Strikers to all get a chance
CITY NEWS BOSS WILL ROTATE FORWARD LINE TO GIVE VARDY MORE TIME TO REST
ALL of Leicester City’s three strikers will get their chance to shine, manager Brendan Rodgers has said, as he looks to maximise the trio’s output.
Rodgers is blessed with striking options this season – Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Patson Daka scoring 70 goals between them last term.
Vardy is set to start when City take on Wolves in their Premier League opener this weekend, but a similar level of game-time to last season is unlikely for the number nine.
Despite turning 34 in January, only Youri Tielemans and Kasper Schmeichel played more minutes than Vardy for City, and Rodgers said in February that in an ideal world he would be giving him more breaks.
That is set to be the case this season, with Daka and Iheanacho to get moments in the spotlight with City competing on four fronts, in the Premier League, the two domestic cup competitions and the Europa
League. Asked if he hoped to give Vardy more breaks, Rodgers said: “Yeah, that was the whole reason for bringing Patson in.
“He is very similar to Jamie in his traits. He wants to run in off the back-line, and he’s a great finisher.
“All of those players – Patson, Jamie, Kels – we’re going to need all of them.
“It’s a long season, hopefully lots of games, and there’s not one of them who’s going to play in every single game.
“You want to be able to maximise their talents, bring them on in games, start them in games.
“Bringing Patson in gives us that extra flexibility to do that.”
City fans are excited to see what Daka can do in the Premier League after glimpses of his talent in preseason, notably in the draw at QPR when he was involved in all three goals, scoring the second.
It has only been just over a month since his £23 million switch from RB Salzburg, but Rodgers already loves working with him. “I’ve got to say, since he’s come in he’s just been non-stop smiling,” Rodgers said.
“He’s so happy to be here. He’s got a real freshness about life and he’s just so happy to be in the Premier League and loves being here at
Leicester. He’s a first-class young man. As a player he’s everything we thought. He wants to run in behind, he works his socks off which is important for a team like ourselves.
“He presses, he runs, and if you’ve seen his goal away at QPR in preseason,
ON TARGET: Patson Daka scores against QPR in City’s pre-season friendly as soon as it’s in front of him it just becomes totally natural then.
“There’s no hesitation, he just gets his finish off. It was a great finish.
“He, along with the other guys are really going to help the team this season. He’s a fantastic boy.”