MX23RW : Friday, November 8 20:42:11| >> :120:10931:10931:

Brendan Rodgers brushes off criticism of James Maddison lifestyle

Brendan Rodgers brushes off criticism of James Maddison lifestyle
© Reuters
The Leicester midfielder was pictured partying in Dubai during the winter break but Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers has defended the "brilliant" 23-year-old.

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has urged the critics to lay off James Maddison.

The midfielder was pictured partying in Dubai during the winter break ahead of the Foxes' return to action at Wolves on Friday.

Maddison had been previously criticised for going to a casino the night England lost a Euro 2020 qualifier to the Czech Republic last October after leaving the Three Lions squad due to illness.

But Rodgers insisted the outside perception of the 23-year-old and the reality are totally different.

He said: "People want to fit a narrative around him so I don't worry so much about that side. I know the reality of what he is and what he gives.

"It's unfortunate. We're supposedly in this great world now where everyone 'cares', this wonderful atmosphere where everyone wants to look after you. It's rubbish because the first thing people do is try and stitch you up.

"It's contradictory, it's unbelievable. So there's something framed around him which, OK, he'll have to live with but that's someone else's narrative.

"This is a 23-year-old boy who is single, he's been given a week free. We try to educate them in many ways but this is something I'm not too bothered about.

"I can only judge him on my time here, nearly a year now, he's been absolutely brilliant for me. And outside of the pitch, he's been an absolute joy.

"A charming young man, really respectful. He really respects what he has here at Leicester."

Maddison has scored nine goals for Leicester, who sit third in the Premier League, this season having joined from Norwich for £24million in 2018.

He has broken into the England setup and made his senior debut in the 7-0 win over Montenegro last year.

Rodgers added: "He is a talent, what we try to educate off the pitch is to focus every day on training, and how important training is. It's not just about the talent, you have to work at your talent.

"There's two different mindsets, a social mindset and a professional mindset. The top ones, professionally, have the mentality to do it every single day and look after themselves and then produce.

"Availability, staying fit, looking after yourself over numbers of years, that's the difference."

ID:389533: cacheID:389533:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3501:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
James Maddison in action for Leicester City on December 14, 2019
Read Next:
Wednesday's papers: James Maddison, Jadon Sancho, Ruben Dias
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Bengals
34-35
Ravens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!