The new manager discusses the fitness of his Leicester City squad after they ranked bottom of the Championship for distance covered at the turn of the calendar year
Gary Rowett has earned six points from his six games in charge of Leicester City so far(Image: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
The fitness of the Leicester City squad has improved towards meeting Gary Rowett’s demands, but the lack of energy is still leaving the manager perplexed.
City’s fitness has been a talking point over recent months after it emerged that, at the turn of the year, they ranked bottom of the Championship for distance covered.
Without specifically declaring his team unfit, Rowett has made subtle nods that improvements were needed.
Saturday’s defeat to QPR suggested it’s still an issue. Both of City’s defeats under Rowett have been at the end of a three-game week. The manager felt there was a lack of energy in the first half, and that continued into the second period, where City conceded twice and failed to muster a comeback.
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Rowett said he was “disappointed” with the energy levels, but was also left with questions to answer. He added: “We just don’t seem to be able to go with the same energy, I’m not sure why.”
It means further improvements over the squad’s fitness may be required. Rowett said last week that he felt the team were building towards the demands he’d set, acknowledging the statistics around their lack of running.
Asked if his squad isn’t fit enough, Rowett told LeicestershireLive: “We’ve improved. The demands have gone up.
“I’m quite big on the data side of things, and one of the previous stats was that Leicester had the lowest physical output in the division.
“I’ve analysed data from nearly 600 games I’ve been a manager for. Sometimes when you’re losing and chasing a game, those numbers can be high. Sometimes if your shape is not very good, the number can be high. But I’d certainly want to improve some aspects of what we’re capable of in certain games.
“Some managers might only be interested in what they do on the ball, some managers might be interested in solely the defensive side. But we want the complete package.”
It’s important City do improve, because they have two blocks of three games to come.
After the international break, there are three games in nine days, starting against Preston on Good Friday, before Sheffield Wednesday on Easter Monday and Swansea on the Saturday.
After a week’s break, they then travel to Portsmouth before hosting Hull in midweek, and then welcoming Millwall to the King Power Stadium at the weekend.
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