MIRACLE TO MISERY
Ranieri’s shock champions are on the slide, but how can they rediscover magic of last season to pull themselves out of trouble?
A YEAR ago Leicester City were top of the Premier League by five points a few days after delivering a performance of such pedigree people began to believe the title could be theirs.
It was the 3-1 victory at Manchester City that made the nation take serious notice of Leicester but the landscape is different now and another defeat for Claudio Ranieri’s side at Swansea today will bring an altogether darker prospect.
The Mail on Sunday examines what has gone wrong and what Leicester must do ahead of this crucial encounter between teams who occupy the two places above the relegation zone.
REVVING UP THE RAF
RANIERI would enthuse about the speed of his team’s counter-attacking last season, dubbing Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez the lead members of his RAF, ‘Ranieri’s Attack Force’. The pair were never more deadly than on their travels, scoring a combined 22 goals away.
But this season’s tally outside the King Power Stadium is only three and Ranieri (right) has had a meeting with his star pair in attempt to refuel their engines.
‘I spoke to Riyad and Jamie. It is always interesting chat when three of us are in the room! We know how to change it, but it’s top secret,’ said Ranieri as a commander might when sending his fighter pilots on a mission. He knows takeoff will come with better link play.
‘If you see how many goals they scored together and how many chances they made last season and this season, no. That’s it.’
The Liberty Stadium offers positive memories of their partnership. Last season Mahrez scored a hat-trick, with his third set up by Vardy at the end of a slick break.
Mahrez retains confidence to ‘come back’ to his best. Those were the two words echoed by Ranieri and the Algerian when discussing form last week and the psychological purpose is clear.
Mahrez caused a little confusion against Derby County in midweek when warming up wearing trainers rather than boots. He has done this before though and simply prefers comfort and warmth on his feet.
The same goes for Vardy, 30, who is still on five Premier League goals this campaign having scored 24 last. The statistics give greater context to claims the he has lost his touch.
He still covers on average 6.7 miles a game, the same as last season, and actually makes more of those trademark sprints: 57.8 per game this campaign, up from 54.1.
But Vardy is receiving the ball less frequently (28.5 touches per match compared with 32.4 last season) and shooting more sporadically (1.3 per game down from 3.2), suggesting service is an issue.
SHADES OF GRAY
Belief is growing that Demarai Gray can help Vardy. The 20-year-old dazzled against Derby, scoring a wonderful goal, setting up another and creating two more chances that should have been converted. This campaign he has also hit a spectacular strike at Old Trafford and has assisted a couple more goals. Only five of his 18 Premier League appearances this season have been starts — three in his favoured position on the wing — and while Ranieri wants him to improve defensively his attacking worth might be important in the circumstances. Marc Albrighton and Andy King have spoken highly of Gray and Gary Rowett, his former manager at Birmingham, was aware of how he would develop soon after his £3.8million move a year ago. ‘He has outstanding attributes of being able to go past people with blistering pace or from a standing start,’ Rowett said soon after the move. ‘It is about turning those exciting bursts into goals and assists, which he is working very hard on.’ ‘He also has to learn when to make runs to get him into the final third, and when, if he attracts other players towards his side of the pitch, to offload and get others players in better positions, to be a bit more unselfish. In terms of being a humble lad, you won’t get many who work as hard as him.’