Really?
That is amazing.
And it proves one or two of my very long standing arguments:
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| Before now, Claudio Ranieri had been quite the underachiever with clubs like Juventus, Inter, Roma, Valencia (in their glory days) and Atletico Madrid. |
1. CLAUDIO MUST BE LUCKY
If you all disagree with me on that, then it means you will all have to agree with me that coaches DO NOT make much of a difference......since ALL of the heavy weight coaches (Van Gaal, Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrinni and Arsene Wenger) did not come close to Ranieri (The Sorry One).But the more remarkable part here is that he used a team with absolutely NO PEDIGREE, no large budget, no tradition, and one that was almost relegated last season. Claudio Ranieri used one of the "dullest knives" in the kitchen to fight these other cat's bazookas!
That is amazing!
(please do not argue against this using after-the-fact comments about Vardy, Mahrez, or Edin Hazard!)
Now, I know some people will want to mention "The Italian Tactician" or "Italian Pragmatism" or stuff like that. But after being an ardent follower of Italian football for over 20 years, I can confidently tell you that Claudio Ranieri was one of the most PATHETIC UNDERACHIEVERS of the famous Italian managers (one that even Mourinho mocked and ridiculed - much to the delight of some Italian fans).
One Copa Del Rey title and One Italian Copa are the only two trophies worth mentioning in Ranieri's many past big club appointments which included: Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Napoli, Roma, Internazionale, Juventus and Chelsea.
Yet he has now won what many perhaps "erroneously" call the toughest League with relative ease and with a tiny club.
Luck or Not?
Dale Maxwell disagrees with me. Here is his comment from Facebook: ►http://j.mp/Dales_comment
2. IF NOT LUCK, THEN THE EPL MAY BE THE PROBELM
And I have said this many times before....The reason why the Premiere League appears to be very competitive among several teams is that their so-called strong teams have really not been that strong in the past 5 years or more, as their performances in Europe have shown.
So they think West Ham and Stoke are tough, simply because they beat Man Utd and Liverpool, a bit more often than Osasuna would ever dream of beating Real Madrid.
So while many people praise teams like Crystal Palace for beating the Chelseas and Man Utds, what they should be doing is question the standards of the bigger clubs especially since both Man Utd and Chelsea are also quite frequently taken to the cleaners by the smaller clubs of Europe (e.g. FC Basel).
And I am not just talking about the results here....it is also about how they LOOK when they play against the Shaktar Donesks, the and the Olympiakoses.....compared to how those might look against say PSG, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
I have often argued that the reason why there is so much "equality" between teams in the EPL is the fact that almost every team (other than Arsenal) seems to play the same way....pls read on
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| Mohammed Salah scored the first of Basel's 2 goals as they beat Chelsea 1-2 at Stanford Bridge in the Champions League. Basel also beat them 1-0 in the return leg, with Salah scoring there as well, and Chelsea signing the Egyptian that December |
Yes EPL clubs (even the smaller ones) have spent more than any other Leagues and have bought many of the world's best players. But eventhough these foreigners bring much technical skills into their new clubs, the problem is that the clubs largely value some "anti-football" characteristics a bit too highly. In my opinion, these skills eventually become neutralized by those widespread "bad habits" of the League in general:
a) Over-emphasis on speed and stamina.
Speed is cool, stamina is wonderful for long matches. But when this is hyped to the detriment of basic ball control and passing accuracy? Not good. Some players just RUN so fast that they more frequently run the ball into goal-kick and into touch or into brickwalls (i.e. opposing defender's waiting feet).
Or after all the "combustion" used in acceleration, there is not much left for accuracy in crossing the ball (which is 85% of the time, all they ever wanted to do).
b) Physicality and over-reliance on aerial ability - These can actually be some determining factor for winning some games, but if you don't first take adequate care to build your team's ball control and passing issues, you would merely be gambling.
c) I find this one quite amusing actually. :-) And it is like point b).
Whenever I am watching a LaLiga or some Serie A game with my neighbors who are pure EPL fans; whenever they see a Spanish defender picking up a loose-ball in his goalie's danger 18-yard box and then giving a short pass to a fullback or DM, they always yell, "Hit the ball way out of the box! ". The direct Yoruba language translation would be, "BOOT THE BALL OUT!"
(I usually LOL at this)
My response to this would be for them to use the game clock to time how quickly the ball returns to their danger-zone whenever it had been booted out!
A very good team with players that have ball-control and that is building confidence and team work will easily sling together 4 to 5 passes from CB to RB to CM to LWF in very quick succession, without the players breaking too much sweat in the process. Unless they are physically manhandled along the way. Then the referee calls a foul; and some "fans' start whining. ;-)
So my argument here is that the EPL does too much of booting balls out of defense (sometimes without cause) + they rely too much on physicality and jostling for balls in the air (in midfield) + they do too much unnecessary running = Too much is left to LUCK/CHANCE; and technical skill is largely neutralized.
(please take time to watch these games carefully before you crucify my argument)
pace is great - having the ball under control is the best
In my past twenty something years of watching, enjoying, and analyzing football, I have often argued that the role of coaches are wildly overrated. See here ► A Facebook Post about Chelsea of 2013 and ► This
Even though I have also said great things about SOME particular coaches see here ► My Calling For Ancelotti In Madrid 2011
Nothing gives me a better opportunity to reiterate this point as the recent victory of Leicester City of the EPL.
I mean, yes, obviously coaches DO make a difference. But how much of a difference remains to be proven.
Most of the funny pundits I see on tv have this way of saying "high sounding" stuff after the fact.
But how many fans ever ask the right questions?
How many EPL titles would Man Utd have won if they had sacked Alex Ferguson after his first 2 or 3 unsuccessful seasons?
It is easy for Bayern Munich fans to deify Jupp Heynckes as a great coach. But older Real Madrid fans have mixed feelings, while some fans of his home town club, Munchengladbach, threatened to kill him for his "failure" there.
What about Jose Mourinho?
His fans have claimed that he is the greatest coach, but I often ask questions and point out one or two things that make many of them really hate me. ;-)
Even Pep Guardiola, who I have probably even praised more than Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi (probably my favorites). Is there enough evidence to truly say that Guardiola is a great coach?
As a data analyst, I have to keep pointing out that their isn't enough data (or facts) to back up the bigger coaches since they generally win with the bigger clubs.
And these bigger clubs tend to easily make great coaches out of new-comers (e,g, Guardiola and Vincente Del-Bosque).
Raneri is the exact opposite of this.
And yet, he has achieved this incredible feat, while further plunging the argument into even more confusion and ridicule, going by his past records with much greater clubs.
Still, I recognize a 3rd option:
Perhaps Renieri was indeed a loser of a manager in the past, but has now had an epiphany in the twilight of his career.
If this is the case, then his career should be watched closely from this point on.
Frankly, I won;t be betting as dime on Leicester in the next Champions League for one. Neither would I even bet on them achieving a EUROPA League spot in the EPL next season.
At the end of the day, I always have a soft spot for anything Italian, so I am personally very happy for uncle Claudio. ;-)
However, I have raised some very important questions, as part of my ongoing debate about managers and the need for club ownership to give equal opportunities to coaches before the best managers can be equitably rated.
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