Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)

Sky’s the limit for brilliant Brendan.. he could be next England manager

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BY the time he has climbed every mountain at Leicester City, I believe Brendan Rodgers will be ready to manage one of Europe’s giants – or take on an internatio­nal job.

A year ago this week, Rodgers was the architect of a record 9-0 away win at Southampto­n.

And amid the excitement of Everton and Aston Villa’s flying starts, Liverpool’s ool s eventful defence of the title and Manchester City’s patchy results, one familiar amiliar name has risen en toward s th e Premier r League e summit, just a point of f the lead.

Leicester er were disapappoi­nted to finish nish outside the top four in July, after spending virtually rtually the whole season ason in the Champions mpions League places, s, but their high orbit was as obviously no fluke.

Already this term, Rodgers has s gone to the Etihad and destroyed City. He’s gone to the he Emirates and outsmar t ed d Arsenal . And Leicester look k like real contenders in the Europa ropa League.

I can’t wait t for their game at Leeds on Monday onday night – the clash between en Marcelo Bielsa and Rodgers, , two of the game’s most prog ressive re ssiv e coaches, is potentiall­y a treat.

People talk k about the ‘ Big Six’ ix’ in English football ball as if it’s a closed d shop shop, mainly due to their financial power.

But after winning the title in 2016, and finishing fifth this year (when it could easily have been third), perhaps Leicester belong in the Big Six by right, if Rodgers can deliver another top-six finish this season.

If they finish 1st, 5th and maybe 6th in the space of five years, surely that consistenc­y is enough for them to be considered one of English football’s leading powers on the pitch?

Al o n g w i t h b r o a d c a st e r Matthew Syed, I have had the privilege of doing a podcast with Rodgers – for release at a later date – which gave me a brilliant insight i nto his coaching methods.

And when Leicester beat AEK Athens in Greece on Thursday night, I could hear Rodgers putting his philosophy i nto action on the touchline. He even

The clash between Marcelo Bielsa and Rodgers is potentiall­y a treat

contribute­d directly to Jamie Vardy’s opener from the penalty spot, telling James Maddison where to receive the ball before he slipped last season’s Golden Boot winner into the box with the telling pass (Vardy with Rodgers, below).

Where the title-winning side was direct, and looked ed to hit Vardy on the shoulder of the last defender, Rodgers’ team am offers more invention in the e final third. Instead of Danny anny Drinkwater, or the he full-backs, looking to hit it Vardy with long-range e passes, Maddison is now picking the lock with short passes into the path of his shorter, darting runs.

When you look at t the quality of players s Leicester have sold since ce they won the title –Harry Maguire, N’golo Kante, Drinkwater, Ben Chilwell, worth almost £200million for that quartet alone – you could be forgiven for thinking they would fall away.

But their replacemen­ts come in and their value soars.

Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Wesley Fofana, Caglar Soyuncu, Ricardo Pereira and James Justin have all looked the part. That is a compliment to R o d gers’ coaching and, you might laugh at me for saying this, but I believe he is one of the great tactical minds in the game.

He has already managed two massive clubs at Liverpool and Celtic, leading one to within an inch of the title and the other to the brink of the ‘ Treble Treble’ in Scotland.

If h he leads Leicester to anoth another top-six finish – and I think thin they could go a long way in i the Europa League this season – logically his ne next step would be to c coach one of the giants o on the continent.

And I see no reason why he should not be seriously considered as a future England manager... or, dare I suggest it, as Pep Guardiola’s successor at Manchester City, whenever that job becomes vacant.

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 ??  ?? FOCUSED ON GLORY Leicester are set for a big season under Rodgers
FOCUSED ON GLORY Leicester are set for a big season under Rodgers

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