The Story of Leicester City's Journey to Win the 2015/2016 English Premier League.
Everyone likes surprises, especially if it smells of magic, even in football, sometimes it's boring if a competition is only inhabited by clubs covered in trophies. It is different if there is a time when a diamond tucked in a bush can show its light.
That's what happened in the English Premier League competition a few years ago, a temporary force was able to push up to the championship stage, at that time no one thought at all, maybe the forecasters would be surprised by it.
Leicester City know the fruit is a happy story for football fans, arriving with a team that is not considered, they suddenly occupy the throne of champions and tell the world that, at that time, there was a time when they wanted to step out of their thrones to enjoy a different air to get a laugh that was not there before.
Leicester City became an unforgettable fairy tale from British soil, all the wonderful journey of the club nicknamed the fox began in April 2014, when they officially established themselves as a team that successfully promoted to the English Premier competition, thus Leicester City will fight in the highest caste of English football for the first time.
Since a decade earlier in the deciding match, they managed to smother Sheffield United with a score of 2-1. They also ended the season with 125 wins, beating the likes of Burnley, Derby County and QPR which were included in the top five list to win the title.
It took extra struggle from the fox players in the 2014-2015 season or the first time they appeared in the English League, since Leicester City's promotion was only a team with mediocre strength, they became a promoted team that even had to fight to get out of the relegation abyss, from a total of 38 matches played, not only 11 wins that could be achieved 8 draws and the remaining 19 ended in defeat with this achievement they could only collect 41 points and perched in the 14th position in the final standings.
They are 11 points ahead of QPR who occupy the bottom of the ladder, so a practical evaluation is treated even though they do not think about targeting the title in the next season. They just want to exist in the highest competition, if they can get unrepeatable luck.
Leicester City's first step was of course sacking the coach Unai Jefferson and replacing him with the famous Italian tactician Claudio Ranieri, again it was not easy to convince all parties about the appointment of Ranieri. A lot of people criticize and consider Ranieri as a coach who is not very good at choosing a club, because he is very great. Leicester City is not a suitable club for him to train.
With all the doubts that continue to surround the club's management, they are still optimistic that they dare to sneak in the rush of competition for the power of abundant money, this fact is already widely known to the public, at least there are the names of Chelsea and Manchester City who have successfully won the title with generous funds.
At that time Leicester City became a club that only had a small value, based on statistics released Leicester City was the team with the fourth cheapest squad that season. Ranieri only
Having a sport with a value of 72 million Euros, Leicester City is only ahead of Norwich City which is worth 55 million Euros, Watford 49 million Euros and Bournemouth with 36 million Euros.
They clearly lost to Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal to Chelsea which has a value of hundreds of millions of Euros. However, once again Ranieri, who has no burden other than the slurred voices from a number of parties, began to carry out his duties in his own way. He believes in the squad owned by the name of Riad Mahrez and Vardy as the most capable players.
The 2015-2016 season which was unexpectedly going to be Leicester City's stage in showing dramatic spurs, they have managed to prove themselves in the early days of the competition duet Jamie Vardy and Riyadh Marquez managed to beat Sunderland 4-2 in Claudio Ranieri's debut match followed by a 21 victory over West Ham United and the result against Tottenham Hotspur Leicester City are also perched in the top four of the Premier League standings.
Then their pace was increasingly unstoppable even though Claudio Ranieri's record was broken after a 5-2 defeat against Arsenal, but the defeat against Arsenal was only a stumbling block because after that they returned to the championship path by occupying the top three positions on their journey the fox managed to overthrow Norwich City, Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion.
Everyone is still not worried, there are also many such teams that eventually fall in the middle and end of the competition, the managers of big clubs also have not bothered with the stretch of Leicester City who managed to push up and become a a threat to big teams before they were surprised by the fact that striker Jamie Vardy made his name in Premier League history after scoring in 11 consecutive games.
In the draw against Manchester United, big clubs began to move from their seats, they tried to correct the daltisk as a sign that Leicester City had begun to be wary of because apart from Jamie Vardy, Ryan Mahrez's name later became a dangerous striker. When they managed to score a hat-trick in the match against Swansea, after that, Chelsea and Manchester City also couldn't stop, although they lost against Liverpool in January 2016 they managed to occupy the highest ladder after bulldozing Stoke City with a score of 3-0.
In the next stage Liverpool and Manchester City were brought to their knees even though Arsenal were still too strong for them three narrow wins against Watford, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace and then widened the gap with Tottenham who stood in second place, at the end of the battle almost met their time doubts increasingly believe that Leicester City will do something crazy.
They were unstoppable with Squad compactness in various areas right on 1 May 2016, Leicester City had to postpone the party after only picking up a draw against Manchester United but in the end the title was confirmed after Chelsea Holds Tottenham 2-2 in the match a day later.
An unforgettable moment was missed when the trophy was handed over to Leicester City after the match against Everton at the King Power Stadium on 7 May 2016, besides Ryan Mahrez and Morgan also managed to manage their teammates to continue playing consistently, don't forget players like Drink Water. beautiful and Christian who became the responsibility of Ranieri's soldiers in guarding the territory from the attacks of the opponents.
Leicester City won the highest trophy since the formation of the team 132 years earlier, for Ranieri his name was again considered, it is understandable that the former Chelsea coach was often labeled as a failed coach in the domestic league, the Italian figure was able to carry out a collective and consistent game, no doubt the winning metal was embedded in the team. each of their foster children. They use a 4-4-2 pattern that emphasizes pragmatism, they are also a team that has a low point of possession, the advantage is in terms of counter-attack and solid defense.
After this magical season, until now there are still players who survive, such as Casper's Michael, Morgan, Christian Fuchs to Jamie Vardy, but other important pillars including Kante Drink Water, Matic to Shinji Okazaki choose to continue their careers in their own way.