Brendan Rodgers believes Leicester’s recent success has increased expectations on his star players as Foxes fans express frustration with Ben Chilwell after Southampton defeat
- Brendan Rodgers believes expectations have grown on Leicester players
- The Foxes manager said that recent success means more is expected of them
- Ben Chilwell was the source of frustration following the loss to Southampton
- Rodgers may be forced to rotate his squad ahead of Carabao Cup semi final
Brendan Rodgers believes Leicester’s success in recent seasons means their players have to handle greater demand from supporters.
England left-back Ben Chilwell, a home-grown player, was a target for fans’ frustration in last week’s 2-1 defeat by Southampton at King Power Stadium.
Leicester boss Rodgers is confident Chilwell, 23, has the character to withstand the groans but was keen to point out how far Leicester have come. They won the title in 2016, reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League a year later and are third in the Premier League this season.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers believes expectation has grown owing to recent success
‘This is a great group of supporters that, up until four or five years ago, would have been happy with 17th and a point above [the relegation zone],’ said Rodgers. ‘Now the expectation has grown.
‘The performances they want from players has grown. Ben is a top talent and this is something he has to live with. But he’s strong sort to deal with it.
‘Ben’s had this meteoric rise through the club, everything apart from last Saturday was really nice. But he understands that it’s not nice. He has probably not experienced it before last week.
The Foxes have been on an upward trajectory ever since winning the Premier League in 2016
Rodgers defender full back Ben Chilwell after the 23-year-old was targeted by fans last week
‘He is a brilliant young player who still has lots of improvements to make. He is a wonderful athlete with great power and running ability. It’s our job to help him play with confidence.’ Rodgers also hinted that he may choose to rotate Chilwell, who has played 25 games this season including internationals, in forthcoming matches.
Leicester face Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday before taking on West Ham at King Power Stadium three days later. The following week, they travel to Aston Villa for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.
Rodgers has Christian Fuchs, who was part of the title-winning side, to step in for Chilwell, while summer signing James Justin can play in either full-back role.
Rodgers added: ‘It (rotation) is something we’ll have to look at. He’s a very important player for us.
‘Part of his development is to have that robustness, from a mental perspective, being able to go week in, week out.
‘But at times, you have to look at the energy in the team, and if we think we have to bring him out we will do.’