He reflected on the remarkable achievement yesterday, with his hands flying through the air when he compared Leicester’s players to RAF pilots.
They overcame the odds — 5,000-1 odds at that — to win the Premier League for the first time.
Ranieri said: “I realised we were so fast on the counter-attack, so good that I told them we are like the RAF. They believed in it.
“I made the decision to play 4-4-2 in pre-season because I was not comfortable with three at the back.
“I watched Riyad Mahrez and every time he made a difference on the right, cutting in.
“Then I knew Marc Albrighton could make a lot of crosses, so I switched him to the left.”
What followed turned Leicester into history-makers, finally bagging the biggest prize in English football when Chelsea drew 2-2 with Tottenham.
Ranieri, who turned back the tactics clock to play 4-4-2, has re-written the coaching manual.
At the Etihad in February, when they stormed into a 3-0 goal lead after just 60 minutes, Ranieri realised the improbable dream was on.
He added: “I was so satisfied when we won at Manchester City — it was a fantastic performance away. Unbelievable.
“When we won there 3-1, maybe my players believed in something: ‘Maybe we can fight to the end’.
“Then I told the media we were like climbers and not to look down: ‘Oh my god’.
“To win the league is difficult to say, but I believed something fantastic could happen, yes.”
Confirmation came from Stamford Bridge, with Ranieri sitting at home in an armchair when Mark Clattenburg called full-time on Tottenham’s title challenge.
Within minutes his mobile phone was ringing, with a mutual friend passing him on to Chelsea’s interim manager Guus Hiddink.
Ranieri added: “I was in my armchair but all of a sudden on the ceiling. I said: ‘Thank you, well done, thank you — it was amazing.”
It certainly was because people belly laughed when Ranieri was appointed at the King Power last summer.
Ranieri was the man who lost to the Faroe Islands when he was manager of Greece, a figure of fun when he returned to England.
He added: “If you tell me ‘Claudio, you lost to the Faroe Islands’ then you are right — but only once! The other manager lost the other.
“I am not a magician. If they said ‘why Ranieri?’ and they should have taken someone else who is much better, then I thought ‘OK Claudio, show what can you do’.
“I was the bookmakers favourite to be sacked — maybe next year I will be second favourite.”
Everyone loves a bit of Ranieri now — but it is difficult to explain why it has taken the 64-year-old so long to land a league title.
He has managed some monstrous clubs — Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Roma and Inter — but the ultimate prize eluded him.
He added: “There are so many keys. One is the humility from the dressing room because they help each other in the bad moments.
“They play with the heart and soul, they play as 11.
“I love the English spirit because when I was a player I was an Englishman. I was fighting and you had to kill me if you wanted to win. I love that spirit.
“I said we would maintain the spirit and I maintained the Italian tactics.”
They went catenaccio — the Italian style of football based on defence — towards the end, keeping six clean sheets in their last eight games.
Ranieri deserves this because English football chewed him up and spat him out when he was manager of Chelsea.
More than ten years on he is a champion, one of the game’s good guys after seducing us with this extraordinary story.
He added: “The Premier League is a great achievement. I realise people all around the world are asking ‘what happened?’.
“This is the moment when you have to taste it slowly — like a good wine. Just savour it.
“Maybe now is too early to think what we have done. Maybe in one or two years it could be better to understand.”
The Foxes are a Champions League team now, in the fancy draw in Monaco that takes place on August 25.
No comments:
Post a Comment