Before Jamie Vardy’s first-leg goal they seemed down and out but Craig Shakespeare’s side now look equipped to give their opponents a proper gameOn the face of it not much has changed. In fact the Leicester team who start against Sevilla at home will probably show only one difference from the XI who lined up in Spain, with Shinji Okazaki picked ahead of Ahmed Musa. There is, however, a new manager in the home dugout and Leicester have been transformed as a result. Whether that is down to the players wanting to prove a point post‑Claudio Ranieri, or Shakespeare making one of his own with small but significant team and tactical alterations, is a matter of debate, but there is no doubt...
Hull’s Harry Maguire is dreaming of England, Spurs are better placed than ever to best Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal and Aitor Karanka continues to divide opinionThe Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos In a cartoon history of Arsenal’s ongoing run of springtime top-four escapology acts – the battle, above all, to stay ahead of Spurs – Arsène Wenger would probably be depicted right now wriggling furiously inside a sealed lead trunk, still rattling his padlocks but descending towards the seabed. Tottenham are six points ahead of Arsenal with 11 games to play, to Arsenal’s 12. Tighter spots have been negotiated. But as Spurs beat Everton to take their half of the weekend’s London-Merseyside derby exchange it was hard to avoid...
Leicester’s sacking of their title-winning manager follows a pattern of leaders achieving glory after loosening an iron grip before disappointment follows“However much you liked it,” a former Manchester City director once said, “you wouldn’t put the man who runs your corner shop in charge of a multinational.” He was explaining his belief that City should have replaced Joe Royle as soon as he had led City to promotion, but his argument has more general application.It is an awkward truth because it does not fit with the comfortably meritocratic notion that you can work your way up from the bottom. Nor does it fit with the manager-as-messiah image that still dominates the English conception of the role. There is a sense...
After Chelsea last season, Leicester City’s players are the latest to be accused of lengthy bouts of not trying, even if this concept seems a little outdated when applied to the Premier League in 2017I don’t know if you’ve ever been stopped in the street by Scientologists – I tend merely to get legal letters from them – but they are often wielding a distinctive piece of kit. This thing is an e-meter, and they would very much like to hook you up to it. What is an e-meter? An e-meter is a Hubbard electro-psychometer, popularised (though not invented) by Scientology’s founder, L Ron Hubbard.But what REALLY is an e-meter? Under the bonnet, the device is a ridiculously crude lie...
Leicester City’s long-serving Craig Shakespeare finally had his day in the sun and helped to steer Claudio Ranieri’s former strugglers to a 3-1 win over LiverpoolA giant “Forever Fearless” banner was passed around the King Power Stadium, the word Forever having been added to the official one‑word motto that Leicester adopted throughout their title-winning campaign. After last week’s decision to fire the man who led that incredible charge, the Foxes could also have proclaimed that they are now indisputably ruthless, too. And shameless.The death of romance? Not according to the club vice-chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who used his programme notes for the first match since the ousting of dear Claudio Ranieri to suggest that it was a sacrifice driven by a...