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Leicester has officially collapsed. |
Leicester City was once the epitome of modern football. In the 2015/16 season, the team, rated 5,000-1, overcame all the big clubs to win the Premier League. They didn't have a huge budget or an expensive star-studded squad, but they had a cohesive team, disciplined play, and unwavering belief.
A decade later, that team dropped to League One, the third tier of English football.
The 2-2 draw against Hull City at King Power Stadium officially ended Leicester's hopes of avoiding relegation. When the final whistle blew, many Leicester players collapsed onto the pitch. The stands erupted in anger. Booing filled the home stadium.
If the trophy-lifting day in 2016 was the pinnacle of their history, then the draw against Hull was confirmation that Leicester themselves had ruined that fairytale.
An expensive but empty squad.
Leicester weren't relegated because they lacked money. They were relegated because they spent their money the wrong way.
After a period of success, Leicester was once considered a model club in player transfers. They brought in relatively unknown names like Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, and N'Golo Kanté, and then transformed them into top stars.
But as they entered a new cycle, Leicester lost the composure that had brought them success. Since 2021, the club has spent over £100 million in two transfer windows, while also pushing their wage bill to very high levels. They have acquired many players with Premier League experience such as Harry Winks, Ricardo Pereira, Jannik Vestergaard, and Patson Daka.
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Leicester used to be a fairy tale of English football. |
On paper, it's not the squad of a relegated club. But football isn't run by the payroll. Leicester have only won 1 of their last 18 games this season. Their defense is frequently unfocused. They concede goals from simple situations, their aerial defense is weak, and they lack organization when transitioning between attacking and defensive phases.
The attack wasn't much better either. Leicester had decent possession, but lacked speed in the final third, lacked players to create chances, and often struggled against teams that played defensively.
Even against Hull, they repeated the same problems of the season. They fell behind, fought back strongly to take a 2-1 lead, only to squander that advantage at the crucial moment. A team that doesn't know how to protect a victory in a do-or-die match clearly lacks character.
Leicester have expensive players, but they lack the fighting spirit.
Wrong from the top management down to the coaching bench.
No club has fallen as quickly as Leicester just because of player performance. The root cause lies in management.
After winning the Premier League and FA Cup in 2021, Leicester should have used that glory to build a long-term foundation. But instead of reinvesting wisely, they entered a cycle of reactive, piecemeal approaches.
The personnel plan is inconsistent. Recruitment is no longer accurate. Old players are underperforming but aren't being replaced at the right time. New faces arrive but fail to upgrade the squad.
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With Vardy gone, Leicester fell apart. |
On the coaching bench, Leicester constantly changed managers. Steve Cooper left early. Ruud van Nistelrooy couldn't save the team. Finally, Gary Rowett took over when the ship was almost at rock bottom.
When a club constantly changes managers, players lose confidence and the tactical system becomes unstable. Leicester becomes a team that plays football based on reflexes rather than ideas.
The situation worsened when the club was deducted 6 points for violating financial regulations. For a team already struggling at the bottom of the table, that penalty almost pushed them one step further into the abyss.
The King Power Stadium stands on the morning of April 22nd reflected the complete breakdown of the club. Fans booed the players, criticized the management, and demanded that chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha leave the club. When the fans' faith vanished, the team also lost its last remaining pillar of support.
Leicester once proved that there was still room for magic in football. Now they've become an example of how magic can't last if there's a weak structure behind it.
Relegation to League One wasn't a one-off accident. It was the price paid for years of mistakes.
In football, reaching the top is difficult. Staying at the top is even harder. Leicester managed the first, but completely failed at the second.
Source: https://znews.vn/leicester-tu-tay-xe-nat-chuyen-co-tich-post1645548.html
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