After winning all seven domestic trophies during a brilliant spell at Celtic, Rodgers left the adoration he had at Parkhead to take over as Claude Puel’s successor at King Power Stadium. He arrived at the Foxes in February 2019.
For a while, 50-year-old Rodgers strengthened his standing as one of the game’s most forward-thinking coaches as Leicester produced the exciting football that was his specialty. The club’s first FA Cup triumph came in May 2021 when they defeated Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley.
It guaranteed Rodgers’ place in Leicester history, but the owners could not bear to wait any longer for Rodgers to demonstrate signs of sparking a comeback after Saturday’s dramatic loss at Crystal Palace, where the team was now led by veteran Roy Hodgson, who had returned.
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After six league games without a victory, Leicester is in the bottom three. The board is afraid of dropping out, therefore they may take the same drastic measures as other struggling teams like Everton, Leeds United, and Southampton.
Although Rodgers deserves recognition for winning the FA Cup, two disastrous last days of Premier League seasons will also go down in history as pivotal moments in his and the team’s capacity to experience more success.
Although Leicester’s finishes of fifth in both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons seemed commendable, their losses to Manchester United and Tottenham on the final day of the season left them very disappointed not to be able to play in the Champions League.
The club’s first FA Cup victory was undoubtedly a more tangible achievement than being fourth in the league, and it was only appropriate that the FA Cup victory cast the 2021 season in a magnificent light.
But it’s also possible to argue, somewhat persuasively, that Leicester City’s defeat to Spurs the following week marked the beginning of the team’s decline as elite performers under Rodgers—a period that coincided with their incredible comeback victory against all odds in 2015–16.
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