Former Wards Decode Leicester Boss Ranieri’s Success Formula

Three of Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri’s former players from Chelsea decode his successful run.

File picture of Claudio Ranieri. (Photo: Reuters)

Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City were 5,000-1 outsiders to win the Premier League at the start of the season but, with just over two months of action left in the league, they hold a two-point lead at the top of the table.

Ranieri is sparking a remarkable turnaround in Leicester‘s fortunes and Reuters has asked three players who worked under him during a previous Premier League stint at Chelsea from 2000-04 to offer an insight into the Italian coach’s methods.

What Was it Like to Work With Ranieri?

A player’s fitness is important to Ranieri because he wants to make sure you can handle the game at your best and that you can focus until the end. He hates players that get tired and make silly mistakes. He’s a real winner. He’ll make sure you know every game in training counts so you take the winning momentum into the game on a Saturday

Mario Melchiot, Former Netherlands Defender (made 165 appearances for Chelsea between 1999-2004).

File picture of Mario Melchiot (L) and John Terry during a training session for Chelsea in Kuala Lumpur on July 23, 2003. (Photo: Reuters)

He was the manager who signed me. To work with him was a great experience, he was like a father to me. He was very demanding in training. He made sure he pushed us. He wasn’t easy to work for. Footballers always complain when managers push them but it’s important to work hard. When you train hard you are less exposed to injuries.

Geremi, Former Cameroon Midfielder (made 109 appearances for Chelsea between 2003-07)

He is a typical Italian coach who likes a lot of physical work, work on team shape and long training sessions. A lot of things are down to power and you can see that in the way Leicester are playing, they run a lot, they work hard and that’s what gets them results.

Ed de Goey, Former Netherlands Goalkeeper (made 179 appearances for Chelsea between 1997-2003)

File photo of former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri (C) with Geremi of Cameroon(L), at Stamford Bridge in London, August 1, 2003. (Photo: Reuters)

What are Ranieri’s Best Qualities as a Coach?

He knows how to press opposition teams like no one else. You’ll know how to defend as a team better than you knew before. Everyone needs to help everyone else, if not he’ll take you out of the team.

Mario Melchiot, Former Netherlands Defender (made 165 appearances for Chelsea between 1999-2004).

He’s one of the best managers. He likes discipline too. The players at Chelsea didn’t like the way he rotated the team but the squad was big with a lot of good players. If you see the squad now at Leicester, it’s not as good as our one was. He had to manage the situation at Chelsea, keep most of the players happy and keep getting results.

Geremi, Former Cameroon Midfielder (made 109 appearances for Chelsea between 2003-07)

He can adapt very well to opponents. He knows all their strengths and weaknesses, that’s one of his strong points, but the team meetings sometimes used to be quite long at Chelsea because his English wasn’t the best then.

Ed de Goey, Former Netherlands Goalkeeper (made 179 appearances for Chelsea between 1997-2003)

File photo of Liverpool’s Michael Owen scoring past Chelsea’s Dutch goalkeeper Ed de Goey in their premier league match. (Photo: Reuters)

Why do You Think Ranieri is Doing so well at Leicester?

Deep down he wants to win the league badly and I’m sure the players know that too. But he won’t let the media know it and that keeps the pressure off the players. In his last season at Chelsea we came second in the league. We were so close and I’m sure he doesn’t want that to happen again.

Mario Melchiot, Former Netherlands Defender (made 165 appearances for Chelsea between 1999-2004).

At the start everyone said Leicester would get tired, they would start to lose, but they have an experienced manager who knows they have history to write. He won’t panic in this situation, he’ll know what to say, how to handle the squad. If he was a young manager he might be in trouble. I know he will be thinking of winning the league. They just have to believe they can win it.

Geremi, Former Cameroon Midfielder (made 109 appearances for Chelsea between 2003-07)

Hard work is always the key to success. Nobody expected this from Leicester, they expected this from Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur. Now we have to wait and see how far they can go. It could depend on injuries and suspensions because if anything happens to Mahrez and Vardy they will miss their quality.

Ed de Goey, Former Netherlands Goalkeeper (made 179 appearances for Chelsea between 1997-2003)