Share

Reality hits home for unfancied EPL champs

accreditation
Mike Phelan, caretaker manager of Hull City. Picture: Alex Morton / Getty Images
Mike Phelan, caretaker manager of Hull City. Picture: Alex Morton / Getty Images

When Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri said – ahead of the start of the new English Premier League (EPL) season – that ET was more likely to land at Piccadilly Circus than his team was to clinch the title again, the Italian obviously knew what he was talking about.

Going into their opening match at Hull, the reigning league champions managed to hold on to all their major players, bar N’Golo Kanté, who joined Chelsea. The team, which was also strengthened by the signing-up of Nigerian forward Ahmed Musa, faced a newly promoted Hull City that was in complete disarray.

The latter’s caretaker manager, Mike Phelan, had to stock the bench with two teenagers and two 20-year-olds, none of whom had played a single minute of a Premier League game before.

In fact, the situation at the Tigers during pre-season was so dire that Curtis Davies, one of the more experienced players in the side, tweeted a team photo from the training camp in Austria captioned: “Hull City squad 2016/7 #TheBigLeague”. It showed the veteran defender with just eight team-mates!

At the end of the 90 minutes, though, it was the complete underdog that scored the first three points on the board. This heralded a disappointing loss at the start of the season for the champions, who last year tasted defeat for the first time only in their seventh match, when they were trounced 5-2 by Arsenal.

Of course, it is much too early to make any definitive predictions for the rest of the season, but there is much to suggest that Ranieri’s statement will not only prove correct, but could quite easily be extended to mean not only Leicester literally, but also that a small club like the Foxes ever winning the league title again is highly unlikely.

That, in turn, will come as good news for the big four (Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea) – or possibly the big five (including Tottenham Hotspur) – which, over the years, have shamelessly shared most of the EPL’s rich pickings.

To ensure that the title triumph of a team such as Leicester City remains a once-off, the biggest clubs – apart from Arsenal – have invested heavily in players or in new coaches.

Not surprisingly, United turned to the manager who gave them the biggest headache as an opponent. In the 12 years that he has coached at the highest level, José Mourinho, formerly of Chelsea, has been the Red Devils’ nemesis.

Starting with the famous 2-1 victory with Porto in the 2003/4 Champions League and ending with Chelsea’s 1-0 league victory in April last year, the “Special One” has ended up on the losing side against United just twice in 20 matches.

He is adamant, though, that his record against the club had done nothing to compromise his relationship with United fans. “Even as an opponent, I could create a good relationship with the fans. I never had problems and I have not always behaved in the best way,” he said, referring to his extravagant celebrations when a late equaliser by now retired Portuguese player Costinha saw Porto go through in the return leg with United.

“I always tried to be nice and have a relationship with the fans at Old Trafford. This time I go and for the first time I can do what I never did, which is to ask for their support,” he said.

“I always play against them and this time they are on my side.”

The one club that could break into the big five is Liverpool, whose glory days are so far gone that many of the Anfield faithful can no longer recall them. Although Jürgen Klopp has been at the club for only a few months, he has not only won over the fans, but has managed something of a turn-around in fortunes.

Were Liverpool to manage to launch a serious title challenge, it would not come as a huge surprise, as the club has always been – at worst – on the fringes of the big boys’ club.

For any other team, it will be extremely difficult to gain entry into the exclusive group, and many football fans are indeed more likely to enjoy a beer with ET in London than see their middling side graduate to the upper echelons of English football.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
21% - 103 votes
No
79% - 394 votes
Vote