Monday, May 2, 2016

Leicester's Owner Wanted 40 Points



For the season and Claudio delivered 39. Halfway through it. He has added another 38 points with two more matches to play. Nobody can catch them save Tottenham which has to win all three of their matches provided Ranieri's lads don't take more than 1 point out of a possible 6. Of course if the Spurs drop points tonight Leicester will be the Champ and they won't have to wait for Vardy's return against Everton on Saturday to start celebrating.

But hey, this is football. You simply never know.

21 comments:

akagugo said...

What a brutal match, what an incredible result!
Leicester, we salute you! You had the most improbable motley crew, but you made it. Bravo!

akagugo said...

Compare the present achievement with the predictions... And reactions to the appointment of the manager, and the origins of that bunch...

Some of you might appreciate that all-time Leicester fan Gary Lineker will honour his promise. Of presenting his TV programme in his undies if Leicester won.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Yep, well deserved league title for Leicester. And good luck for the CL.

But it's true that before Monday Claudio only managed to lift his teams to a runner up position in three different countries.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

You need to wonder if the 40 points target is not for the current season. Ranieri boys have 13 points after 14 games. Which is the same number of points they have after ending at the very top of their group stage in the Champions League.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Leicester a match away from the last spot of the league table. How do we explain this collapse?

akagugo said...

How to explain Leicester's meltdown?

Try and anspwer this question: How Leicester could not deal with his departure to (and impact on) Chelsea: we're talking about one helluva player: N'Golo Kanté, the most prolific (and cleanest) tackling mid-fielder that one can seen these days...

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Am gonna read this ASAP. Thanks.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

So Chelsea lines up 12 players in each match then. Will surely pay more attention to Kante now. Football has more than caught up with the NBA which was already broadcasting all kinds of interesting data at critical match junctures like twenty five years ago. God bless Big Data.

akagugo said...

Fairy tale implodes well before the follow-up season ends... Quite a bitter expectation when you forget to properly plan the succession of selling your key player Kanté.
Frankly, Ranieri's elegance did not deserve this, it would have more fitting if other unambitious managers, like Wenger the epitome of the annual-bottom-line-obsessed boardroom favourite, had been kicked out...

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Quite a surprising decision as they played quite well in the 2-1 away loss to Sevilla. It's kind of hard to keep up with the expectations that last year's magical performance has created.

Also Kante was the one who opted to leave Leicester. Which lost Cambiasso the previous season (wonder what his stats look like). Just like Liverpool hasn't replaced Suarez yet.

So the Thai bosses think they'll get a better manager to avoid relegation or make a big difference in the last 13 games? 12 after they welcome Liverpool on Tuesday.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

If Chelsea keep the same kind of performance since the start of the current season the only way Liverpool can hope of challenging them is practically not to drop any points. Unlikely. Wonder what does the typical end of season performance of Chelsea looks like. We know Liverpool's. The gave away the title a couple of years ago.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Good game for the Ranieri boys so far. Liverpool very bland. One commentator made an interesting point: Leicester had to adjust to playing in the Champions League for the first time. If they win the home leg against Sevilla by the smallest margin they'll be in the quarter-finals. Or three wins away from lifting the cup with the big ears. Maybe that's what was in store for them this season. With Claudio around...

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

What a disappointing match. Liverpool in their current shape look like they'd be able to lift the cup only if it was 25 matches long. Wonder if the obvious relative lack of depth of the bench was suited for gegenpressing. When you consider all the injuries that the club has sustained. Take Phil. He is a mere shadow of himself.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Bayern is very strong. Now, will MSN catch-up a 4 goals deficit?

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Pretty amazing performance by Barca. Neymar is the the in-form guy.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Hopefully City will beat Chelsea today to sustain the suspense.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Griezmann la dapre lord li mars ek Duracell sa :) Leicester kav bat AM dime. Bayern ki pu fer Madrid?

Enn lot remontada dan Camp Nou merkredi?

akagugo said...

Remember this little guy? He won PFA of the year, and is still humble but monstrously efficient on the pitch.
And could be writing history in the next few weeks if his team wins the Premier League - it could be his second consecutive with a different team after debuting last year with Leicester.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Massive performance by Kante. It would be interesting to compare Chelsea's current stats with those when Mourinho won the league two years ago.

Quite a disappointing game by Liverpool against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Then a little while later magic from Messi :)

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Can Griezmann's side score 4 goals without conceding any next week? Unlikely.

And what will the 39-year old Gigi do tonight?

Plus Tottenham has an opportunity to get within one point of Chelsea tomorrow. Latter plays Middlesbrough -- which is in the relegation zone -- on Monday.

akagugo said...

Mr Kanté bags a second recognition of his stellar talent within weeks. Soon his second EPL title in two years, if Chelsea manages to win against Watford in a few days from now...