Former England captain Terry Butcher is a regular Prost columnist
So, January is drawing to a close and with fifteen games left to play, Leicester City sit proudly at the top of the Premier League.
If you had said that at the start of the campaign you would either have been a Russian athlete (allegedly) or taken away by men in white coats. And whilst the Foxes have slightly wobbled of late, drawing three out of their last five Premier League matches along with FA Cup elimination by Spurs, the rest of the chasing pack are spectacularly stumbling in pursuit.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Man Utd all failed to pick up three points last weekend – although Tottenham’s victory at Crystal Palace was impressive and outstanding. Mauricio Pochettino’s side has silently “ghosted” into the top four and is currently the form team in the top division, whilst still in the FA Cup and Europa League…and with a young English core at the very heart of the group.
But Leicester is by far and away the Hollywood story of the season. It’s like watching Rocky, Cool Runnings, Happy Gilmore, Slapshot, Glory Road, Slumdog Millionaire, Rudy and many more, all rolled into one feel-good underdog movie. Largely unknown before this season, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have scored over two-thirds of Leicester’s Premier League goals and are comfortably the best partnership in the country. No other team comes close to having such a combination of prolific marksmen but despite having one of the poorest possession percentages, Claudio Ranieri’s men are able to defend deep but break quickly, with lightning pace and deadly finishing.
It has been a remarkable transformation; from what should have been near certain relegation to sitting proudly on top of the Premier League, Leicester’s philosophy and work ethic have embarrassed the English aristocracy. In the last ten years, winning the Premier League has required an average of 87 points whereas to achieve fourth place, and the potential of Champions League qualification, usually 71 points has sufficed.
At this moment, Leicester City needs another 27 from 15 matches to finish at least fourth (Ranieri and his team have averaged just over two points per game so far}, but with the top sides being so consistently inconsistent, 71 points could easily guarantee progress straight into the group stage itself. I strongly believe that the Foxes have the right man in charge, Claudio Ranieri, along with the correct game plan and squad in place to finish at least fourth, and make this season the most remarkable ever – as long as the end of season movie isn’t the Tortoise and the Hare…and definitely not Titanic.
