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Leicester City's decline: Champions to the Championship?
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
13th February, 2017
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Forget Leicester's title defence, they're scrambling just to stay up. (Pioeb / Wikimedia Commons)
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
13th February, 2017
2

Looking at Manchester City and Leicester City, very few similarities spring to mind.

There is the fact that both have been Premier League champions in the recent past, of course, while they also both ply their trade in blue kits and share a surname.

However, a few months down the track, when Chelsea’s ground staff are still busy cleaning up the confetti from their triumphant league celebrations at Stamford Bridge, and Arsene Wenger is polishing off yet another fourth place trophy, the two may have another common bond.

The Manchester club were the last champions of England to be relegated the following season.

Currently, Claudio Ranieri’s men seem to be heading towards a similar fate, after yet another loss over the weekend put them just one point above the drop zone.

It was in the 1930s that it last occurred, as the Citizens beat Charlton Athletic to the Division One crown, before finishing in second-last place the next year. As things stand, the Foxes look to be repeating that dreadful and instantaneous decline.

The reasons given for the Foxes’ fall from grace have been plentiful.

A lack of motivation and the addition of European football, which has stretched an already paper-thin squad, are popular explanations. However, for some, it is much simpler than that: the loss of N’Golo Kante.

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Kante was the real star behind the Foxes incredible triumph last year as he ran, harassed and tackled teams to death in the centre of the field. These all-action displays then allowed the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy to capitalise further up the pitch.

This season, Kante has only heightened his already glowing reputation with another stellar turn at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield. The diminutive Frenchman has made the most tackles by any individual over the past three years in the league – he has barely been in England for two of those.

His presence created a sturdy base that both protected the ageing legs of his centre back’s Robert Huth and Wes Morgan, and allowed the quick recycling of possession to kickstart counter attacks. The releasing of a free man for these was created by Kante essentially fulfilling the role of two players within the team.

“We play Danny Drinkwater in the middle, with Kante either side,” the club’s chief scout Steve Walsh joked back in the halcyon days of 2016.

For a side who kept 12 clean sheets in their last 20 games on their march to the title, the defence is worryingly leaky this season. Kante’s absence may be a significant factor, but it shouldn’t gloss over the other issues.

NGolo Kante for Leicester

The momentum they once had has long since disappeared and with it went the confidence which drove the team forwards, through players who consistently performed above their normal levels.

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Last year’s talisman, Vardy, perhaps underlines this more than any other player. The 30-year-old has failed to score in 23 of his past 25 games for the club.

Vardy’s rise from League Two battler to the champion’s spearhead and England international was remarkable. However, in the afterglow of his ascent, the reasons for his many years spent languishing in the lower divisions have become clearer.

In many ways, he is a limited striker who relies on service in behind the defence for his chances. This way he can utilise his pace and finishing ability to full effect. A deep backline simply curbs this threat straight away for the opposition though.

When this is coupled with the side’s blunted ability to counter attack in the first place, Vardy is left to act as the lone target man, who is required to hold up the ball and bring others into play. It is a role to which he is ill-suited.

The fact that the club’s summer signings have mostly failed to make any meaningful contributions have further deepened the troubles. Islam Slimani arrived with a hefty price tag, but so far the Algerian has failed to impress. As has Ahmed Musa, brought in to ease the goal-scoring burden on the core group of players who fired Leicester to success last year.

So far Ranieri’s men have been kept scoreless in 11 of their fixtures. The Foxes have lost five consecutive league games, while being the only team in the top five European leagues yet to score a single goal this year. For a side which relied upon snatching a lead and then reverting to the counter as they defended deeply, their tactics have now essentially become defunct.

Numerous formation and personnel tweaks have been made by Ranieri, yet they haven’t halted the club’s slide. He has also been unable to adjust his gameplan, and has had to persistently fight off questions about his job’s safety.

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The Italian guided the 5000-1 outsiders to perhaps the greatest surprise triumph in sporting history only ten months ago. Evidence, if ever it were needed, of just how brutal the game can be.

However, the former Chelsea manager can’t expect to get by on sentiment alone. After all, things move quickly in football, memories are short, and the only thing that matters is the here and the now. A group of plucky underdogs riding a wave to title glory was magnificent, but it is yesterday’s news.

Now, the only story on anybody’s mind is whether Leicester will go from champions to the Championship in the space of a year.

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