Leicester City, the Unbelievables

It seems that there is an increasing gap between the big teams in each league and the rest of the teams due to economic reasons, regulations, rules, infrastructure, etc. This makes it harder and harder to achieve surprises. However, in 2016, Leicester City, with a team full of little-known players that were ahead of the season expected to be fighting to avoid being relegated to the Championship, managed to lift the Premier League trophy, in what was one of the most impressive feats in modern history of world football.

A bit of context

Leicester City is a historic English football club founded in 1884 and whose journey has been between the first and second tier of England. However, in the 2007-08 season, they were playing in the Championship and finished in 22nd place, which gave them relegation to League One, the third tier of English football, something that was the first time in the club's history. Nigel Pearson would then arrive to the club and only a year later, he would return them to the Championship, winning the League One in a fairly comfortable way.

Despite a great fifth place in their return to the second tier, and the arrival in 2010 of the millionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha as the new owner of Leicester, the team was very irregular for several years, having several changes of coaches among which illustrious names such as Paulo Souza or Sven-Göran Eriksson can be found. In the end, Pearson himself would return to the club to finally achieve the long-awaited return to the Premier League in the 2013-14 season, winning the Championship, again, in a fairly comfortable and easy manner.

In his first year at the top level, the club managed a fourteenth-place finish, not bad for a team that had only just been promoted. But by the end of the season the relationship between Pearson and the club was not the best and a controversy involving his son in pre-season led to his dismissal. Leicester contracted veteran Italian manager, Claudio Ranieri, who had previously coached the Greek national team but also had experience from several big European clubs including Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Roma, Inter Milan and Monaco.

That summer, the club signed Gökhan Inler from Napoli as their marquee signing, alongside Robert Huth, Christian Fuchs, Shinji Okazaki, Yohan Benalouane and a, by that time, little-known French defensive midfielder named N'Golo Kante. The team played in a solid 4-4-2 formation where defensive solidity and counterattacks were their main strengths, as well as a very noticeable sense of unity and team spirit.

The team had a good start that turned into a historic season, reaching the top of the table in mid-January and not letting go. Leicester established themselves as a very tough team that managed to win their matches against teams outside the "Big Six" and against the latter, they usually picked up points. In fact, they only lost 3 games in the entire Premier League, twice against Arsenal and against Liverpool at Anfield.

Riyad Mahrez - one of Leicester's most important players during their fantastic season

The heroes

While most of the squad played an important role in this feat, with specific moments that contributed to winning the championship, we have highlighted those we consider to be the key elements that led Leicester City to one of the most surprising feats in modern football history.

Claudio Ranieri: Until his arrival at the Foxes, the Italian manager had never won a first-tier league in his career, only lower tier leagues such as Italy's Serie C and B and France's Ligue 2. His rather calm and quiet leadership, based on his extensive experience, helped the team manage to get the key points and maintain calm and concentration until the end, knowing that after each game, nervousness could play against them.
Kasper Schmeichel: The son of the Danish legend made his name in top-level football in the 2015-16 season, after a career that, up to that point, had not been very remarkable. However, since his arrival at Leicester in 2011, he had been the Foxes' first choice goalkeeper, put in some very strong performances that saved many points for the team thanks to his consistency between the posts.
Wes Morgan: The Jamaican born in England was one of the many surprises of this champion team, as, although he had a long career in English football, especially in the Championship with both Leicester and Nottingham Forest, his imposing physique, his weight of more than 90 kg and his lack of speed, did not invite one to think of a center back that would play in a league winning team in the Premier League. Well, the reality was that Morgan benefited greatly from his experience, tactical intelligence and the way the team defended, to consolidate himself as the defensive leader of the champion.
N'Golo Kante: Nobody expected that this unknown signing brought in by Leicester from Caen would become a ball-winning machine. The Frenchman is short and has a shy personality, but on the pitch none of that stops him from covering practically the entire midfield, as he has an enviable physical condition and a technical ability better than is usually expected from a player of his characteristics. He only stayed that year at Leicester, as Chelsea were quick to sign him after his successful debut season in the Premier League.
Riyad Mahrez: He arrived at the club in the middle of the 2013-14 season from Le Havre in the second tier of French football. If he is well known today it is thanks to the explosion in development he had that season with his role as an inverted winger on the right side of the Foxes' attack. His controls and dribbles were deadly for rival defences as was his good understanding with Vardy. That season, he scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists, making him one of the most important pieces in the team's offensive.
Jamie Vardy: His story was like straight out of a movie or fairy tale. Vardy went from playing non-League football in 2012 to being Premier League champion in 2016. Vardy became the reference for many players who are in lower divisions thanks to his late arrival to the top tier of football, proving that one should never give up as long as you are willing to put in some hard work. He scored 24 goals, tying for second place in the scoring charts with Sergio Agüero, only surpassed by Harry Kane who scored 25. He is possibly the greatest legend in the history of the club.