Brexit? No, we want to be back in Europe!
RODGERS SETS TEAM TARGET OF REPEATING PREVIOUS SEASON’S ACHIEVEMENT
BOOKING back-to-back European campaigns is the target for Leicester City in 2021, manager Brendan Rodgers has told his squad.
City start the year as one of the many contenders for European spots with the Premier League table tighter than ever at the top.
Rodgers’ side have kept pace despite the tolls of Europa League group stage games, which they successfully navigated to earn a place in the knockout rounds, beginning next month.
And so qualifying for Europe again, in spite of the heavier workload this season, would constitute a “great success”, Rodgers believes.
City have more than one route to continental competition though.
A top-five finish in the Premier League would guarantee a second successive European campaign for the first time in the club’s history, as would lifting the FA Cup, or winning the Europa League.
“I’m always honest and let you know what we’re thinking, and our thinking is if we can have European football again next season, with the stage that the team is at in its development, that would be a great success,” Rodgers said ahead of tomorrow’s new year opener at Newcastle United.
“With all due respect to the teams above us, the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool, these teams are fantastic teams full of experienced players who have been building for a number of years. We’re not at that level. That’s my honest assessment of it.
“We’re building something to be as competitive as we can possibly be without the finances that allows those teams to get to that level. We’ll continue on that journey.
“The ambition is there, the spirit is there, and the players are developing. For us to be in that position another year down the line shows that the consistency now is starting to improve, so that’s something that pleases me.
“But, of course, my ambition is always to be the best we can be.”
At St James’ Park, City will hope for a repeat of last season’s new year opener, which ended with a 3-0 victory.
Rodgers is likely to rotate his side again after resting players for Crystal Palace, with Wesley Fofana, Timothy Castagne, Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, James Maddison and Jamie Vardy likely to come back into the side.