Prosper for next decade
LEARN FROM THE
THE start of this season will help James Maddison prosper for the next decade, Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers believes.
Maddison has admitted to enduring the “hardest part” of his career over recent months, and Rodgers said the number 10 hit a low point during September’s defeat to Brighton in which he was substituted at half-time.
After being dropped from the team and given advice by staff and coaches around the club, Maddison returned to the line-up after the October international break in good form, registering a first assist and a first goal in eight months across consecutive wins over Spartak Moscow and Brentford.
After overcoming a sickness bug that kept him out of Thursday’s Europa League draw, he should be back in the team for the trip to Leeds tomorrow.
Explaining Maddison’s improvements, Rodgers said: “Sometimes for the naturally gifted players, it can be difficult at certain stages in their career.
“Because things come naturally for them, sometimes they just think it happens, but then there’s that moment when it doesn’t.
“That can be difficult, because it’s always worked for them.
“Sometimes, the players that are just below the level and are trying to make everything out of themselves, they will really rely on the science and psychology to get them to the highest level, whereas naturallygifted players can struggle with that.
“If you’re clever, you’ll know you have talent, but you have to work at it. That’s something he’s recognised.
“Otherwise you get left behind. It doesn’t matter how good you are, in this game there is always somebody looking to take your shirt.
“There’s always someone to take your place. You have to be on it every day of your life to compete and do the best you can.
“Thankfully, he’s seen that. This little period, over the past three or four months, will really help him for the next decade of his career hopefully.”
It’s not been an easy process to help Maddison rediscover his ability, with Rodgers, his coaches, the sports science staff and analysts all collaborating to try to find a solution for the England international.
“For James it went back to last season, we traced it back,” Rodgers said. “The beauty with James is that he is really honest, he wears his heart on his sleeve.
“We’ve got a great connection. He knows I can tell him and I’m not going to waste my time telling him something in six months that I could tell him now. Then it’s all about the player grasping it.
“Because he’s a technical player, he’s trying to make sure he gets the technical aspects right, but sometimes what happens with technical players is that they forget it’s about the physical side.
“People look at the top players and they will see how good they are technically, but they’re normally physically very good as well, and that allows them to maintain their technique.
“It was about stripping back and getting him in a good physical place in order for him to get the response he wants with the ball.
“Then I wanted to take him out. Brighton was a low point for him. He wasn’t at his level, and he didn’t feel confident at his level. That’s a really honest thing to do, to admit that.
“That’s why we’re here, we’re here to coach and teach and help. We looked at various aspects of the game, he goes with the sports science team, he talks to me, he works with the analysts, he speaks with the other coaches.
“Then we slowly introduced him back once the levels were starting to come back up again. He’s a top player. Even the best players will have a little dip.
“That’s where you have to help them to get them back to the level again.”