Leicester City have done the improbable this morning.
The 5000/1 outsiders have won the English Premier League title. The fairy-tale for the Foxes has finally come true.
The fairy tale has come true for these Leicester fans. [Photo courtesy of Linda Ikeji]
With Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea this morning, this result has meant that nobody can now overtake Leicester City in the League table now – with two games left to play.
So how did Leicester City do the impossible? Here are some of my thoughts.
TACTICS WERE SPOT-ON
The answer is simple. Their tactics.
This season, only two teams have been able to beat Leicester City – These are Liverpool and Arsenal.
But why?
Leicester City have simply stuck to what they are strong at.
Throughout the season, they have employed a traditional 4-4-2 formation. Though this formation may be thought outdated by many modern coaches, Leicester have shown that it works to perfection when it is played correctly.
Many teams have struggled to get Leicester City on the counter attack and don’t know how to react against them. Many believed that they could outsmart Leicester by playing the game their own way, but Leicester City proved them wrong.
THEY DEFEND WELL
Though Leicester City’s possession is amongst the worst in the League, thanks to their long, quick passing play, but they have also proven themselves to be adept at defending.
Leicester City have been defending well consistently all season, and they also do not over-pass the ball in their own half, a mistake that many other teams have been guilty of making. Instead they use their pace and efficiency to get the ball up the pitch as quickly as possible.
And this style, which is completely different to the dominating play that we have come to expect from most sides, is working wonders for Leicester.
THEIR ENERGY
Teams who have played Leicester City this season, would surely have struggled to keep up with the Foxes’ high energy game, which apparently nobody can keep up with – maybe apart from Arsenal, the only team to have beaten Leicester twice this season.
Due to their high levels of fitness and their secret training formulae, Leicester City have apparently been able to maintain this high tempo for the full 90 minutes duration of their football games, all season long.
There has got to be something special in that.
The BPL trophy this season is Leicester City’s.
LACK OF INJURIES AND GOOD TEAM WORK
And Leicester have been fortunate to not have had many injury issues, compared to many of the other top Premier League teams.
And the lack of tinkering amongst Leicester’s relatively thin squad, primarily due to their squad not being as big as many other teams, have also worked to their advantage – as it means their players have gelled together very well.
WHAT NEXT FOR LEICESTER CITY?
Surely Leicester City and their fans will be celebrating and partying non-stop now.
After all, they are the Premier League Champions. This was the first time in the club’s 132 years history that the foxes have won the EPL title.
Now, with their English Premier League win, this also means that Leicester go into the Champions League next season as a seeded team. How will they fare against the top dogs in Europe?
I think that if Leicester continue to play their game, are able to keep most of their players and carry on doing what they are good at, then they may just create another shockwave around Europe, by going farther than anyone would expect?
We shall see.
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