Unlike that title-winning quartet or 1995 champion Blackburn, Leicester achieved success without lavish spending on the squad.
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Doubts were raised over whether boss Claudio Ranieri could stave off a battle against relegation when he was appointed as Nigel Pearson’s successor on July 13.
“I feel happy for Leicester… the team is small and it’s the first time that they are the champion”, said Twin Wichaidith, who has supported the team for five months, as he travelled on Bangkok’s metro system. “Ive been supporting Leicester since I was 14 years old, can you imagine what this means for me?” said Caroline Wilkins, 60, who said she watched the match with a friend because her husband hates football. “The players have been fantastic. Ole!” the jubilant Leicester players sang as they jumped up and down with their arms on each other’s shoulders inside Vardy’s house. “Chelsea started playing as they should have – creating troubles regularly for the Spurs” backline.
“Let’s do it for Ranieri”, read one Chelsea fan’s banner during Monday’s game at Stamford Bridge where the trophy was presented to Chelsea last May.
Nonetheless, Leicester has won 22, tied 11, and lost only 3 games this year.
He has gone on to score 24 goals for club and country this season and claimed the Football Writers’ Association player of the year award on Sunday but the title has capped a fairytale campaign.
Once mocked as the tinkerman when the Italian was in charge at Chelsea, Ranieri’s Leicester team has virtually picked itself from one week to the next.
After Leicester were held to a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at the Old Trafford, Tottenham’s only chance to seal their first title since 1961 was to win their final three games of the season.
Second-placed Spurs’ failure to beat their London rivals at Stamford Bridge gave Leicester, 5,000/1 rank outsiders in pre-season, an unassailable seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, with only a maximum of six available to Tottenham from their final two league games this season. Makes me look like an angel! “An extraordinary, thoroughly deserved, Premier League title”. Still, Tottenham clinched no worse than fourth place and qualified for the Champions League for the second time. Chelsea, incredibly, is 29 points back. “I didn’t see any tears because it was not a Facetime conversation, but his voice was trembling a bit”.
Leicester have played more long balls than nearly any team in Europe, their average possession is one of the lowest in the Premier League and they have started fewer players over the campaign than any of their title rivals. They went a goal down early in the eighth minute with Anthony Martial scoring for the home team – it was the first time Leicester had conceded inside ten minutes this season.
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“Many congratulations to Leicester”, British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted. Only two Premier League sides, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, have averaged less.
