Flying on a Sweet Dream – Leicester City Can

The most exciting team of the premier league this season 2015/2016 has been Leicester city, hands down and their sensational first League title in history is up for grabs with just eight games remaining and five points clear at the top. This would go down as one of the most inspirational success stories if they go on to clinch the title.

This beautiful tale started a year back during the 2014/15 season when they were placed last in the premier league table and tipped for relegation. The only option was to stand up and fight or get done and dusted. Most of the people including the media and football gurus believed they are fighting a lost battle. Having secured only 19 points from 29 matches, the task seemed Herculean. It all started with a 2-1 victory over West Ham United at the King Power Stadium and from there on they went on to secure 22 points from the remaining 9 games and climbed up the ladder to a credible 14th place finish and becoming only the third team to escape relegation, having been bottom at Christmas. It was much more than just a surviving act from the foxes.

During the pre-season the then manager, Nigel Pierson was sacked by the club and Claudio Ranieri, the 64-year-old Italian who had an earlier stint in the premier league with Chelsea, a decade back, was given the charge. Both the media and fans were skeptical about the move to appoint him to guide the foxes through the season after having a failed stint with the Greece national team, in his previous role.

Leicester went on to win their 1st game of the season with a convincing 4-2 win over Sunderland on the opening day of the season that got the doubters silenced. It has been an awesome journey for them and at 30 games done, they have registered 18 wins, 9 matches drawn and just 3 losses which are just remarkable figures. They are up the table with 63 points and a dream to catch.

The most important factor to Leicester’s success has been great Team-spirit, self-belief and being fearless. They have fielded almost six players in the starting line-up who were with them in the championship two years ago, players who have been allowed to grow and develop, by virtue of thorough understanding. The scouting team lead by former Manchester city player Steve Walsh has done extremely well in bringing in special talents.

The root cause of Leicester’s success has been the individual brilliance of few of their players. The prolific duo of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez has been exceptional.

Jamie Vardy had been playing for Fleetwood Town in 2012, when Leicester came calling, paying a record transfer fee of £1 Million, for a non-league player. He has a total of 19 goals this season and went on to break the premier league record of scoring in 11 consecutive matches, breaking the previous record of Van Nistel Rooy. His efforts got him selected for the England National Team in 2015. Brilliant, isn’t it?

Riyad Mahrez was scouted from Le Harve, the second division of French football in January 2014 and helped the foxes win the Football League Championship and getting a promotion to the Premier League at the end of his first season. He has 15 goals in his kitty and an incredible 11 assists this season and already on the radar of many of the top European Clubs. His pace and accuracy down the flanks are what drives the foxes to a dream finish.

The third most important man for Team at the moment is definitely N’Golo Kante, picked from Caen, for an undisclosed fee reported to be £ 5.6 million during last summer. He is the engine room of Leicester city, for his consistent impressive displays for the club, making a high number of interceptions and tackles, in fact, fourth in the top European leagues for tackle won. Being the central midfielder, he is instrumental in breaking potential attacks from the opposition giving a sense of security to the ones guarding the defence, and the likes of Vardy and Mahrez are free to counter attack. He is poised for a call-up to the French national squad after a string of fine performances.

Wes Morgan the captain, Danny Drinkwater, Shinji Okazaki, Christian Fuchs, Kasper Schmeichel, Robert Huth etc., to have named a few, have all played their part in bringing the team to where they are positioned now.

The fans, the players, the media and everybody involved with the club are absolutely proud of their team’s achievement even though they don’t want to exhibit it until the end of the season. “The gaffer is animated on the side and you can tell the fans are animated. They can’t believe what’s happening this season. I think it’s just important that in this moment we enjoy every minute of it because it’s such a special achievement what we’re doing” says Marc Albrighton after their 1-0 victory against Newcastle.

The Total value of Leicester’s squad stands at £56 million whereas the most valuable team, Manchester City stands at a whopping £440 Million. “In an era when money counts for everything, I think we give hope to everybody,” was the key line Claudio Ranieri said in a recent press conference.

A Champions League berth is definitely on offer and the team needs to strengthen with a few good buys of experienced campaigners during the summer, for a much more fierce competition in the European circuit. They have defeated Manchester City, Tottenham FC, Liverpool and Chelsea over the past few weeks playing some scintillating football and have the firepower to give the top notch teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich a definite run for their money.

Leicester’s success is truly great for the sport. It has instilled belief in the hearts of every football team that they can achieve greatness if they have the will to do it. The team doesn’t boast of superstars, but well organised hard working individuals who have come up the ranks with the positive framework.

Eight more games are all that’s left; including a few tricky fixtures towards the end of the competition. A true football fan, irrespective of the team they support will definitely wear a smile on their face if Leicester city gets to cruise it through the troubled waters.

This dream run is not a rag to riches story for Leicester, it’s about the will and determination, it’s about setting wings to your imagination and flying. It’s said that somebody who says he can and somebody who says he can’t are both usually right. We hope to believe Leicester City Can.