Leicester City remain a big deal around the world media. Claudio Ranieri taking them to the Premier League title was one of the biggest football stories in recent decades, and received the appropriate attention.
The fall was then also followed, but it hasn’t stopped club presidents worldwide expecting their managers to be able to pull off ‘a Leicester’.
L’Equipe believe there’s several problems at Leicester City which new manager Claude Puel will have to overcome if he’s going to succeed. One is what’s described as a separation between the expectations of the club’s Thai owners and the realities of the club’s actual playing squad.
The French newspaper also state that both Ranieri and Craig Shakespeare had difficulties with those behind the scenes at Leicester. Whenever there’s a temptiation to change tactics and formation, it’s frowned upon, with ‘team exceutives’ preferring the title-winning 442 with counterattack.
Puel is warned the team is ‘conservative’ and some remain ‘nostalgic’ for how Leicester played in their great season. But that time has gone as have important players, and things need to change.
Wes Morgan’s quote after the weekend’s Swansea victory – “It was an old-fashioned Leicester, which is very good” – is highlighted as an example, and if things don’t work this time, then perhaps several high profile players will be going before the next manager change.
