The word “Leicester” in every football lover’s mouth sounds like a fairy tale protagonist in this season’s English Premier League. The league has not had such an amazing tale in its history except that of Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in the 70’s. Nottingham Forest won the English First Division a year after winning promotion from the Second Division (1977-1978 season), more like the recent achievement of Leicester City should they be crowned Champions of England. Brian Clough’s men were tagged ‘Miracle Men’ because no one could have predicted how successful they would be in English Top Division that season. They also went on to win the European Cup (Champions league) back to back (1978-1979 and 1979-1980). It became one of European Football’s greatest achievements – taking a team from the second division, winning the top division and European cup back to back. Brian Clough became England’s most successful manager.



Until this season, Nottingham Forest boasted the greatest achievement in the history of the English game. Although there are other achievements like that of Arsenal’s Invincibles and Manchester United’s treble, but in terms of a journey, from zero to hero, there has been nothing more like that of Nottingham Forest till the journey of Leicester City. If Leicester City were to win this season’s English Premier League title it would out-weight the achievements of Nottingham Forest and most Nottingham Fans are praying hard for Leicester city not to clinch the title so that their team of the 70’s remains the greatest in English Football history. The reason for Leicester City’s heighten achievement is that Nottingham won the title when the league system was still fluid. Ipswich also did it (1961-62), meaning a newly promoted side from second division could also do it that period. But Leicester are playing in a league system that is considered difficult for newly promoted sides to even remain top 10 in the league not to talk of winning the title. With financial fair play in the system, the “Big Four” were meant to rotate being champions while the rest become content with remaining in the league.



Leicester City has gone against all odds to break traditional powers to emerge as possibly the most surprising Cinderella story in Football history. From almost being relegated last season to becoming Champions this season. Leicester’s surge defies all reasonable football prophesies. At the start of this season, Leicester were 1.02 odds to be relegated by bookmakers and their newly appointed manager Claudio Ranieri as the first manger to be sacked following his recent dismissal as the head coach of Greek national team just four months after being employed by the Greeks. “The Tinkerman” as being called by the English press during his time as Chelsea manager, was known for rotating his squad more often and not having a steady first team will be having the last laugh at bookmakers who predicted he will be the first manager to be sacked as many managers has left and his team is on the verge of creating history. Ranieri has never won any major league title in his career as a manager. He has managed many top sides like Juventus, Inter Milan, Valencia, Athletico Madrid, Chelsea, Monaco etc. but never won the league title with them. Should Leicester win the title, it would be the highlight of his managerial career as even the octopus couldn’t have predicted it not to mention a Claudio Ranieri team.



The 2015/2016 season has been termed “Crazy” by Leicester City’s manager and has urged the fans to keep dreaming while the players do the reality on the pitch. We all know that what Leicester city are doing on the pitch is both magical and realistic as anything is possible in football, you can refer to Istanbul Champions League final. Yes! It is real; nobody gave them a chance considering the fact that they were almost relegated last season. Leicester had to win five games and draw two of their last seven matches just to avoid relegation last season. Like Cinderella from scrubbing the floor to being the wife of a Prince, Leicester has emerged from a relegation team to a title contending team. Leicester took advantage of underperforming “Big Teams” to remain on top of the English Premier League this season. They have been consistent all season with a bit of luck. Less injury crisis compared to other teams in the league with seven of their players starting 30 games this season. They are fast on the counter and utilize their chances the most. Their long balls have been precise. Their tactics and game planning has also been integral in their fairytale season as the manager approaches it game by game. Their conservative 4-4-2 formation has made them to care less about possession and hit very hard on the counter while defending with their lives at the back. They have only lost 3 times this season, 2 to Arsenal and 1 to Liverpool. Leicester pounded on their similar and underperforming teams to reach the top of the table.



Jamie Vardy 29, has had his own part of the fairy tale as his 22 goals this season has helped Leicester stay on top of the league. Vardy joined from Fleetwood Town for £1 million. Last season he managed to score only 5 goals. A onetime factory worker, as a part-time job, during his time at Stocksbridge Park steels is now the talk of English football. His form this season has gained him a place in Roy Hodgson Squad for the 2016 Euros. Riyad Mahrez has also been instrumental in plot. His quick feet and skills has produced 16 goals and 11 assists in the League for Leicester. Mahrez, playing in the French ligue 2 for Le Havre joined Leicester city in 2014, helped Leicester win promotion to the top division and now helping them winning the league. The Current Player of the year this season in England. He has had the best performance this season besting Mesut Ozil, Harry Kane and others to the PFA award. As Mahrez does his damaged on the right side, Marc Albrighton has tallied six assists from the left side. N’Golo Kante has been another breakout star in the team. The energetic box-to-box midfielder has been a revelation. His forward drive and neat tackles has made him the most outstanding defensive midfielder in the League. He signed last year for Leicester from French ligue 2 outfit Caen. With his sidekick Danny Drinkwater, they have been able to provide support to the defenders and attackers. The defensive duo of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth has provided solid cover for goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel at the back, forming a “thou shall not pass” dynamic duo in the league. Other Leicester city players like Danny Simpson, Christian Fuchs, Shinji Okazaki, ulloa etc have been influential in making this story a reality. The mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, has considered naming most streets in Leicester with the current squad list should they win the title.



Leicester City’s fairytale tale took a dramatic turn when they had to beat Liverpool and Manchester city consecutively in the second half of the season when everyone thought that it was high time they left the top four of the League table. What Leicester City are doing at the moment is giving hope to other teams about the possibilities in football. With the current tradition of signing world class players under the helm of a world class coach in order to achieve trophies in a season, Leicester has disregarded all that with their current achievement. They were not handed any Memo that small clubs are supposed to move up the table gradually while watching juggernauts like Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United win title after title. They have injected a heavy dose of inspiration to smaller clubs not only in England but other leagues that they can also achieve if they believe, work hard and play together as a team. The days of the “Big Four” are probably not over, but Leicester has changed the way many clubs think and set their goals. Their target this season was to avoid relegation, aiming 40 points for safety, but now they are on the verge of creating history.



From the Manager to the Players, their individual stories are similar, all has transcended expectations. For Leicester City, it will be their first ever major league title. None has ever won one before including the Manager. With three matches to go and tough opponents to play, Leicester will also bank their luck on their rival teams underperformance which Tottenham just concurred with them. Without star striker Jamie Vardy, Leicester put up a concert type performance for their fan thrashing and outplaying Swansea 4-0 to keep the ball rolling. More like their fairy god-Mother was with them as pundit predicted a reduced performance from them since they will be without their goal machine. We keep our fingers crossed and watch the remainder of the season go as all neutrals in football and even those whose club are beyond reach of the title are praying that Leicester City win the title. The best party in England will be at Leicester come May 2016. If you miss your ride, don’t miss the party.

Article written by Sebzero (Iheanyichukwu Sebastian) for Strippedmind.com

Source: http://strippedmind.com/leicester-city-english-premier-leagues-cinderella-story/

Cc: lalasticlala, mukina2

The underdog that became the top dog!





What Arsene Wenger couldn't do in 12yrs in arsenal, Claudio Ranieri did in 9months.