Brendan Rodgers believes there is more to come from Leicester following their extraordinary 9-0 thumping of Southampton.
Foxes boss Rodgers is keen to avoid putting limitations on his exciting, attacking side after a resounding, record-breaking success at St Mary’s.
City, who defied odds of 5,000/1 to be crowned Premier League champions under Claudio Ranieri in 2016, have been talked about as outside title contenders this term following their strong start.
They climbed to second place in the table after hat-tricks from Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy helped humiliate sorry Saints, prompting Rodgers to forecast an extremely bright future for his team.
“I think we’ll get better, we will improve. Of course the result and performance is perfect,” said Rodgers.
“But the players trust and believe in how we work. And we have young players who are only going to gain even more confidence.
“We will get better. We certainly won’t just be content with what we’re doing. I believe in what we’re doing and have belief in these players.
“Our idea was to be as competitive as we possibly could and finish as high as we possibly can. I never want to put any limits on that. We know we’re making progress. Supporters can see that.”
Brendan Rodgers on City's 9⃣-0⃣ win at Southampton 👇 pic.twitter.com/spIsSudNCe— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 26, 2019
Perez, who had previously not scored since a £30million summer move from Newcastle, and Vardy became only the second set of team-mates to register trebles in the same Premier League game during a breathtaking evening on the south coast.
Goals from Ben Chilwell, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison completed the rout against the 10-man hosts, who had Ryan Bertrand sent off in the 12th minute following a VAR review after a dangerous lunge at Perez.
The stunning result matched Manchester United’s 9-0 win over Ipswich in March 1995, while also being the biggest away success in the history of the English top flight.
United great Peter Schmeichel was in goal for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side that day, with Foxes goalkeeper Kasper emulating the achievement of his father on Friday.
What a fantastic performance by @kschmeichel1 and his @lcfc team for winning 9-0 at Southampton. If anyone had to equal our @ManUtd record from 94/95 I’m proud and glad that it was you👏👏👏👏— Peter Schmeichel (@Pschmeichel1) October 25, 2019
Rodgers added: “Kasper is happy. There were only two goalkeepers to be on the back end of a 9-0 so he’s very, very happy.
“He can have a bit of stick with his father!”.
Southampton must quickly regroup from the embarrassment ahead of back-to-back visits to champions Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and league.
Saints captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg vowed to prevent a repeat of the shameful performance and result, which was the biggest defeat in the south coast club’s 134-year history.
1️⃣-0 Chilwell (10')2️⃣-0 Tielemans (17')3️⃣-0 Perez (19')4️⃣-0 Perez (39')5️⃣-0 Vardy (45')6️⃣-0 Perez (57')7️⃣-0 Vardy (58')8️⃣-0 Maddison (85')9️⃣-0 Vardy (90+4')— Premier League (@premierleague) October 26, 2019
“The people that come to support us every week, away and at home, who give us love, these are the ones you want to do it for,” Hojbjerg told Saints’ website
“They have every right to be angry, to be disappointed, to be embarrassed. We need to show that they deserve better.
“First of all, we need to keep it inside the building, inside the dressing room.
“Second of all, the only thing that matters now is actions. I don’t care who’s coming up – something like this can never, ever happen again. Never.”
