Claudio Ranieri invoked Saturday’s Grand National to describe what Leicester City must do to hang on to their lead at the top of the Premier League as the season enters its home straight.
“We are in front but we have to run a lot now,” said the Italian, whose team are seven points clear at the top of the table and travel to Sunderland on Sunday for the first of their six remaining obstacles. “We have finished the [last] corner and now we are looking at the line. We have to hold on tight and stick our elbows out to make sure nobody gets past.
“You know I want to build something strong,” continued the Italian. “We are building something good. The foundation is done. That is fantastic. Now we have to continue this dream. We must be very concentrated. We are doing something special but we have to work. Only the right work can give us the right points.”
Ranieri said he expected a “big battle” at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland will be fighting for the win that they need to assist their attempt to jump out of the relegation zone. “Our performance will be really important because they are desperate and it will be a big battle,” said Ranieri, who added that he was unconcerned by the shortage of goals from his attacking players in recent weeks. Jamie Vardy has gone six club matches without finding the net, Riyad Mahrez has struck three goals in his past 15 matches and Shinji Okazaki has one in 11. Each, however, has continued contributing to the team’s solid performances and Leicester have continued to win, recording five 1-0 triumphs in their past six matches.
“Every time, I tell the strikers it’s not important if they score a goal,” said Ranieri. “Of course it’s their job to score but look at Jamie: in the last two matches he didn’t score but he made the final pass. That is fantastic. I look always at the performances and if everybody links together, if everybody fights together and if everybody helps each other.”
Ranieri believes that Leicester’s feats this season have inspired other clubs below the traditional giants and, by way of evidence, points to the fact that Crystal Palace supporters applauded him before Leicester’s victory at Selhurst Park last month. “We have opened the heart to everybody, the little normal teams and the normal players,” he said. “And that is good for football. It’s good publicity for everybody. It’s amazing. At Crystal Palace they clapped me at the beginning, not at the end. I think because they can imagine that Crystal Palace can do this next season.”
Victory at Sunderland would stretch their lead to 10 points if Tottenham Hotspur lose to Manchester United later in the day. Even a win for Spurs could bring good news for Ranieri, as such a result, combined with a victory for Leicester, would confirm a top-four finish for his team and a place in the qualifying round of next season’s Champions League, at least.
“Can you imagine if next season Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid and so on come here?” he said. “That would be unbelievable for our fans and for everybody. The owner [the Thai businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha] said step by step we will get there and be ready to fight the big teams. Of course next season if we achieve this, we will fight against everybody.”
The Italian warned, however, that although the future is bright, there will be hard times, too. “We must understand very well that this year is a strange year,” he said. “The next year you have to restart. Next year we will have to work harder because what is happening this year cannot always happen.”
