Fairytale now horror story
Leicester’s faltering title defence takes another blow with a 2-0 defeat by Swansea City
Football’s greatest fairytale is proving to have the gloomiest of sequels. Leicester, the unfashionable English club that enchanted the sporting world by winning the Premier League as a 5000-1 outsider last season, plunged closer to the relegation zone after losing 2-0 at Swansea yesterday.
It was a fifth straight league defeat for the stuttering champions and a 14th loss in 25 games this campaign.
With 13 games remaining, Leicester are one place and one point above the bottom three as they look to avoid becoming the first defending champions to be relegated from England’s top division in 79 years. On current form, Claudio Ranieri’s team are heading only one way, especially with other relegation rivals like Swansea and Hull starting to hit form after a change in manager.
Ranieri’s job appears safe for now — Leicester’s Thai owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabh, made a public statement of support for the Italian coach last week — but something needs to change, and quickly.
“We have two problems: we concede goals and don’t score,” Ranieri said. “We have to stick together and find a solution. It’s not possible to continue this way.”
Ranieri believes he may have been too loyal to his misfiring champions and suggested he was ready to ditch some of his struggling stars.
Goals by Alfie Mawson and Martin Olsson did the business for Swansea, also helping their own survival prospects.
The likes of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater have been pale imitations of the players who starred in the Foxes’ thrilling triumph and were again off the pace.
And Ranieri, asked if he had been too loyal, admitted he might have given them too many chances to turn around an increasingly wretched campaign.
“I could be [too loyal], could be,” he said. “It is difficult when you achieve something so good, you want to give them one chance, two chances, three chances. Maybe now, it is too much.”
It could get even worse, though, with two of Leicester’s next three games being against Liverpool and Arsenal. The team also resume their Champions League campaign in 10 days with a trip to Sevilla for the first leg of their last-16 match.
Leicester’s league title looks to be heading to Chelsea, although the runaway leader had an uncomfortable time in a 1-1 draw at Burnley yesterday.
In bitingly cold conditions Pedro Rodriguez finished a rapid counterattack to put Chelsea in front in the seventh minute. Burnley, with nine wins from their past 10 home games, equalised through Robbie Brady’s curling 25m freekick in the 24th minute, and created better chances after that.
It was only the third time Chelsea have dropped points since late September, after a loss to Tottenham and draw at Liverpool last month.
Chelsea are huge title favourites, with their next five league games against opponents in 10th place or lower — Swansea, West Ham, Watford, Stoke and Crystal Palace. NETHERLANDS