Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri sees Serie A on the way up, identifies differences in England and puts Jose Mourinho behind him.
The former Inter, Juventus, Roma, Chelsea and many more Coach sat down with the Corriere dello Sport newspaper in Italy to discuss the current football landscape.
“What I think about Leicester is that we’ve got 15 points, so with another 25 we’re safe from relegation,” he said of his team’s amazing start to the Premier League.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri sees Serie A on the way up, identifies differences in England and puts Jose Mourinho behind him.
The former Inter, Juventus, Roma, Chelsea and many more Coach sat down with the Corriere dello Sport newspaper in Italy to discuss the current football landscape.
“What I think about Leicester is that we’ve got 15 points, so with another 25 we’re safe from relegation,” he said of his team’s amazing start to the Premier League.
“It’s true that this term the League seems open and uncertain. Manchester City ought to dominate, but I don’t think Louis van Gaal will get it wrong for a second year running.
“Serie A is similarly open and Italian football is really on the way up. We’re becoming competitive again, because money always did make teams more competitive.
“There used to be a period when we dominated Europe and would bring two teams into the Champions League Final. The scenario changed and now it’s changing again.
“You can’t transform everything from one day to the next, but in Italy we still seem to think that’s possible. Just look at Juventus, a great club, who cannot think to lose Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal without replacing them properly.
“Now Max Allegri must be given time to reassemble his side and make sure the new arrivals understand what he wants.”
Ranieri has been on benches all over Europe, including Chelsea, Roma, Valencia, Inter, Monaco and Atletico Madrid. What is the most important club he ever worked at?
“Juventus. They didn’t have the directors that are there now, as there is an air of renewal, but you could feel the weight of the club’s history constantly.
“Working in football is very different in England. At Leicester we rest after a game, have two days of training, then another bit of rest and another two days on the pitch. Never a double session in one day.
“When there’s the break for international duty, we work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then four days of rest. Atletico Madrid, for example, train every day and have two days of double sessions.
“My players are young and want to give 120 per cent in every training session with the same intensity for the full hour, hour and a half. In their minds, there are no training sessions, they are all games.
“It’s the same approach in Germany. This year I got the chance to travel and saw Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg. They train a mile a minute in every single session. We don’t do that in Italy.”
Naturally, Ranieri had to be asked about the crisis at Chelsea and Mourinho’s increasingly fractured rapport with players, staff and media.
“No, I have already said my piece and want to make clear that I always look fondly on the clubs I managed. The whole story with Mourinho is absolutely in the past. I’d even call it ancient history.”