Ranieri – Manager of month ?

The appointment of Raineri was mocked and questioned as he failed to deliver at his first attempt for an international outfit losing 4 and drawing 1 of his 5 as Greece’s manager.Though he has managed sides like Chelsea, Valencia, Juventus, Napoli, Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid, Roma and Internazionale but has only two domestic trophies and no Top league titles to show. With Leciester now placed at 3rd on table after 3 Match weeks he is on a run to be ” Manager of the Month” for the first Month of the new season.

He had decent win ratios with most of his clubs but still Ranieri was viewed as an underachiever, “a nearly man”. His calm and lenient personality seemed too drastic, after departure from Pearson’s attitude which was aggressive at times last season and helped the side to survive at the end. Ranieri could never emulate that aggressive style. But looking at the current scenario after just three matches of the new season, it’s totally premature to assume anything but Leicester have started without worrying about survival and given a solid base future journey in PL, answering many critics who earlier thought they were destined for relegation spots.

Ranieri has seen his team go unbeaten in the Premier League so far this season. On Tuesday night they won their first Capital One Cup campaign  match against League One Bury (4-1). Ranieri  revealed before the game he’ll be making ELEVEN changes from the line up he’s used in all 3 PL games.

Ranieri said “Now I change everything, now I am the true Tinkerman.”

On a great start to the season he said  “It is a dream and the dream helps you to live.” Survival with 40 points is still his priority despite their fine start. “I am a little surprised but I know the players work very well,” he admitted.

Few surprising facts :-

1. Leicester have had the lowest amount of possession on average this season with 37.1%

2. They have the worst pass accuracy 69.1%  in this campaign

But Leciester is only second to Manchester city in number of counter attacking attempts in the last 10 odds game of the Premier League inclusive  of the last 7 fixtures of the 14-15 campaign.

STRATEGY PAID OFF -Ranieri didn’t change the starting team in  first three games of the season. He successfully implemented a 4-4-2 formation which failed last season drastically with Pearson. They lost 11 with that formation during the last campaign. They played 3 men defense but Ranieri’s decision to dilute that approach has paid off. The number chances at goal has increased as compared to the last 3 games of their previous campaigns. Scoring 7 goals in the first three game is more than what fans even thought off.

Moreover their wingers, who have synced in well and have been very effective on breaks and make dangerous counter attacks .Riyad Mahrez is undoubtedly the best player so far this season. He has 4 goals already to his name equaling his last season’s tally. He was also awarded man of the match in all three games so far, having received just two in 2014-15. His development has been exponential under Ranieri and Mahrez has credited his success to Claudio for the same. Marc Albrighton has been exceptional on the opposite flank  His impact on the team has been quite remarkable , tireless attitude and high pressing has been key to his game.

RAY OF HOPE- They have only 1 fixture in the next 10 Premier League fixtures against a side from last season’s top six ,that is against Arsenal, hence they can continue there dream forward and cause more upsets .