Premier League Leo Ulloa and Tony Cottee analyze the new success of some ‘foxes’ who are leaders
AFP
Nor there is no shotgun or club that hunts the ‘foxes’. “Leicester is Leicester. They are really good. A real team.”Jrgen Klopp advised. The ‘foxes’ have made the feats their private preserve since they defied and defeated logic in 2016. At the King Power Stadium they manufacture them in series.
“We could not start better. Winning nine of 12 games – the last six in a row – with the injuries we have … Everyone doubted how we started after running out of Champions the last day of last year. It was an apprenticeship, not a failure “, confessed Brendan Rodgers after beating the ‘Wolves’ (1-0) before the break to rise to the leadership of the Premier. Leicester adds one point more than Tottenham and Liverpool they visit.
The casualties of Sync, Pereira, Ndidi … have not cut their wings: they are signing the best start in their history (18 points out of 24) … pulverizing the 15 that the Ranieri champions added in the first eight days of 2015-16! “We are off to a good start,” said Jamie Vardy after his hat-trick on the hand (2-5) to City. It was the masterpiece of a Leicester that has won everything away – they also took (0-1) the Emirates – with a ‘9’ that continues from ‘party’ at 33: ‘top scorer’ with eight goals along with Son, Calvert-Lewin and Salah it is the icon of a team that has rejuvenated … without cornering its ‘classics’.
“Rodgers has given us another mindset. Our game is on a different level,” declared a Fuchs who survives alongside Schmeichel, Albrighton, Morgan and Vardy. “We give the ball, defend together and salute the counterattack. Now it’s different because of the profile of the players. You see the mark of a coach who likes to have the ball, carry the weight of the game … but who maintains the counterattack and intensity. It is a mix of success“, confesses Leo Ulloa.
The Argentine ‘9’ of Rayo Vallecano, key with his goals in the Premier won by Leicester, gives voice to his metamorphosis: his 1-3-4-3 now has a 51% average possession … and the 1 Ranieri’s -4-4-2 did not exceed 42%. What has not changed is its strength in the two areas: They are the third highest scoring team in the Premier (18 goals) and the least scored (nine).
“They have modified their style to pass the ball more and be patient, but they are still one of the best teams on the counter. Rodgers work is excellent“says Tony Cottee, 2000 League Cup champion with the Foxes. A revolution since the Northern Ireland landed in February 2019 that also bears the stamp of Jon Rudkin. Under the umbrella of the football director they have woven since 2014 a model defined in the market and in its quarry: Barnes, Choudhury, Chilwell -sold to Chelsea for 50 million euros-, Thomas … have settled with the elders while strangers such as Mahrez, Kant, Maguire … arrived, stood out and were transferred at the price of gold.
Mountains of pounds invested in removing wrinkles -the eleven type of 2016 had 27.3 years of average age and the one of now 25.5- For Justin and Castagne to fly, Tielemans arrives, Maddison believes and Fofana is, at 19, his fresh appearance in the rear. “We laid the foundations for a project that has grown a lot. They never sell more than one footballer per year and the investment has risen in a young player profile that works … and is revalued “, reflects Ulloa.
In Leicester, dreams repeat themselves. “The quality of the players is higher than when we were champions. Then we were a group of Second that was saved and that, with adjustments, won the Premier Something unique! Kant, Mahrez … exploded. The goal was to be able to fight with the greats like now, “says the Argentine.
The 2.0 deed. takes shape. “Vardy is still brilliant, he’s one of the top three ‘9s in the country. I see similarities with 2016. They can be champions if City, Liverpool … and several of the top6 have a bad streak. The Champions is their goal, in addition to the Europa League – they lead their group with full power. They can win it! “, Cottee details.” We were not in Europe and we have to see how it affects them. Hopefully they don’t have a roof. Who better than Leicester to repeat the miracle? “, Ulloa sentence. Everything is possible … again.
Rodgers’ new Leicester is linked to his more successful past. “I don’t know what will happen when Schmeichel, Morgan, Fuchs, Albrighton and Vardy retire. They join a dressing room that they ‘created’ when they played in Second Division. And that complicity is a value that money does not give. Leicester keeps it as part of their philosophy “Ulloa points out: “They are clear that we must not think now about being champions … or going further. They feel that there is a more competitive team, at the height of what they are fighting. In 2015-16, at first, we didn’t believe it. Now it is different. The potential is another “.
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