Leicester City: From 5,000/1 to Premier League Champions

 

Leicester City: From 5,000/1 to Premier League Champions

Before the season started, I predicted that Leicester City would finish 13th in the Premier League. I didn't know much about Claudio Ranieri's tactics, except from the fact that he had the nickname 'Tinkerman' from his time at Chelsea, and wasn't really sure how his appointment would affect the squad. I assumed from Gary Lineker's tweet (which said 'Claudio Ranieri? Really??') that Leicester fans weren't all that happy with his appointment.

Ooh, how we were wrong!


On 2nd May, Leicester City were crowned Premier League champions after Tottenham drew 2-2 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The media ate it up more than a Twitter beef (I'm now realising that I'm contributing to this but let's move swiftly on) and it has been deemed a miracle by some media outlets, obviously by Piers Morgan and Suzanna Reid from Good Morning Britain. Now almost every single Football or general Sports organisation will have analysed the death out of the Leicester City squad, possibly game-by-game or player-by-player importance in the starting XI but I will be breaking down Leicester's season in terms of how it happens and what it means for the other Premier League clubs, the players and the club has a whole.


First off, Leicester's team spirit is amazing. You often hear about the amazing foreign teams that have built up the ethos of a modern club based upon the brother-like connection that players make, much like Atletico Madrid have done under Diego Simeone in the last few years. Leicester have proven to the World that it doesn't matter how much you spend on the overall squad, as long as you don't have egos and keep yourselves grounded you can achieve anything. Another aspect of Leicester's title win is the integrity that Ranieri has shown in keeping his faith firmly within the players that were largely left over from Nigel Pearson's mixed reign as manager. This is by Ranieri only fielding 23 players during the course of the title 'challenge' and the overall cost of the squad being £57 million (with the fact that they didn't sign anyone in January being unheard of for a future champion). These almost forgotten aspects of a Footballing squad in the modern game were brought back by the 'Tinkerman' and this fantastic group of players, whom many have come from a rugs-to-riches lifestyle, in terms of a Footballing journey.


So what does this mean for the club itself? Worldwide recognition for sure, with Twitter exploding the day of Tottenham drawing with Chelsea to hand Leicester the Premier League. For next season, many have predicted mid-table if some of their key players leave, such as Mahrez and Vardy, but I predict that they will have a fairly decent season and finish eight, but will keep their key players because they've just won the Premier League and will be in the Champions League next season! What more motivation do you need to stay at a club? As for the other Premier League clubs, it just shows that anyone can have a fantastic season when you have time spirit and don't blindly spend for the sake of having money.


Can anyone 'do a Leicester' next season? Simply, no. What Leicester have done is one of IF NOT THE greatest Footballing achievement of all-time, especially when you consider how they were written off to be relegated by the majority at the start of this season.