EPL

LEICESTER MOVE ON WITHOUT RANIERI

LEICESTER MOVE ON WITHOUT RANIERI

Football is a very funny game indeed and last night at the King Power Stadium, we realized that once again. How do Leicester go from being winless in 2017, goal-less in 2017, (without a goal in 540 minutes in 2017) which even culminated in the sacking of the the best ever manager in Leicester City’s history Claudio Ranieri to scoring 3 goals in 60 minutes.

What we witnessed on Monday night was a retro-Leicester side, it was a throwback to last season where the Foxes destroyed everyone with their brand of football (play it long and Vardy chases like a dog) . We saw that yesterday again, with Jamie Vardy’s goal plus the verve and energy Leicester brought o the table against Liverpool.

But why did this happen after the Srivaddhanaprabba’s wielded the axe on Saint Ranieri? Did the players sabotage their former manager? Questions begging for answers but the most important answer on a personal level for me is that Leicester’s emphatic result against Liverpool has instantaneously vindicated the management’s decision to sack Claudio Ranieri.

Sometimes when a team is on a downward slide, a change of tack on the bench is needed, irrespective of the quality of manager. Craig Shakespeare won’t get the Leicester job long-term but the team will benefit from a change of ideas. Would Claudio Ranieri had won this game had he not been sacked? Hindsight is 20-20 but the Foxes have claimed their first major scalp since Manchester City late in 2016.

Whoever Leicester decide to take over fulltime still has a lot of work to do, Riyad Mahrez is still struggling, the defence line is aging and Leicester need dynamism tactically. Juergen Klopp obviously helped Jamie Vardy rediscover his groove by defending too high plus playing  helpless Lucas Leiva in central defence. There are positives though, Wifred Ndidi has shown he will be pivotal (more tackles than any player on the pitch) Kasper Schmeichel, dependable, Danny Drinkwater, gradually returning to form and the fans always supportive.

I insist that Leicester have too much quality to be relegated, they are out of the drop-zone but its still a long road to safety, they need to go an  positive streak to be rest assured and maybe Claudio Ranieri was right, the game against Sevilla in the Champions League was the needed tonic to change their fortunes, it was just a shame that he wasn’t the man to change their fortune this season.


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