Claudio Ranieri and the impossible dream in France
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Claudio Ranieri may not be spoken of in the same breath as other managers like Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, etc., but he certainly deserves a lot of respect.
Some football analysts believe, and with good reason too, that Jose Mourinho’s success at Chelsea in his first stint was due to the foundation already laid by Ranieri. The London club was already on an upward trajectory to challenging the bigger sides in the league as a result of the work of the Italian tactician, and that probably made Jose’s job easier. Some may disagree with this analysis, and that may be fair, but even if one doubts the level of impact and influence he had on Chelsea’s success, then one surely can’t argue with his success at Leicester city.
Leading the Leicester side to a league title in 2016 was one of the most unprecedented events in the Premier League in recent times. This is so, not only because it is Leicester, but principally because the club didn’t have to break the bank for investments on players to make it happen, after the fashion of teams like Manchester City and Blackburn in times past.
Just a year before the Italian took over, same Leicester side were in the relegation zone and looked almost certainly destined for the lower league, and just a year later, they were lifting the Premier League trophy. That was something special, and the architect was Claudio Ranieri. Although he had to leave the club in February after a series of poor results, Leicester fans and players can’t deny the fact that Ranieri gave them something they never even imagined they could get anytime soon.
FC Nantes appointed the Italian as manager in June after signing him on a two-year deal, and from all indications so far, the decision is looking like a masterstroke.
The French side are currently on a six-match unbeaten run and have won their last four matches, sitting fourth in Ligue 1. One major similarity between the current FC Nantes side and the Leicester side that won the league under Ranieri in 2016 is the way they have been getting their wins. Leicester City won the league by getting a very large number of their wins by one-goal margins, and so far Nantes have been mirroring similar results, their last four wins have been by one goal margins, scoring same overall number of goals as the team sitting 19th on the table. This may be interpreted as an inability to score goals, but it may also be interpreted as proof of their doggedness and determination to play to their strengths. Sir Alex Ferguson once said “Attack wins you games, but defence wins you titles”, and that is coming from someone who really knows one or two things about winning titles.
Considering stronger teams in the league like PSG and AS Monaco, it may be a bit silly to already start imagining Nantes winning the ligue 1, but that was what we thought when Leicester started their title winning season, wasn’t it?
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