Rodgers hails Maddison as ‘one of the biggest talents in the country’
CITY BOSS FULL OF PRAISE FOR MIDFIELDER’S BRACE AGAINST BRIGHTON
JAMES Maddison bounced back from a “difficult” week to show he is one of the biggest talents in the country, Brendan Rodgers said.
The Leicester City midfielder missed the midweek Europa League win with a knee injury.
But he went straight back into the team and scored his first brace for the club, including a sumptuous second, to lead the club to a 3-0 win over Brighton and to within a point of top spot in the Premier League table.
Maddison celebrated his first by running over to the touchline and hugging the City boss, and Rodgers said they had had some heart-to-hearts in the build-up to the game.
“We have a really close relationship and we’ve had a couple of chats over the past week that were personal,” Rodgers said.
“He’s a great kid with such huge talent. He cares about his profession and his life.
“He’s had a difficult week in terms of his injury. But he knows I have his back and I know he’s one of the biggest talents in this country. In games like tonight, you saw the quality he has.
“He has immense quality. You saw his right-footed strike away at Man City. He has technique off both feet. That today was a sensational strike.
“He’s hardly trained all week. As you know, we left him out of the game in midweek with a rumble in his knee, but his desire to play and get himself through it was great. He gives us that real quality.”
City’s goals came after Rodgers changed shape midway through the first half.
Brighton were on top at the time, prompting Rodgers to switch from a back three to a back four.
The City boss admitted that he was caught out by Graham Potter’s decision to go with a back four himself.
“They surprised us actually,” added Rodgers.
“They’ve played a lot with a five, but they played with a back four (on Sunday), with two midfield players, two narrow wingers, and two strikers, which was okay when we had the ball, but without it, because they’re a really good footballing side, they can cut you open and play through, and that was my worry.
“I felt we could change the shape and go to 4-2-3-1 and that would allow us to press the game better, and also exploit some of the spaces.
“It’s a huge credit to the players. My ideal footballer is intelligent to understand and interpret different systems and you saw that.
“The players need a huge amount of credit for adapting.”