On loan at Aberdeen, James Maddison played Brendan Rodgers' Celtic in the 2016 Scottish League Cup final
Saturday 9 March 2019 11:43, UK
James Maddison says new Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has jokingly reminded him of a Scottish League Cup final loss when the two previously met.
Maddison was on loan at Aberdeen when they faced Rodgers' former side Celtic in November 2016, with the Hoops winning 3-0 at Hampden Park.
The two are now on the same side after Rodgers replaced Claude Puel 10 days ago and the manager has had made a gentle mention of final, although Maddison wants Leicester to emulate the Celtic side he faced that day.
He told Soccer Saturday: "We [Aberdeen] played Celtic in the league as well and the League Cup and put in a couple of good performances in those game. We lost 3-0 in the final, which he's reminded me about a couple of times, him and his coaching staff, but it's all in good faith.
"On the day, Celtic were just too good for us, but little memories like that, it was a Brendan Rodgers side that we came up against and the quality and intensity was just too good for us on the day. Hopefully we can get to that level where teams are coming off the pitch and saying 'Leicester were too good for us today'.
"It's been different, but it's been very good. You've seen an uplift in the intensity of the training and in the games. We obviously didn't get the result we wanted on Sunday [against Watford] but there are positive things there and there are little things that you can see he has implemented already.
"It's going to take time because he's a new manager coming in with a new philosophy and a new way of playing doesn't just happen overnight. We'll have to be patient with that, but there are little signs and smiles on everyone's faces.
"If you look at Brendan Rodgers' teams of the past - the Liverpool team and the current Celtic team - they're all very fit, with high-intensity work and lots of pressing without the ball - that's not saying we haven't done that before but there has definitely been a rise in the fitness levels just in the short time he has been here already.
"We're only going to get fitter and better at the pressing high and gauging at certain points in the game what he wants from us. Later in the game, there will be tired legs so the pressing might not be the right thing so we'll drop back into a block so we're working on all these little details in training. It's about learning, listening and taking it all on board and then trying to implement it for him."
Maddison joined Leicester last summer from Norwich and has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water, starting in 26 of the 29 games, but is hoping Rodgers can help him continue his development.
"I've got a lot of respect for Claude Puel because he bought me to Leicester and to the Premier League and played me in most of the games. I have a lot of respect on that front," he added.
"I feel like I'm quite harsh on myself. I've loved every second of playing my first season in the Premier League, I feel like I belong here and this is the level I want to be at for the rest of my career.
"But I'm my own biggest critic at the same time and I want to do as well as I can and play to my maximum for every single game. I've learnt so much in the seven months that I've been here so hopefully we can keep improving and getting better.
"Even at 22, you just want a manager to trust you. You want him to play you, instil confidence in you, tell you where you're going wrong, point a finger at you if you need it and believe in you and we've seen a real impact with Brendan coming in.
"We'll work together and there's little things that he's pointed out in my game that he thinks I've done well and other things I need to do better. Hopefully the more I work with him, he can get me to the maximum I can get to and my performances will be really high. I'm looking forward to it."
