Against all odds, Leicester City and Nigel Pearson have manufactured a somewhat incredible turn-around to avoid relegation to the Championship.
With safety all but confirmed, those who were aboard the “Pearson-Out” train must hold their hands up and give him a round of applause. If the season had only begun six games ago, remarkably Leicester would sit at the peak of the table. Having picked up 15 points out of a possible 18, losing only to the formidabble Chelsea. One must stand back, and appreciate the gravity of this great escape, one which surpasses the great-escape of West Brom ten years ago.
Perhaps this unnatural occurrence is on a par with the likes of a Lunar Eclipse and only comes around every so often, Ten years being the time frame for being bottom of the league on Christmas day but still managing to drag yourself out of the woods and live to fight for another season.
Leicester City- The Great Escape
The Foxes have stepped up to the plate when it has mattered most, and in a seemingly tough run of fixtures have come out on top. Beating , West Ham, Swansea, West Brom and more recently Southampton to all but secure safety. Pearson and his army have had a tough and controversial season. The 51 year-old gaffer had seemingly lost his job back in Febuary after an incident with Crystal Palace Midfielder James McArthur when Pearson appeared to throttle McArthur’s nech whilst he was on ground. Following this, widespread media sources reported that Pearson had lost his job. Apparently, the club had even told him that he had lost his Job. But these reports were falsified and the incident was whittled down to “a night of confusion”.
Misery continued to loom for Leicester, with big-name strikers Leonardo Ulloa and Andrej Kramaric failing to replicate the form they had shown at their previous clubs. All season The Foxes were putting in good performances but failing to get points on the board. Oftentimes losing out to a single goal, which is refelcted in their goal-difference of -13, which is decent in comparison to those near them in the League Table. The final game before the remarkable change of fortune was a hard fought 4-3 lost to an inform Tottenham Hotspurs, and subsequently an inform Harry Kane, who netted his maiden BPL hattrick. Scoring three goals and still losing, but props, to The Foxes who took it on the chin, shored up their defence and fought for themselves like true warriors.
The resurgence in form of speed merchant Jamie Vardy has been key in this mini-revival. Having set his in name in lights with a world-class performace against Manchester United at the start of the season, Vardy’s form dipped and he became an anonymus figure. However, the 28-year old, who can be unplayable on his day has come up trumps for his team when he’s been needed most. Netting winning goals in the victories against both West Brom and Burnley. I read an interesting statistic recently which showed the impact the absence of Ronaldo and Messi would have on the league, and amazingly, Barcelona and Real Madrid would still sit atop Spain’s La Liga without the influence of their star men.. This just goes to show that it isn’t about how many you score, but when you score.The goals of Riyad Mahrez, Vardy’and the recently revived Ulloa have been invaluable to this remarkable get out of jail card that has been handed to Leicester.
But credit must also go to Pearson for his apparent emphasis on a more defensively stable side. Leicester had only keep 4 clean sheets all season prior to the last 6 games and only two of them ended in 3 points. However this is on a par with the new Leicester, who have bravely fought of the attacking advances of Danny Ings, Graziano Pelle, Bafetembi Gomis and Ayose Perez to keep 4 clean sheets in their last 6 games. Credit where credits due for Leicester City, who will now look to confirm safety against Sunderland this weekend and build on a hectic first season back in the Barclays Premier League.
Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
