the second home game in a row, Watford supersub Andre Gray scored the winner against a former Hornets manager after he came off the bench to thwart Marco Silva against Everton last month.
Gray’s sixth bullseye of the season gives him the best goals-per-start ratio of any striker at the club and he admitted: “It’s good that the goals are being shared around. None of us are hitting 20 goals a season at the moment, but it’s probably better than relying on one talisman.”