Leicester City’s target this season is to reach 40 points, says Claudio Ranieri
Leicester City were the biggest success story of the 2015-16 season after winning the Premier League, but the new season has not been kind to the underdog champions.
The 2015-16 Premier League season was the pinnacle of ‘tinkerman’ Claudio Ranieri’s success when the Italian manager guided Leicester City to the title. However, the new season has not been kind to the underdog champions who are currently 15th in the league table and Ranieri believes that it is important for his team to set their priorities right ahead last season’s heroics.
“Last season was amazing, but it was a crazy season. This season, we knew the established top teams would come back strongly and ready to fight for the title again and it would be difficult for us. So we set our target at 40 points, just as we did last season, to make sure the team is safe in the Premier League.”
Leicester had a fairytale run in the Premier League season in 2015-16 when they beat 5,000-1 betting odds to win the title. It was a well-deserved achievement for Ranieri, who took over the club at the start of the season, and the 65-year old called it one of the greatest achievements of his career.
“It was a great achievement for the whole club – the players, the staff, the owners, the fans. It was certainly among the biggest achievements of my career, but every situation is different so it’s always difficult to compare what you have achieved. I was very happy for the whole club and the whole city.”
Leicester City were undoubtedly the biggest underdog stories of last year and Ranieri did not forget to praise his players when asked about the main reasons behind their success.
“My players are fantastic. Every day they work hard to improve and to do their best for the team. Every match, I say to them, don’t worry about the result – the result is not important. We have to try our best, we have to fight and they always do that.”
Claudio Ranieri has already won the Best FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year award thanks to his fairytale run with Leicester and his side will be one of the favourities to win the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. But, Ranieri insists that there was no secret behind their unbelievable success.