Leicester City FC finally did the impossible. The club won the English Premier League for the first time ever in their 136 year...
Leicester City FC finally did the
impossible. The club won the English Premier League for the first time ever in
their 136 years of existence!
The story of Leicester City FC coming from the bottom
of the League One (England’s third league) to win the elite top EPL is one
epics are made of. Already, there are talks of a Hollywood movie (I'd suggest Drake's "Started From The Bottom" as the soundtrack), book and
other spin-offs to be made based on the extraordinary grass to grace stories
of Leicester
City, the coach (Claudio Ranieri) and the individual players…
This Leicester story is one that
is filled with so many life lessons: from the doggedness of the team, the
never-say-die spirit of individual players, the belief of the owners, to the
focus and resilience of the coach. Here are five things we all can use in our
day-to-day lives:
1. Do Not Expect Everyone To Believe In You,
Even When You’re Halfway Through:
Leicester had been on top of the league
since January. They had only lost 3 games even at that time. And even at that, only
few people (Leicester supporters inclusive) truly believed they would go all
the way. Reason? Leicester City is an underdog football club - They narrowly missed
relegation last season, and it has never been heard of that a club as lowly as
Leicester City would go on to win one of Europe's most prestigious league; especially with a
crop of players that weren’t "top class". Even when they were leading the table
with as much as 10points, most football pundits were still plotting their fall.
“They won’t hold up for long. They can’t keep up with the pressure” They said.
The irony of this is that, if it had been one of the regular teams like Chelsea
or Man Utd that had been in that position, everyone would have given them the
league even with Tottenham that close by.
MORAL: Never let anyone belittle your ambition
with the “it had never been done” talk.
2. Never Lose Focus. Make Use Of Any
Opportunity Life Gives You:
Despite the fact that most people were doubting
their title credibility, the Leicester City players and manager never let up. It was
as if these doubts were fuelling their determination to prove everyone wrong. Yes,
the other big teams failed to show up this season but Leicester were not the
only team that could have seized the opportunity. Tottenham, Arsenal, West ham,
Watford, Southampton and even Swansea could have seized it but Leicester made
the best use of a once in a lifetime chance. And they achieved the crown
through sheer willpower and focus. They took it one game at a time and refused
to get derailed. They didn’t let the naysayers get to them. In games they were
losing, they always rallied back to at least get a
draw. They put on the champions spirit when the opportunity showed itself.
They already carried themselves as champions even before they were officially
champions!
3. Don’t Bother About The Resources Of Your
Competitors. Focus On The Passion Of Your Heart:
The late football legend,
Johan Cruyff once said:
"Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a
bag of money score a goal.”
Leicester City personified this comment!
Leicester City's starting eleven combined costs just a little over 54million pounds - the
price of just one player at Man City
(Kevin De Bruyne)! Ulloa is Leicester’s most expensive player and he cost them
just 10million pound!
One thing the Leicester players proved was that: team spirit,
drive, consistent hardwork and natural skill/talent; not necessarily money, win trophies. Take Riyad Mahrez who was voted PFA player of the year, he cost Leicester
just 400,000 pounds but after one season of showing the stuff he’s made of, he is
now worth 35million pounds! Same with 23-goal top striker, Jamie Vardy who set
Leicester back by just 1million pound but is now valued at 25million pounds! In fact
Leicester is made up of a mish-mash of rejects and surplus from other teams;
players who, until this season when they were given a chance to show their
skill, would never have made football headlines anywhere!
4. Fall Seven Times. Get Up Eight Times!
The
whole of Leicester City FC –from the management to the players – exemplify this
saying. As pointed out earlier, they all have a story of being rejected or being
dismissed as surplus to requirement in their former clubs. Vardy is one good
example of this; He went through a lot of disappointments and had to take
up extra jobs just to sustain his dream of playing football. The coach, Claudio Ranieri,
was sacked from Chelsea in 2004 by Abrahamovich with the Chelsea owner saying, “Ranieri
would never win anything”. He went on to coach other top teams but met with
disappointments there too. When he came to England to coach "small team" Leicester City,
a top football expert commented that Ranieri was brave to show his face in the English coaching
scene again after his disastrous stint with the Greece National team.
5. When
You Do The Impossible, Everyone - Even Your Adversaries - Cheer You On
Everyone loves a success story; especially a
dramatic one such as Leicester City’s. The whole world would stop for you. Your
name and story would make headlines in places you didn’t even know existed! Immediately
Hazard scored that equalising goal against Tottenham that confirmed Leicester
as champions, the whole world – as evidenced by social media – celebrated with
them, even people who were not football followers.
Leicester’s win was a
message to all underdogs with big, unseeming dreams, – You can do it! Impossible is nothing!
