Brendan Rodgers explains how he has got James Maddison’s ‘swagger back’
Brendan Rodgers has explained how he has got midfielder James Maddison back in the swing at Leicester.
The foxes chief believes the England hopeful has “got his swagger back” after a couple of impressive recent performances. The midfielder has endured a difficult start to the season and Rodgers has revealed how he got him back on track.
Maddison was benched for six games in September and October. The 24-year-old was struggling to find the form he has shown in the last couple of seasons.
Against Manchester United Maddison was assured and he was impressive against Spartak Moscow.
He made his first assists of the season for Patson Daka’s fourth goal in the 4-3 win, and he looks to be back in the groove.
“I thought the other night he was starting to get that swagger back,” said Rodgers.
“How he moved, how he takes the ball, the pressing side and he got his first assist. That is James’ job to create and score goals.
“It’s about understanding players, sometimes you have to break the cycle. That was my thing with James, we needed to take him out and break the cycle of playing and worrying about performance.
“Let’s strip it back, let’s take a look, where can we be better, what do we need to do, how hard do we need to work? Then we can piece it back together.
“This boy is a top player but even a top player’s confidence goes at times and they are not at the same level. How do you manage that? For me, it’s take him out, analyse his game and how we can improve it.
“Coming on in Warsaw (against Legia Warsaw last month) I thought he started to show that confidence again, coming on at Palace and then we had a good couple of weeks in the international break.
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“I told him quite a way out he would start against Manchester United. And he worked really hard and gave a really good performance. It’s like anything, time, patience, commitment and you’ll see him get better and better as the season progresses.”
Rodgers takes his team to Brentford on Sunday after their midweek heroics in Russia. And Daka, who became the first player to score a hat-trick in Europe for the club, is not guaranteed a start.
Jamie Vardy was rested and is expected to return on Sunday.
“What’s most important is that he’s in great form and he puts us in a great thought process for the weekend,” added Rodgers.
“That’s what we get paid for, making those decisions. We’ll go away, finalise our preparation and we’ll see what we think is the best combination to win the game.
“If that means Patson is on the bench, he’s on the bench. He’ll contribute. We just try to find the right combination.”
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