” 1 Gareth Southgate England Under-21 boss Gareth Southgate has told his young stars they don’t have to leave their parent clubs to play under him. Tottenham starlet Tom Carroll recently dropped down to the Championship to join QPR on a short-term loan in a bid to impress Andre Villas-Boas.
Meanwhile, Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha has yet to feature this term under David Moyes, while Saido Berahino, who scored the Under-21s’ winning goal against Moldova on Thursday, faces stiff competition for places at West Brom. Southgate, though, has informed his players that a lack of first-team football at club level won’t necessarily impede their chances of representing their country. He said: “It’s always an issue for young players.
It’s a gamble for first-team managers to put players in. That’s never changed. “But if their football is with us, then it’s more important to them when they come with us. We’re here to help their development as much as the clubs are.” ” ” 1 Read how Claudio Ranieri transformed both Leicester City and his own reputation This feature appears in the current edition of Sport magazine, the free weekly publication packed with fantastic stuff for all sports fans.
Download the free iPad app here and follow them on Twitter @SportMagUK. They are also on Facebook.www 1xbet.com Gary Lineker, as shrewd and as passionate a Leicester supporter as you will find, summed it up in July 2015 when the club announced its latest managerial appointment. “Claudio Ranieri?
Really?” he tweeted, before going on to call it “an uninspiring choice”. We’re not trying to throw Lineker under the bus here. Media outlets, football pundits and those rarely wrong bookmakers all had a similar reaction. Leicester looked doomed. However mind-blowingly incorrect it has ultimately proved, it’s an entirely reasonable reaction, even in hindsight.
Not because Ranieri was some hapless chump. You do not manage the likes of Napoli, Valencia, Chelsea, Juventus and Roma competently (if not quite to ultimate success) without being a skilled manager. But this appointment had the hallmarks of a square peg being forced into a round hole. Ranieri’s CV provided ample evidence that he could handle big European clubs okay.
But nothing to suggest he was the man to take on a Premier League relegation dogfight. But it turns out Ranieri was not here to take on a relegation scrap after all; he was going to take Leicester to the end of the league table where he did have extensive experience.
MR CHARISMA “His charisma and his experience,” said Frank Lampard when Sport asked him to pick out the Italian’s key qualities last month. “There are some managers who are particularly technical and there are some who are charismatic and are ‘players’ managers’; they galvanise individuals. I think that’s what he’s done. “He’s been very smart – I don’t think he’s changed that much.
They finished last season really well; he’s added a bit to it and a couple of players. But, other than that, he’s encouraged them to carry on. That’s a sign of his experience and intelligence.” Lampard still feels a loyalty to the manager who was in charge when he signed for Chelsea in 2001. “He was fantastic – a huge turning point in my career,” said the midfielder. This is reinforced by our conversation with Leicester winger Jeffrey Schlupp last October.
He told us how brilliant “nice guy” Ranieri was. “He’s given everyone that confidence to show we are a really good side,” added Schlupp prophetically. This February, Leicester full-back Danny Simpson echoed Lampard’s words about Ranieri not trying to fix what was not broken. “Generally he’s kept the way we were going in terms of the weekly plan and the schedule…” said Simpson. “He had his way he wanted us to play, and he brought that in. But the aim was just to survive.
Anything else was a bonus.” There are other tales – such as how Ranieri turned up to Christian Fuchs’ surprise birthday party a day early to the confusion of all involved, then returned on the right day and happily socialised with his players as they enjoyed a drink – that illustrate why the Italian is so beloved. But it’s not true to say he’s offered only pizza and personal charm to improve the side.
TACTICAL TURNAROUND For a start, the 64-year-old Ranieri switched from the back three used by Nigel Pearson towards the end of last season to a traditional back four. Instead of using wing-backs, Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton have generally been asked to take the right and left-flank positions, to the enhancement of both players. New signing N’Golo Kante has been a revelation, while Danny Drinkwater has been a crucial midfield cog rather than the bit-part player he was under Pearson.
So Ranieri has altered things, but it’s to his credit that he’s tweaked them so subtly that many have assumed he’s barely done anything. Indeed, the boss once labelled the ‘Tinkerman’ has made fewer changes than any other manager in the Premier League this season.https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/দিয়েগো_মারাদোনা There are a multitude of reasons for this.
Leicester have largely been free of major injury concerns, and haven’t had European football or extended domestic cup runs cluttering their schedule. Yet there does seem a conscious change of tack from Ranieri, too. Here’s a manager who, despite a few cup successes, was formerly famous for getting agonisingly close to league titles and major trophies without ever taking home the big kahuna. This year has been gloriously different.
Perhaps it’s the accumulated experience of 30 years’ management (he started his career at Italian amateur side Lametini in 1986). Maybe it’s the lack of pressure – knowing that, even had his side fallen at the last, he’d have surpassed expectations this season – but Ranieri has appeared calmer and more assured as the campaign has gone on.
Protecting his side from title talk by charming the press with humour and distraction, the genial Ranieri has cunningly acted as a shield for pressure. His Leicester team have showcased varying qualities. Early on, they attacked with verve but were shaky at the back.
They netted 11 goals in their first five league matches, but failed to keep a clean sheet until late October. Yet from late February to early April, Leicester won five out of six matches via the old Italian staple of 1-0. Ranieri has not put a foot wrong all season. For this manager – who as recently as 2014 oversaw the Greek national side lose to the Faroe Islands – turning Leicester into England’s most unlikely champions is a story of professional redemption and personal triumph. “
