Can Leicester City fight for the Champions League?

Can the Foxes become a big name in Europe?

Ndidi says indeed!

Since Claudio Ranieri’s remarkable season win back in 2016, the Foxes have seen themselves slide down into consistent mid-table finishes, where not much has been achieved except only being good enough to avoid the relegation drop!  Fortunately, they managed to survive after lingering above it for the majority of the 2016/2017 season. They did, however, have a decent run in the Champions League and it was their comeback in the last 16 tie against Sevilla, turning round a 2-1 defeat in March of that campaign that gave a little more time for Ranieri to hold on to his job. Nothing much changed in such a short amount of time after that ridiculous, almost impossible title win except from perhaps the mentality of the players. Since August 2016 could one say that since things refreshed and went back into the usual rhythm, the pressure of winning games got to the players? Undoubtedly, some form of pressure mounted up and they experienced it like never before. There has also been a failure on the management side of things to replace the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Ngolo Kante, although Wilfred Ndidi does find himself in great spirits following the departure of the latter. Kasper Schmeichel stated on the Peter Crouch podcast that the consistency kept on rolling in throughout the 2015-2016 season due to their being little pressure on the players to deliver. 

As harsh as it sounds, the lifting of the Premier League trophy in the manner that they did without anyone expecting them, the bookies putting them at 5000-1 before a ball was even kicked, with every Leicester fan being content with merely staying in the league - the board went on record to say the sacking of Ranieri following his quarter-final defeat to Athletico Madrid was due to saving themselves from relegation and the ‘consequences’ that would have followed. Then came along Craig Shakespeare whose tenure lasted a matter of months. He was then replaced by Claude Puel, who gave a good couple of years’ service and offered stability for the team.  Again, another manager had to be replaced and this time it was the highly reputable Brendan Rodgers who flicked his signature on a piece of paper in February 2019. He subsequently resigned his jurisdiction, whilst being top of the league with Glasgow Celtic. Leicester have evidently improved, and are currently fighting for a top 4 place, so what does the commercial forecast, the depth in the squad, and the ambition of the club currently look after Rodgers' resurgence of the Foxes? Can they keep on progressing and fight for European and domestic glory or is it just too much to ask for a club of this size?

After losing only 4 of their last 13 games at the end of the 2016/2017 season, they pulled themselves up and finally finished in 12^th place in the league. They did this by amounting 44 points, 37 less than the title triumph previously. In the 2017/2018 campaign thereafter their win margin mirrored the previous season, getting again 12 wins out of 38 but lost 3 fewer games, drawing 11 improving on 8. This gave them a points tally of 47 and a final position of 9^th, in which they again finished for the 2018/2019 season but with 52 points, after a steady improvement after February's signing of Bredan Rodgers. At the time of writing, The Foxes, with 2 games remaining are sitting in 4^th place, and are desperately fighting to qualify for that prestigious Champions League.

Rodgers

With a quality keeper in Schmeichel along with composed and calm Johnny Evans providing a complementary duo with the more aggressive and commanding centre halve Soyuncu, along with the back-up options of Wes Morgan and Christian Fuchs, Leicester City have solid defensive options but there is still room for improvement if management feel they need to bolster the depth in this area, which seems like a good idea, especially as Morgan is now 36. In the full-back position, Ben Chilwell, with his ability on the ball, his set-piece delivery and drive going forward offers a lot of excitement, however, there is still much more depth and quality needed; Pereira is a strong option at right-back but Rodgers lacks depth here too.

In the more offensive areas, there is no question that there is a high amount of ability particularly with the youngster Youri Teilmans reaching his once described potential, James Maddison with his accuracy on the ball, Wilfred Ndidi proving to be a decent replacement for N’golo Kante shielding the midfield from any kind of threat's with his superb reading of the game; grabbing interceptions whenever he well damn feels like it! Along with Albrighton, Gray, Choudhry, and Barnes - the midfield really does look top class, whilst Brendan Rodgers may be tempted to bring in another midfielder to the squad if he is able to do so with the financial resources that he has at his disposal and if all just mentioned are likely to remain it will result in him being given extra leeway to bolster other areas of the pitch. The most crucial vision, if giving my verdict, would be finding a long-term replacement for Jamie Vardy who is proving to grow in to a world-class striker. This could well be the difference in Leicester being a big-name club in the future or not.

Jamie Vardy will be 34 at the end of next season, but the truth needs to be told here, ageism must not be a factor for the rest of his development.  It’s not only the number of goals that he can score, but it’s also what he does leading up to those goals.  He’s a team player. He is unselfish, he can run like the wind blows and has the reading of the game up to a tee! He can defend well from the front and can dribble the ball into tight positions, he's an all-round, complete striker. Even at his advancing age, Vardy can still cause many defensive problems for most oppositions in the Premier League, and can only be projected to carry on for at least a couple more years yet. It still wouldn’t do any harm in searching for a younger center forward with similar attributes to him though, and if there is mutual dressing room respect, the jovial Vardy could make a good mentor. 

Without seeing top players leave the team, particularly the likes of Maddison, Barnes, or Tielemans, and without seeing efficient back-ups come into the side, they will suffer to see out a long season of playing midweek games in Europe. Leicester City, in the status they currently find themselves in, should be seeing some ambition in return. Since they are in the form of their history and already achieving things they never thought were possible why would the players think of going elsewhere in this moment in time? This is a chance for these lads to make a name for themselves and put the East Midlands city on the map.

Now they’ve secured at least a Europa League spot, the financial gain from this would be very advantageous for the future running of the club since merely appearing in the tournament creates a high amount of revenue, without mentioning the bonuses of winning each game brings to the bank.  Even the greatest teams in the world could do with an extra player or two, but with Leicester, I think a young striker, another center half and a creative midfielder may be enough for Leicester to really look ahead and seriously think about going in to Europe and aiming to win, or perhaps some luck won’t go amiss either!

One of our writers, Callum McBain gives his verdict on their future chances.

The last time Leicester were in the Champions League, they shocked everyone and found themselves in the quarter-finals where they were eventually knocked out by the Spanish side, Atletico Madrid. On their journey though, they managed to beat Sevilla, Porto, and Club Brugge. Since then, Leicester have narrowly missed out on the Europa League spots, but now have sights of finishing in the top 4.

Leicester City were off to a flying start and finishing in the Top 4 seemed like a formality at the time with the distance they had on the chasing pack. There were talks that they could even put some pressure on Liverpool, but this seemed too good to be true. Ever since project restart, Leicester have been on the decline, whilst rivals like Manchester United have gained momentum and closed the gap to a margin of a couple of points. The two clubs go head to head on the final day of the season, which will be a decider for the final spot in the top 4 unless Chelsea slip up late on. This match will more than likely define Leicester’s European fate of Champions League or Europa League and will have a huge impact on the financial side of matters as well.

Leicester have a decent young squad with Jamie Vardy supplying the goals up top but do they have the depth to have a decent Champions League run, whilst maintaining a strong Premier League position at the same time?

My verdict is no. 

There simply isn’t enough squad depth at Leicester that can keep up in both competitions. Leicester’s first 11 is extraordinarily strong and capable, however, the players that are behind the first 11 are a huge step-down and in order to excel in both competitions, these players will have to be used frequently. In addition, if something were to happen to Jamie Vardy, Leicester would find themselves in a huge heap of trouble, as they lack a quality backup striker that will provide the goals. We believe that a Europa League finish will be the most suitable finish for Leicester as the quality of football will be of a standard where their reserve players can make an impact.

Many players are linked with a move away from Leicester as well. For example, Ben Chilwell may be heading to Chelsea and James Maddison has been on the radar for Manchester United for some time. Leicester are known for selling their best players like, Maguire, Mahrez and Kante who have gone on to bigger clubs. This trend needs to come to an end in order for Leicester to succeed on a European basis.

All in all, if Leicester do beat Manchester United or Chelsea to the Champions League places, then they need to ensure that they keep hold of their best players and invest in some squad depth for the next season. Unfortunately, this may be too much to ask and this could lead to Leicester crumbling in Europe, which might also have a detrimental effect on their league form as well.