Apart from having to defend their title, Leicester will also have their first crack at the Champions League next season. He said: “I would like to come and sing something”. They dream, I say “dilly-ding, dilly-dong”, and they wake up and it is a reality.
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Everton, though, will be determined to win, as they can still finish in the top 10 of the Premier League this season.
“Big money makes the big teams and usually the big teams win, but now we can only say 99 percent”, he said.
Claudio Ranieri’s men have sealed the title with two games to spare but will still be looking to win their final home game of the campaign here.
“In the beginning I felt something special”.
The Swiss brand will benefit from the huge surge in Ranieri’s popularity after he led Leicester City to the Premier League title in what has been widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sporting history. I studied Italian five hours a day for many months to ensure I could communicate with the players, media and fans.
But asked whether he thinks other clubs will now change to become more like Ranieri’s outfit the Catalan said: “I don’t think clubs work at what others are doing, you have your own structure, plan and process”.
“I was only young at the time back then, I think if anything it helped my development and I have drawn from those experiences”. Not as (physical) energy but mental energy.
“I said: “OK, clean everything, next match”.
“It is important to bring the players with the same mentality, our mentality. Leicester in the long term will go to a very high position”.
“We don’t need superstars, we need our players”, he said. “It is not easy to play FA Cup, Charity Shield, blah, blah”.
Leicester’s remarkable title triumph was confirmed on Monday when Chelsea fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, with Hiddink revealing afterwards that Ranieri had called to thank him for his team’s second-half display.
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Leicester’s TV audiences have soared by over 23 percent globally this season and because of the excitement inspired by their run to the title, audiences in the United Kingdom have grown from 785,000 to over one million per game.
