Leicester City 2015/16 Premier League Champions | Football Tactics

Leicester City’s Premier League title triumph of 2016 is quite possibly the greatest underdog story in the history of sport. The Foxes escaped from relegation the season prior and entered the 2015/16 Premier League campaign as 5000-1 outsiders to lift the title.
Their eventual success is even more noteworthy due to the mastermind behind it. In July 2015, Leicester City appointed Claudio Ranieri as boss. The Italian had come off an abysmal 4-game spell as manager of the Greek national team and was fired by Greek federation’s president, who publicly apologised to fans for the “most unfortunate choice of coach.”
Needless to say, Ranieri’s arrival at Leicester was met with scepticism. However, the 66-year-old went on to do the unthinkable by implementing a far from revolutionary 4-4-2 system which offered balance to Ranieri’s limited squad.
His tactic was based around organisation, hard work and countering-attacking at pace but, as with all champions, the defence acted as the foundation of his plan.
Leicester City’s defensive shape often saw two deep and compact banks of four in front of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. This shape was crucial to suit the needs of central defenders Wes Morgan and Robert Huth. Both were immense in aerial duels and commanding their defence, but lacked pace and mobility, making them vulnerable in open spaces. That required Leicester’s full-backs, Christian Fuchs and Danny Simpson, who mostly stayed close to the centre-halves to prevent gaps from appearing between them. The full-backs would close down opposition wingers when balls were played in-behind Leicester’s midfield line, and would usually hold position when Leicester won the ball back before supporting attacks later on.
Perhaps Leicester’s tactic wouldn’t have been as effective without the emergence of then-relative unknown N’Golo Kante. The Frenchman was Leicester’s tireless enforcer in midfield, winning highest number of tackles and interceptions in the league. He perfectly complemented the attacking contributions of Danny Drinkwater, who was often able to release Jamie Vardy with pinpoint passes from deep. The duo encapsulated Ranieri’s demands for transitions, being both capable of retreating to defensive positions to maintain the teams overall narrow shape as well as break forward to support the attack when required.
Moving forward, Leicester’s wingers were given full license to attack at pace when possession was regained. Unlike the full-backs, who seemed to drift forward late, Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton broke forwards quickly, targeting wide areas for overloads. Jamie Vardy would contribute to the wide overload by drifting into channels to draw the opposition towards one side of the pitch. This was particularly helpful in releasing Riyad Mahrez into one-on-one’s against opposition full-backs, as his supreme dribbling would often see him ghost past his marker with ease.
The pressing of Ranieri’s two forwards was another key factor to their success. That was mostly played out by Shinji Okazaki, who took up deep positions to help link a usually outnumbered midfield to attack. He would constantly harass opposition defenders and sometimes midfielders alongside Jamie Vardy, another relentless worker and counter-attacking threat. Vardy would always sit on the shoulder of the opposition backline offering a direct outlet for his teammates, who would try to release him as soon as possible. Vardy prioritised runs into half-spaces as he attempted to either drag opposition defenders out of position to make space for a teammate, or run into the already exposed wide areas offered from oppositions who had overload their stubborn and resilient defence.
In closing, Leicester City’s title-winning run of 2016 will go down in history. In an age where money tends to dictate success, The Foxes’ unexpected triumph serves as the perfect antithesis, showing that strength in the collective, no matter the price tag or reputation, can overcome individual quality with the right preparation, mentality and, of course, the perfect execution.

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Keywords-
premier league football
Premiership
EPL
PL
Leicester city
leicester city champions
Foxes
LCFC
Leicester City Football Club
2015/16 season
England
Jamie Vardy goals
Rihad Mahrez
English Premier League
Premier League

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