Premier League champions Leicester City are currently playing in the International Champions Cup, a pre-season friendly tournament that allows different teams to compete against one another being divided into groups playing at different locations. Leicester City are competing alongside PSG, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Celtic, Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Liverpool and Inter Milan in the United States of America. After a decent outing against Celtic, a match which the Foxes won on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in normal time, PSG gave the reality check to Ranieri’s side as they thrashed them by 4 goals.
Throughout the match, Leicester were thoroughly outclassed. The small passing moves of the French champions caused as much damage as their long balls into the striker and handed the team from England some serious lessons on what they are about to experience next season in the Champions League. The general mode of play included PSG attacking and Leicester City just kicking the ball out to anywhere they can to clear the danger which was shocking to watch in all honesty. There seemed to be no plan or approach which the Foxes tried to follow in their gameplay. After the first goal, Leicester upped their tempo and pressed well winning the ball high up but could do very little with it and with Riyad Mahrez being indifferent throughout, they never looked like scoring a goal.
Granted, it was just a pre-season game, but it was hard to figure what the team was doing. Last season’s title triumph was dubbed as the accomplishment of ‘The Impossible Dream’ by the fans and rightly so. The team spirit and the unreal coincidence of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, Christian Fuchs and N’Golo Kanté giving their best performances of their careers so far all through the season were the two biggest reasons for the title win. There were also some other notable reasons and the gutsy performance of the entire backline with Kasper Schmeichel were amongst them but there’s a distinct change in the team following the departure of Kanté. PSG wouldn’t have enjoyed playing so many through passes without them being intercepted if the French midfielder was present in the game and his void would be a big challenge for Ranieri to fill next season.
Against quality oppositions, who will have by now woken up to the counter attacking style which served the Foxes so well last season, it wouldn’t be so easy to execute and the players will also enjoy a lot less space than they did last season. New recruits Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendy would need more time to get settled and the prospect of Leicester getting ‘Out- Leicestered’ with a simple ball from the back in towards the striker is something the team needs to work on, as Unai Emery showed that with Jonathan Ikone, an 18 year old agile forward, who ruffled the feathers of the Foxes backline all through the game.
Claudio Ranieri now has a real job in his hands and just like the old times, the Italian once again needs to be proactive and prepare his team before the season starts so that his side can not only negotiate with the increased competitiveness, the Premier League will offer next season but also the quality they would need to handle in the Champions League.
Most people would dismiss the result in a friendly as irrelevant but having been in the business for longer than many, Ranieri wouldn’t be one of them. He more than anybody else, would know that there are some things which he needs to solve before the season finally gets underway. A loss in a friendly is not very concerning but the way in which a team loses definitely is, which is irrespective of the team’s starting eleven. Last game’s result thus, would have rung the same imaginary bell the Italian is famous for using during the training and during the press conferences. Dilly Ding! Dilly Dong! Is the sound that is being heard and PSG have struck the bell for Ranieri already, the veteran Manager would be hoping that the other teams don’t get a chance to do the same.
With Barcelona next, the team might get used to the losing feeling. Not something good to have when you’re defending your crown. Just ask Chelsea who had an awful pre-season last year and failed to start the campaign with any confidence.
