A sigh of relief - Leicester City’s epic 2016 Premier League triumph needs no rewrite
Yesterday was the 7th anniversary of Leicester City’s momentous 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium - the one when, for anyone joining late in the game, Robert Huth was on a hat-trick.
The Premier League marked the occasion by charging Manchester City with a vast series of offences dating back years.
A tale of two Cities
Seeing 2015/16 among the list brought a familiar sense of relief that Leicester got over the line that season. It was a yawning ten-point gap by the time the final ball was kicked but there had been nerves before that point.
Specifically, seeing as there’s been talk of having to rewrite the last decade of Premier League history, let’s be thankful of one year in particular that will never require an asterisk at the top of the table.
Imagine if we’d missed out by a point.
Manchester City may not have ended up being one of the horses in the race (were there two - or was it three?) but they were certainly part of the conversation for a long time - a win on 6th February 2016 would have taken them level on points at the top with us.
Not only were they beaten that afternoon - they were beaten in the following game by Tottenham and the one after that by Liverpool. So it was that Manchester City suffered as many Premier League defeats in three games as Leicester did all season.
Kevin De Bruyne missed each one of those matches and more, having torn ankle and knee ligaments in January’s League Cup semi-final. At the time there was something of a narrative that his loss had cost them dearly. Now you look back at what the real cost was - however they came by the money to do it, signing him cost £54million. And that was a drop in the ocean of their spending.
No rewrite required for us though. And breathe.
Rage against the machine
The news of the charges felt a bit like vindication for the long-held belief that Manchester City isn’t a real club any more. As evidenced when Riyad Mahrez swapped one City for another and when they were linked with James Maddison last week, it doesn’t feel as bad when one of your players goes there - or may be about to.
The idea of Maddison going to Newcastle is unpalatable for many Leicester fans but Manchester City is a more understandable destination. There’s a feeling Maddison has earned the right to learn under Pep Guardiola, play through balls to Erling Haaland and swap fashion tips with Jack Grealish.
The reason Manchester City is more palatable is because it’s a machine more than a football club. It doesn’t arouse emotions and even when it does and you get one of the most amazing moments in the history of English football, it turns out it was probably a sham all along and they weren’t even playing by the rules. It makes you wonder if anyone actually is.
Manchester City’s current incarnation came along at a time when everyone was used to the idea of financial doping because of Chelsea and on the scale of how bad your owners might be, they somehow registered below ‘friend of Putin’ or however you might want to categorise Newcastle’s current ownership.
Nonetheless, the Premier League’s statement was a reminder that, for any fans of other clubs in the vicinity thinking their own achievements could be compared to 2016, this was a team that didn’t just beat one or two big clubs to the title - it also beat the club that may have had to bend the rules to leapfrog all the big clubs.
Getting the buzz back
The Manchester City news feels like the wearying part of being obsessed with football. The part you wish didn’t exist but can’t really ignore. The numbers that mean most of the best players in the world come to England. The reason little old Leicester City could ever attract players like Esteban Cambiasso, Youri Tielemans or Tetê.
The latter reminded us what it’s truly all about last Saturday - and reminded us of a hero of 2016 now turning out for the machine.
It wasn’t necessarily Tetê’s goal against Aston Villa that brought back the strongest memories of Riyad Mahrez.
It was more that magnificent first touch from a ball dropping out of the second city sky. It was the way that, when faced with two defenders forty yards from goal, he ended up somehow weaving his way between them to shoot from twenty. It was the reminder of that feeling of a player who can create something from nothing.
We’ve got others who can do that, of course, but nobody has since reminded us of Mahrez quite like you got a flashback to N’Golo Kante’s best work when Wilfred Ndidi first stuck out a leg to intercept and set us on the attack or Patson Daka pulled out Vardy-like acceleration to fire four in Moscow.
Neither was it just Tetê’s first touch or the way he wriggled past a couple of opposition players that brought memories of the title-winning season. It was that overall feeling of the buzz coming back.
Whatever happens this weekend or for the rest of a challenging month, you got the sense watching us maraud upfield at Villa Park that Leicester City are finally on the right track again. We won’t be repeating the glory of 2016 any time soon but it was a reminder that football can be fun.
It’s always best when our own club does something that reminds us of the highest high of all.
