Leicester City are in serious trouble and could become the first league champions since Manchester City in 1938 to be relegated.
Claudio Ranieri’s side are 16th in the Premier League after their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United last Sunday, and just a point above the relegation zone. This time last year, they were top of the league.
You would imagine a team that won the title would be capable of getting themselves out of the face they currently face. However, things aren’t going well behind the scenes either, according to reports.
What a horribly fickle sport football can be. https://t.co/LJFxJxw2rd
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 4, 2017
Ranieri is reportedly in danger of losing the dressing room, and the squad is confused over tactical decisions by the manager. Leicester’s owners responded to suggestions that there’s disharmony at the club, and backed Ranieri to turn things around.
Everyone also seems to have a theory on what has went wrong. The loss of N’Golo Kante is the most commonly cited reason for Leicester’s demise, and it’s easy to see why.
The Chelsea midfielder is arguably the best defensive midfielder in the world and would improve any team.
However, another reason cited has been an apparent loss of hunger due to many of the Leicester players signing lucrative new deals.
Niall Quinn, in his column for SportsJOE earlier this week, said he spotted something when covering the game between the Foxes and United last week that would make him worry.
“I passed the players’ carpark on the way in and the way out of the stadium yesterday. Even by Premier League standards the quality of vehicles there was impressive. It didn’t look like a place for the lean and hungry, it smacked of ‘look how well I’ve done’.”
If it is the case that the Foxes are only motivated by money, then they better get their act together.
According to The Times, many of the players, and Ranieri, will have to take a 40 percent pay cut if the club are relegated.
Leicester reportedly included the pay cut clauses in the new contracts signed by the team’s senior players, such as Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater, as well as new signings such as Islam Slimani.
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