Leicester City season has been abysmal, to say the least. After the most surprising result in the Premier League’s history, no one could foresee the position they’re in now. Coming into 2015, it was difficult to determine whether their incoming transfers would assist but did it ever. They added impact players like N’Golo Kante, Shinji Okazaki, Robert Huth, and Christian Fuchs. Combining them with Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, and Danny Drinkwater created an interesting dynamic around the club. Manager Claudio Ranieri brought a different dynamic to the team than former manager Nigel Pearson. Pearson received major credit by former players for assembling the team but Ranieri also added the right pieces to a low transfer budget to make them cohesive.
Leicester City 2015-16 Season
There was a time when it looked like Leicester wouldn’t return to the Premier League but former manager Nigel Pearson changed that around. During his second stint as manager, he took the team from the Championship in 2013-14 to being promoted to the Premier League. After nearly getting relegated back to Championship, in came Claudio Ranieri. He brought the spunk and energy needed to compete for every weekend in the EPL. After his well-noted additions, Leicester started off strongly. In the first game, they defeated Sunderland 4-2 and the club was optimistic. Ranieri’s managerial style and 4-4-2 formation influenced the rise of Leicester City as we know it.
The season for Leicester started well as they were top of the table 2 months in. Jamie Vardy was in stellar form scoring in 11 straight games topping the former Premier League record. The Foxes continued in the form throughout the season finishing 10 points ahead of Arsenal. Also, Leicester qualified for Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. Their style was hard to defeat as they played tough defense at the back with Wes Morgan as the captain. Playing such compact and smart as they did on defense lead to counter-attacks from Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy. Vardy and Mahrez received the prestigious Team of the Year and FIFA Player of the Year.
2016-2017 Season
After one of the most stellar season in EPL history, Leicester City had targets on their back from the powerhouses. They started off well winning the Community Shield 2-1 against famed Manchester United but that was the end of their illustrious form. By the end of November, Leicester was in 14th place on the table and were two points away from being relegated. Selling Kante to EPL powerhouse Chelsea hindsight looks like a bad move. They can’t seem to find that form again and Vardy continually can’t come up with goals.
Claudio Ranieri got sacked due to their failures defending the title. In his exit press conference, he stated his “dream has died”. The chairman of Leicester said Ranieri wasn’t all to blame and they have “a million problems to solve”. Furthermore, some of his former players said they were unhappy after the 2-1 loss to Sevilla. Even thought he had the support of other EPL coaches, Leicester will now look to replace him. Vegas odd makers have named a couple coaches like Roberto Mancini or Alan Pardew that could replace him.
