Ranieri: It’s Important To Understand My Team

- The Foxes boss believes he must find the best solution for his players

- City face Southampton in the Barclays Premier League at King Power Stadium on Sunday 

Ahead of Sunday’s Barclays Premier League fixture against Southampton, Claudio Ranieri explained how important it has been for him to understand his players this campaign. 

Ranieri’s men have taken the footballing world by storm this season, surpassing all expectations to currently sit five points clear at the top of the table with just seven games to play. 

And while the Club’s stars will have had to adapt to Ranieri’s style of management, the City boss has too had to find the winning formula for his set of players. 

“Football is open,” Ranieri said. “It’s not only keeping possession of the ball or making more accurate passes. We made so many mistakes because we play 100mph. It’s difficult to play 100mph – you can make mistakes. 

“It’s not important when you make mistakes. It’s important how many chances you create and how many goals you score. That’s the philosophy. 

“It’s important to find the best solution for your players. That is my idea about football. I want to keep possession of the ball, but if my players don’t love to keep possession, why I have to put them under pressure? 

“I love to play on the counter attack, but if I don’t have players who can play on the counter attack, why would I play on the counter attack? It’s important to understand what your team can do and you give to them your best solution.” 

Arriving at King Power Stadium on Sunday will be a Southampton side aiming to close the gap on the top four, which currently stands at four points. 

They possess a forward line that has the potential to cause plenty of threat given they recovered from two goals down to beat Liverpool 3-2 with a late onslaught at St. Mary’s Stadium last time out. 

Ranieri added: “They want to fight to achieve the Europe cup. It’s a very good team. [Graziano] Pelle in front – [Shane] Long, [Sadio] Mane, [Dusan] Tadic. We conceded two goals from the first match from corners. 

“They are taller than us. It will be a difficult match. I hope with our support it will help us during all the match so we can do a good performance.”