Claudio Calm As Foxes Flourish

- Claudio Ranieri urges Premier League leaders Leicester City to keep their cool
- The Foxes are five points clear at the top of the table
- Ranieri says his players coped with greater pressure in last season’s relegation battle
- City boss wants players to enjoy their position, with Premier League status secure
When you’ve spent much of 2015 coping with pressure, setting the pace in the Barclays Premier League should be an adventure to enjoy.
Claudio Ranieri thinks so. So when asked frequently whether his swashbuckling Leicester City side could stand the top-of-the-table heat after their latest victory – a comprehensive, head-turning 3-1 win at Manchester City – the Italian didn’t appear overly concerned.
The Foxes are five points clear at the summit with 13 games of the season remaining and building considerable momentum ahead of Sunday’s trip to third-placed Arsenal.
But while the watching world continues to be absorbed by Leicester’s improbable rise from relegation certainties last term to league leaders this, how City might cope with the pressure of leading from the front remains a regular question for Ranieri to field.
“Last season was a big pressure for them,” he said. “Now they have to smell what the pressure was like last season and stay calm.
“For us it’s important to be concentrated with our feet on the ground. For the first time for a lot of them, they are doing something special. Don’t look behind you. It’s like a climber, it’s important to keep looking up.
“For Leicester, the pressure was at the beginning when we started, because our goal was to stay in the Premier League. Now the pressure is on the teams that have spent a lot of money to win the league, to win the Champions League.
“Now we are enjoying it.”
Central to City’s rise up the Premier League table has been the unbreakable spirit that exists between the players – a bond their manager has regularly compared to a brotherhood.
And Ranieri feels the shared experience of last season, where the Foxes produced the greatest escape from relegation the Premier League has ever seen, makes it a bond like no other.
“I think the pressure was bigger last season because if you don’t survive you go down and it’s not easy to come back up. That’s helped their spirit,” he said.
“I love this kind of spirit, but it’s inside my players. I want this kind of spirit, but if you don’t have it you can’t give it to me. For me it’s important to link this spirit together.”