da heads bet： Whenever you win anything, there is always a positive and a negative.
da wazamba： In Leicester City’s case, this has been an outstanding season and one that their fans could only dream of. The so called top four have proved to be inconsistent this year and almost arrogant in their assumption that the old regime will never change, no matter how poor they are.
Leicester have shown the way for many teams and will rightly revel in this moment for months to come. However, now that it has been achieved once, the questions start with: ‘can they do it again?’ as they bid to hold onto the trophy next season.
At first glance, next year might be a little more difficult to predict than anyone first thought. With top flight managers coming into the Premier League, who will, in some cases, drastically alter their inherited squads, Leicester’s job may become that much more difficult.
In reality, the stars in world football that are being linked with the Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Liverpool etc., would appear to be unlikely captures for the Foxes. So far, that hasn’t stopped them winning the league, but next year could be a whole different ball game.
The club’s Thai owners want to keep the victorious squad together despite expectations that many players will be lured away by lucrative offers from richer clubs. The vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, son of club chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha said on Thai television: “We are not selling anyone.”
“We are not a team who produces players to be developed later by other teams.” Aiyawatt added. “All players want to stay and keep on fighting together to see how far they can go. So selling players is not on our agenda.”
Maybe not, but the lure of big money for their bigger names may change that.
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri is refusing to get carried away. He told Sky Sports (via the Mirror): “No [we won’t win the league next season]. I think no but of course we want to continue to build. When I came here the project was to build a foundation and slowly grow together and fight for Europe.”
A top 10 finish is what Ranieri believes is achievable, but the boss reinforces the owners wishes when it comes to the squad, although maybe a little more realistically: “We don’t want to sell nobody. Of course if some players don’t want to stay then I don’t want unhappy people. Then we are looking to reinforce the team but with the same mentality, this is my mentality. Who comes must know we are working hard.”
For one of those outside of the King Power Stadium, the thoughts about Leicester are more negative. Michael Owen revealed his thoughts when he said: “Leicester conceivably could go down next year. They could win the league and they could still be in a relegation fight next year.”
“It depends which way they go. They could go and invest all of their Champions League money and try to be a top club for years to come. Or they could pocket the money, maybe lose someone like Mahrez. All of a sudden, you know… their team is not a Manchester United squad or a Liverpool squad, and they’re having an unbelievable season. I sincerely hope they go on and win it but they could [go down].”
Leicester could pocket a net total of £150m through Premier League and Champions League earnings and so there is no doubt that they will be in a position to strengthen going into the summer.
So, where next for the Foxes? A one-off or the beginning of an era? Crucially, keeping their players together will drive them on with the momentum they had this season and if that’s the case and they strengthen, then they could repeat their fairytale or come close.
Losing star names may unbalance the squad and lose the team its zeal and closeness, but Ranieri is shrewd and will not allow any kind of slip and will certainly bring in players that compliment his current squad.
Expect the Foxes to be in the chase for another league title this time next year.
[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]