Brendan Rodgers do have a love for Johan Cruyff and his philosophy in football. He has talked about how he has studied the game in Holland and Spain and he often talks about certain numbers to describe players and positions.
So why is he himself moving away from these principles as the system he now has introduced in the two first games of the season is far from what Johan Cruyff and his philosophy is about.
Strange to see a manager moving in and out of systems, changing and chopping as he surely have a struggle to get everything through to the players as he change from time to time.
TCF is very frustrated with these system changes that in all makes it more difficult to get messages through to players especially when it comes to the way you will build up your offensive play.
For Leicester to progress they need to work on a settled system and playing three in the back looks bold and a bit risky as players are exposed one against one. Keeping Gabriel Jesus quiet is not an easy job and it was fatal today to just have three players in the back.
Jonny Evans is a great central defender and alongside pacy partners such as Caglar Soyuncu or Wesley Fofana he will be good as gold. Also having two full backs is vital to get Jonny Evans to play his best game. Pre-season showed a Leicester side having a ground defensive structure that worked well.
This is in all much of the basics in football to keep a good defensive idea about your team and try to build a strong unit in the back. To be able to attack in the best way possible you can of course play with a three, but then you need a much more drilled group than what Leicester have today as they have worked on four in the back during pre-season games.
Brendan Rodgers talks about not having players to use in wide positions as James Justin and Timothy Castagne are used on the flanks in his 3-5-1-1 system. Marc Albrighton and Ayoze Perez are both players to use wide in a 4-3-3 as they can cover flank positions up front. Of course missing Harvey Barnes is a reason but still having two players on the bench who are both used in wide offensive positions makes his talk dangerous and difficult to understand. Are two of his subs not to use?
There are many reactions below in the interview with Brendan Rodgers and his philosophy is difficult to read from the way he picks his team. Shame to watch really as Leicester looks far from a settled unit and moving away from what worked well in pre-season makes you really wonder what he is up to.
We are certain Brendan Rodgers still is the man to bring this project progress and success, but to see him leaving his ground and basics is difficult to accept.
Leicester under Brendan Rodgers has most of the time played in a 4-3-3 structure and with different use of players as they makes it fluid and adaptable seeing some a bit higher up in the field, either one or two defensive midfielders, but still the ground structure is based on this idea.
In the first two games of the season we have seen 3-5-1-1 being used and basically leaving the ground principle of everything Johan Cruyff stood for using four players in the back, three in midfielder and three players up front.
You can often see teams changing to a three men back line. To coach players in different systems and believe they will adapt straight away is a terrible strategy as they needs drilling day in and day out in the system you are supposed to play. If you are soft on it, other teams will eat you alive.
Often clever managers will find your weakest spot and just play through that area and in the end it will crack as Daniel Amartey did when being placed to the left in that defense against Brentford. A total disaster plan and how on earth people can just think about doing that is strange.
Brendan Rodgers is correct in saying that they lack the amount of pacy wingers, but still not introducing Tawanda Maswanhise in that situation or give Kelechi Iheanacho or Patson Daka a chance, maybe play Ayoze Perez and push James Maddison up on the other side would give you a structure to believe in.
Of course the 3-5-1-1 can be something to build on for the future, but it is as far away from the ground principles you will get with Johan Cruyff as a model of choice. This looks more like a new invented Brendan Rodgers philosphy and not something that we believe and hope will last as the preferred system to play.
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