Brendan Rodgers’ position at Leicester looks far from certain after six straight league defeats and the Leicester manager said he would respect any decision made about his future by the club’s owners after his side’s season hit a new low with a 6-2 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
“I totally understand the frustration of supporters. I can’t hide from that, it is my responsibility. Whatever happens I will have a huge amount of respect for the owners because they’ve given me great support since I have been here. I understand the game, I understand football. Today the scoreline didn’t reflect the game, but the bottom line is we have had a heavy defeat and we should have been better.
“Whatever happens to me here at Leicester, whether I stay and continue to fight on, I will always respect them. Losing the last six doesn’t make great reading. But it’s a challenge I will relish. I’ve never had this spell in my career before. I definitely want to continue.”
A second consecutive heavy away loss leaves Leciester bottom of the table with one point from their opening seven games, and they have already conceded 22 goals. “If they play like they did for large parts, and cut the mistakes, they’ll climb the table,” he said. “It’s very galling when you concede from corners, from situations where you are in control of the game. But you didn’t see a team playing tonight with no conviction, with no authority, with no bravery.”
Antonio Conte has warned his Tottenham players that they will have to stomach rotation if they are to compete for major honours moving forward. Son Heung-min, whose quick-fire hat-trick left Leicester reeling. started the match on the bench, while Cristian Romero, Ben Davies and Emerson Royal were also rotated out of the side that lost to Sporting Lisbon in midweek.
“I want to bring this team to think with a superior level,” explained Conte. “Not for players to think: ‘I will stay at Tottenham because I will play every game’. If this happens it means that you are not going to fight for something important, in my opinion.
“We have just started this path for the club. If the players want to play for something important, to lift a trophy, they have to understand this. Otherwise, they continue to play every game but they don’t win anything. This is clear. It happened in the past here and I repeat, I want to try to change this and bring this team to another level.”
Conte joked that after Son’s exploits, any struggling forwards may come to him asking to start on the bench. “Sonny will never be a problem. We are talking about a real good guy. An amazing, outstanding player. One of the two best in my team with Harry [Kane]. To see Sonny with the ball after the hat-trick was great. It was amazing for me, and for his teammates. We needed this – not only Sonny – and I’m happy.”
