Leicester City won the Premier League for the first time in their entire history. To make matters more interesting, they had narrowly escaped relegation and finished 14th in the league last campaign. Such a transformation is unheard of and no one in their right minds would have thought that Leicester City would do the unthinkable.
Not even the players would have thought that they would have a realistic shot at winning the league. But they believed in themselves when the whole world was predicting one of the top four to lift the Premier League trophy.
It is certainly one of the greatest sporting stories ever told and like all fairytales, this too had a happy ending. The following are the reasons that contributed to Leicester City becoming the Champions of England.
1) Failure of the big teams
Leicester have played tremendously with great passion. No doubt. But what helped them in their quest was the fact that none of the big teams turned up. Big clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal all crumbled in their bid to win the league.
Chelsea were off to their worst start in Premier League history, spending most of their season in the bottom half of the table. Manchester City were off to a good start, but could not maintain their momentum and lost steam eventually.
United also could not play at the level the fans would have deemed acceptable. But clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal, who haven’t won a lot of many silver ware in the last few seasons, failed to capitalize on probably the best shot at winning the league.
This was meant to be Arsenal’s year, with the title race being competed between Leicester, Arsenal and Tottenham. Arsenal even managed to beat Leicester to embark on the journey to win their first title since 2004.
But Arsenal choked when star players Giroud and Sanchez started misfiring, and when they famously lost to Chelsea at home, it made the path for Leicester easier.
2) Excellent performances from the players
One major explanation as to why Leicester City won the league would be that most of the players hit the best forms of their lives. No team has ever won a trophy if their players have failed to perform.
If we look at the level of performance that England striker Jamie Vardy and Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez have given, it is safe to say that they had done their fair share. Vardy scored five goals in 34 games last season.
If we look at his tally this season, the Englishman has scored 24 league goals in 36 games. That’s the level of improvement the striker has shown. Now let us take a look at Mahrez. He had four goals and three assists in 30 league appearances.
In contrast, he scored 17 goals and managed 11 assists in the league alone. This incredible feat won him his first PFA POTY trophy. The deadly duo of Vardy and Mahrez has often been called Vahrez, who were instrumental in the title triumph.
The performances of other teammates like captain Wes Morgan, N’Golo Kante and Marc Albrighton have propelled Leicester to unprecedented levels. Leicester had let in 55 goals in last season, but they only let in 36 goals, which was the 2nd tightest defence.
Credit should also be given for their never-say-die-attitude. They never gave up and fought till the very last minute of each and every match. Most of these players had played in lower leagues their entire lives, but now they will be competing for the same title as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich next season.
3) Relatively injury-free campaign
Luck has played an important role in helping the Foxes to the title. Leicester remained without too many injury concerns throughout the season, which was helped by the fact that they had relatively early exits from both the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup, which enabled the team to keep their attention on the league alone.
In comparison, most of the big clubs had to cope with at least one long-term injury throughout the season. Most of the big clubs had Champions League commitments, which caused the participating players to play continuously and vigorously.
In that time, the Leicester players had all the time to rest and prepare for the upcoming fixtures without a hitch. Then there are Thai monks who, according to some have given Leicester a spiritual edge, which has helped them to stay focused and achieve calmness.
No team has the same fitness levels of Leicester, since the Foxes lost the least amount of time to injuries in the league. They have had the least number of changes to the starting XI, and still managed to stay strong. This feat is truly remarkable.
4) Shrewd business in the transfer market
This is an interesting fact. The total cost of the Foxes’ preferred XI is £21.9 million. In contrast, Mesut Ozil cost Arsenal £42.5 million, and they finished 2nd in the league. This is an excellent return for the money spent on the players.
Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and N’Golo Kante have all featured in the PFA Team of the Year, which is excellent considering how less was spent in acquiring them. Mahrez was signed for less than half a million and now he commands a transfer value of £35 million, which is incredible.
The foxes also have another financial achievement. They had one of the lowest wage bills in the Premier League. Their annual outlay on players’ wages was 17th in the league out of 20 teams.
It all comes down to the club’s joint assistant manager Steve Walsh, who also happens to be the head of recruitment. In comparison, rivals Manchester United have spent more than £250 million with very little return.
5) The Ranieri effect
Probably the biggest reason why Leicester won the Premier League was because of the tactical genius of Italian coach Claudio Ranieri. He has a very lovable personality and seems to have excellent man management ability.
He is easy going and very cheerful in his daily life. His press conferences are a joy to listen to because he is constantly having fun and entertaining the people around him. He has a very calming influence which works wonders with the press and players alike.
He has not been a part of any controversial outbursts with the media. Ranieri has a peculiar way of getting the most out of his players. He is willing to reward his players for their performances. “I make sure the players have at least two days off from football each week.
“This is the pact I made with the players on the first day.” He also had a very different way to motivate his players. He would offer his players pizza if the team would keep a clean sheet. "I tried every motivation. So finally, before the game against Crystal Palace, I said: “Come on boys, come on. I offer you a pizza if you get a clean sheet.”
The Tinkerman had the utmost respect from his players and he said: "When they (players) train, they always put the same effort as a match. I never once had to tell someone off for being lazy." Ranieri also had astute tactical awareness.
He changed former Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson’s three-man defence to a 4-4-1-1 formation, which was initially considered outdated. He managed to make a team that would normally fight for Premier League survival into a Premier League winning team.
