There have been many strange things about Leicester City's season, but perhaps not stranger than the simple fact that they are Leicester City. The team that found themselves seven points adrift of safety last April is the team that now find themselves seven points clear at the top. Of all the sides that could have emerged as title contenders from absolutely nowhere, in a league of very capable mid-table teams like Southampton, Swansea and Liverpool, it's remarkable that it's perhaps the most statistically unlikely who've actually gone and done it.
West Ham can dream of following in Leicester’s footsteps
Sunday’s match between Leicester City and West Ham United (8:30 a.m. ET, NBCSN) is one of the biggest of the season. And if the dominoes fell a little differently, their league positions could be flipped.
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Their opponents on Sunday, West Ham United, may well look at Leicester's season and wonder 'what if?' Of course, it would be unreasonable to criticise Slaven Bilić's side for failing to win the league -- as it is, they deserve full credit for still hanging on in the Champions League race with just five games to go. But Leicester, if only temporarily, have forced a revision of what is possible for a club of their size to achieve. And in spite of the great entertainment the Hammers have provided throughout the campaign, they may well now be hoping for more.
A glance at the two squads together reveals them to be remarkably similar. They each have an experienced centre-back pairing, a well-balanced central midfield duo, a sprinkling of playmaking flair and a surprisingly prolific home-grown centre-forward. For every Robert Huth there's a Winston Reid, for every Kanté a Kouyaté, for every Mahrez a Payet and for every Vardy a Carroll. Indeed, it's hard -- if not entirely impossible -- to find anywhere on the field where the Foxes are markedly stronger than the Hammers.
But then again, the Hammers shouldn’t beat themselves up too badly. They have they suffered with a string of injuries to crucial players this season. And besides, we all know that Leicester -- though certainly containing some very talented players -- are far from the strongest set of individuals in the Premier League. They are instead the strongest team. And if this season is showing anything, it’s that the mystical alchemy of the team-building process is as unpredictable as ever. One need only cast their minds back to last summer, when coach Claudio Ranieri’s appointment was met with widespread bemusement, to realise that.
At the time, the Daily Mail declared: "Ranieri's track record at the top level doesn't make for particularly good reading -- 12 clubs, seven sackings and five top flight trophies. Considering he has managed the likes of Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan it is a paltry return." A harsh and overly-simplistic an assessment it may be, but the fundamental point was a reasonable one. Leicester were taking a gamble on a man who was better known for near-misses than roaring successes.
And yet something has clicked. In a brilliant article written for The Players’ Tribune earlier this month, Ranieri lifted the lid on what he told Leicester at the start of the season: “I want you to play for your teammates. We are a little team, so we have to fight with all our heart, with all our soul. I don’t care the name of the opponent. All I want is for you to fight.” It was an unbelievably simple message, and one allied with an equally basic strategy on the pitch: sit deep and compact, wait for the mistake and counter-attack. And it has worked a treat.
Ranieri certainly isn’t the first coach to preach such a message or employ such a strategy, and yet he may well be about to achieve one of the greatest feats in the history of the sport. Try as we might, it has been a phenomenal turn of events, and one that we will never quite be able to explain.
As for their opponents on Sunday, West Ham should take heart from the great Leicester tale. As unfathomable as the Foxes’ season has been, we can be certain that it wouldn’t have been possible without a talented crop of players, and a well-balanced starting lineup. The Hammers have this nailed. That isn’t to say that they’re going to go on and mount a title charge, but that if everything goes their way, they too could do something remarkable. Just realising that may be as important as anything.
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