Claudio Ranieri deserves greater credit for Leicester rise, says Roberto Martínez
• Everton manager praises Italian’s composure and confidence
• Martínez says Lukaku-Deulofeu partnership will test league leaders
Leicester’s Claudio Ranieri has been applauded by his Everton counterpart Roberto Martínez for the Foxes’ rise.
Roberto Martínez has said Claudio Ranieri has not been given the credit he deserves for building the winning mentality behind Leicester City’s rise to the Premier League summit.
Everton host the surprise leaders on Saturday with Martínez adamant Leicester are title contenders because of the “powerful momentum” generated from 10 wins in 16 league games. Although Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have dominated the headlines, the Everton manager believes Ranieri’s influence since replacing Nigel Pearson in the summer has been overlooked.
Martínez described Leicester as “the best counterattacking team in the Premier League” but identified the composure and confidence the veteran Italian has instilled as the key factor in their elevation.
“Remember Leicester were effectively relegated a year ago,” Martínez said. “The mentality in the dressing room in the Premier League is the hardest thing to work on. You saw that with Sunderland, I had it with Wigan. You get through a relegation battle and then you start afresh. Then you get a defeat, a bad moment and it is very hard to keep that feeling of positivity.
“What Leicester have achieved from being ‘relegated’ before Christmas to avoiding relegation in May to being top of the league in December is incredible. Ranieri is someone who gives a very calm message all the time and has faith in what he believes in. The team are playing like that. Forget how they play tactically – it is just the mentality of that group. Ranieri deserves incredible credit for that and, 100%, has not been given the credit he deserves.”
Leicester will be without the suspended Robert Huth and the injured Danny Drinkwater against Everton, who will be seeking their first win in four league matches. Martínez’s designs on Champions League qualification have been undermined by consecutive draws against Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Norwich City but he believes the flourishing partnership between Romelu Lukaku and Gerard Deulofeu will test the Premier League leaders.
Deulofeu has created eight of Lukaku’s 15 goals this season, with the Belgium international having scored in his past six league outings.
Martínez said: “Rom knows that if he makes a run the ball is going to come from Gerard. Also, Gerard is going to look for Rom because he knows he’s going to make that run. It’s levels of intelligence and talent that allows you to develop a partnership. I think we have that with Ross [Barkley] as well. There’s some sort of chemistry between him, Rom and Gerry that I don’t think starts from a human point of view.
“With Rom and Gerry, they knew from day one in training that they were in the same way of thinking. But, if you look at the amount of chances we’ve created, it’s not just those two. Obviously, opponents will start trying to stop those two but that leaves spaces open for others, so we are quite aware of what the opposition is trying to do because other players will benefit.
“Last year, most of the teams were concentrating on Ross and I think that’s opened space for Gerry this season. It’s very difficult to stop everything, which is why we are so strong going forward because it’s not just one option or one partnership.”
