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Back in Round 5 of the 2014/2015 Premier League season, Leicester City found themselves 3-1 down at home to Manchester United – a predictable score line for the newly promoted club.
But the final result, and the fight back that ensued, was anything but predictable with the Foxes stealing the points with a 5-3 victory. If the result was perhaps an aberration in the context of Leicester City’s season a year ago, the performance would come to anticipate the spirit and resilience that has typified this season’s title winning squad.
It was fitting then that it was against the same opponent that provided Leicester their most memorable performance last season, their defining moment this season. This time however the stakes were higher and a solitary point would prove enough for them to clinch the title.
As memorable as those results may have been, for Leicester’s manager Claudio Ranieri a more satisfying moment couldn’t be imagined than celebrating his accomplishments at his former club, Chelsea on the last day of the season. At season’s opening, the 5000-1 odds all but predetermined Leicester’s fate, but the draw told a different prophecy as the final day of play would see last season’s champions usher in this season’s.
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While Chelsea’s guard of honour leading Ranieri and his team onto the pitch symbolised the continuity between the two seasons, the gesture also functioned to momentarily disintegrate the chasm between football’s billionaires and their more modest counterparts.
But Leicester’s success was not the only story that provided the drama for this Premier League season. As the traditional powerhouses buckled beneath the weight of past success, struggling to navigate through the fog of transitory periods in their club’s lifecycles, an opportune vacuum presented itself.
The abnormality of this situation reverberated throughout all aspects of the competition, raising unexpected talking points, like: ‘what if Manchester City had an N’Golo Kanté instead of a Yaya Toure?’
But this is not simply a consequence of the shortcomings of the usual title contenders, but because the performances of the likes of Kanté and co. were the precise reason for their triumph against more favourable opponents. As much as the team unit has rightly attracted its accolades, it was the efforts of Leicester’s individuals that had deservingly attracted our attention away from the Hazards, Sanchezes and Rooneys.
In the modern era of the Premier League this is not meant to happen. With its landscape composed of Sheikh billionaires and Russian oil tycoons, a footballing one per cent has emerged who’s intention it is to ensure that the ninety minutes on the pitch are a mere formality on the path toward greater riches.
However money was never a factor for this Leicester team. Clearly not in determining their own fate, and neither in contemplating the pedigree of their opponent. Ranieri ensured money was removed from the equation every time his team took to the field, and instead played on the terms he dictated, and in doing so, forced their opponent to do so too – conditions few opponents were able to negotiate successfully.
Unlike the utopians of the game, who were routinely at odds post-match to justify why their intricate formulations hadn’t amounted to the hypothesized result, Ranieri kept it unashamedly simple. Shaking the ‘tinkerman’ label he attracted at previous appointments because of a tendency to constantly modify his personnel, Ranieri’s squad selection remained almost unchanged week-in week-out.
As predictable were his substitution choices. Okazaki for Ulloa was a constant feature at the 60-minute mark that proved as effective as it was predictable.
Admittedly, this consistency is only afforded to those managers without the added responsibility of European football – a luxury he cannot rely on next season.
Tactics aside, the most impressive legacy Ranieri has left on this season has been the mentality and spirit he instilled in his players. Taking passion and pragmatism, the best values his culture’s footballing heritage has to offer, Ranieri forged a unity that made his team an intimidating prospect for any opponent.
From Wes Morgan and Robert Huth to Kanté and Danny Drinkwater, and Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy further up the park, there was an intensity that characterised Leicester which gave the impression that every match was the last they were going to play. This honesty added to Leicester’s appeal, putting them at odds with the nonchalant swagger that characterises the usual title contenders.
Above all, Leicester’s display this season has spurred us to contemplate the future landscape of Britain’s top flight. But it hasn’t only been Leicester who can boast the achievement of unfamiliar success.
A host of other clubs would be pinching themselves at the position they occupy with the conclusion of the season. From Tottenham guaranteeing themself European football and establishing a serious title campaign, to West Ham challenging the traditional elite for Champions League football, and Southampton finishing above Liverpool and Chelsea. An emergent middle-class seems to have carved out a place for themself in a position that has greatly inconvenienced the established powers.
It is interesting to note that few pundits have chosen cynicism to colour their assessment of this season. Instead Leicester’s unexpected heroics have many proclaiming a paradigm shift that will see Britain’s traditional footballing underclass continue to surprise – a possibility even Arsene Wenger has warned his fellow elite clubs not to take lightly.
With next season’s broadcast deal injecting a sum of £5.13 billion – an unprecedented investment committed to the Premier League – many are already predicting class mobility to remain a theme for future seasons to come. But we must remember that this money amounts to a dissemination of wealth, not a redistribution. Top Premier League clubs will continue to lure talent, however the new financial competitiveness may make it a challenging prospect for Britain’s inter-European club rivals.
As with most events that get tangled in dreams of revolution, history proves them to be only a temporary rebellion: an anomaly, a temporary deviation, a glitch in the matrix. But whatever the future entails, the history books will forever read that Leicester City were Premier League champions in the season 2015-16.
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