How the Impossible Happened
2016 is rightfully regarded as maybe the greatest year in sports history. Even with all the great stories in sports, no story was greater than what happened in the Premier League. Despite 5000-1 odds, despite a roster that was worth less than 1% of the biggest clubs, despite only being promoted 2 seasons ago and nearly getting relegated the previous season, Leicester City won the Premier League. As more time passes, the more it looks like this kind of event will never happen again which only adds to the legend. The obvious question is how did they do it?
I think it’s equally important to remember the tactical culture around the sport at the time. We weren’t far removed from Tiki-Taka dominance. The belief that came from that was simple: you pretty much always win as long as you had the most possession. Leicester’s new manager Claudio Ranieri spit in the face of this idea. He ran his team in old-school 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1 formations where his team almost always had less possession than their opponent. They averaged 43% in the 2015-16 Premier League season, which ranked 18th. Despite that, they conceded the 3rd least amount of goals. How is that possible?
In the back, Ranieri had some underrated pieces, most notably, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, son of legendary goalkeeper Petr Schmeichel. Kasper is one of the most underrated goalkeepers of his generation. From 2014-2022, only 3 Premier League goalkeepers had more clean sheets than Schmeichel. In 2015-16, Schmeichel finished 2nd in clean sheets and really came into his own in the 2nd half of the season, racking up the vast majority of his clean sheets and helping Leicester hang onto their lead down the stretch. He and their massive centrbacks made them a wall.
Don’t think this team was just a boring defensive group, Leicester also finished 2nd in goals scored and 2 players are responsible for this. First, there is Riyad Mahrez, a skinny, speedy and skilled Algerian winger and Jamie Vardy, the speedy, ruthless and Mr. Chat-shit Get-banged. These 2 become the deadliest attacking duo. Mahrez and Vardy combined for 58 goals and assists which made up more than half of Leicester’s goals and assists. Vardy even broke the record for most consecutive games with a goal in the Premier League, a record previously held by legendary Man United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Going from rock solid defense to lighting quick attack requires an excellent transition game and we get to the most important piece of the puzzle: the midfield. It was mainly comprised of 2 players. Less notably, they had Danny Drinkwater. His role was as an initiator for the attack. With how little possession they had, it was up to him to get the attack going and get it going quickly which he was very good at. The other part of this midfield was N’golo Kante. A guy that was mistaken for a child when he first arrived in Leicester, became the best midfielder in the Prem. Seemingly never running out of energy and winning back the ball constantly. Those 2 made Leicester’s game work and every player made them champions.
It’s been almost a decade since this achievement, every player that played a key role in this miracle has left the club. Mahrez, Kante and Vardy became world class players, Schmeichel and Drinkwater found new challenges and others either retired with the club or watched their career wind down. What everyone, from players to coaches accomplished is nothing short of incredible. Still, there is 1 more important character I have not mentioned.
At the time, Leicester City was owned by Thai businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. Usually I would argue that an owner does nothing more than write cheques and take credit they do not deserve. However, Vichai is an exception. According to Kasper Schmeichel, Vichai played a big role in maintaining their momentum throughout the season by treating them like a pub team. After every game, win, draw or lose, Vichai would treat the team to dinner and a good time, all on his dime. Kasper credited it with keeping the group tightly knit and making sure they never got too down on themselves. His leadership and kindness was partially fuelled by revenge.
Before becoming the owner of Leicester City, Vichai was a supporter of Chelsea. His company ‘King Power’ even became one of their sponsors. During a 2005 match that he attended, a security guard hit him in the face with a metal detection wand. The guard blamed Vichai and it quickly devolved into a heated argument. Vichai’s son had to break it up. While the incident had passed, Vichai was furious. He felt disrespected as both a guest and supporter of the club. He stopped supporting Chelsea after that and told his son “Someday, we will buy a football team that will compete with Chelsea!”
5 years later, he bought Leicester City, the rest is history.
