Premier League Round 11: The good, the bad and the ugly

The Good

Leicester City

This Premier League season has been full of surprises. Surprising players, surprising teams – both good and bad – and surprising managerial choices.

Leicester City ticks all of the boxes for surprise of the season.

Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have been two of the biggest revelations of the Premier League season thus far as both have seemingly come from out of nowhere to be two of the season’s most productive players.

Manager Claudio Ranieri’s hire during the summer raised more than a few eyebrows across England, but The Foxes are kicked back with their feet up smoking a cigar at the moment with how everything has worked out through 11 league games.

Leicester City are third in the table.

Third place.

Ahead of Manchester United and Tottenham by one and two points respectively. Ahead of Southampton and Liverpool by five points.

Swansea City and Stoke City were two teams gathering steam as potentially qualifying for the Europa League this season after making high-profile summer signings. They presently sit nine points adrift of Leicester City.

I almost forgot about Chelsea (can you blame me?) who find their point total (11) doubled up by Leicester City’s total of 22.

Let that sink in for a moment.

This was a team some thought might be in the relegation battle after sacking Nigel Pearson, the architect of last season’s stunning run of late form to keep The Foxes in the Premier League for this campaign.

Among those who were unimpressed with Leicester City’s selection of Ranieri was club legend Gary Lineker.

Here is what he had to say when the hire was made (The Daily Mail):

"“Claudio Ranieri is clearly experienced, but this is an uninspired choice by Leicester. It’s amazing how the same old names keep getting a go on the managerial merry-go-round.”"

Ranieri’s last managerial stint before accepting the role with Leicester City ended when Greece lost 1-0 to Faroe Islands one year ago, which capped four matches without a win for Ranieri and Greece.

While losing to Faroe Islands is less than ideal, results since then have continued to show Greece as a side in transition – and one which could take quite a while to complete – but it serves to put his tenure with the Greeks into perspective. It probably said more about their collective ability as a squad then it did about his ability as a manager.

Another former Leicester City player, Robbie Savage, had his say about the hire as well (ESPNFC):

"“I would have gone for Neil Lennon personally,” Savage told ESPN FC at the launch of BT Sport’s Premier League coverage for the new season. “In the end, they have picked Ranieri. He is a big name, but is he the right fit? Time will tell if it works. “How will they get on this season? I think they will survive — just. I hope they do anyway. It’s a bold move to hire Ranieri and as an ex-Leicester player, I just hope it works.”"

It was far from scathing, but it was not an endorsement. He just stated that Ranieri would not have been his choice of hire.

With the benefit of hindsight, at least thus far, it seems clear that Leicester City made the right hire. Couple that with Neil Lennon’s struggles at Bolton Wanderers this season and The Foxes should feel good about their choice.

They are playing an exciting brand of football – dangerous, sure – but exciting. Also, it is earning them results. Third place is hard to argue against, right?

23 goals in 11 games is a great return for The Foxes, good for second best in the league behind only Manchester City.

The bad news is that they have conceded 19 goals. Only the bottom six sides in the league (Chelsea, Norwich City, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Sunderland and Aston Villa) have conceded more goals than the Foxes.

During round 11 of the Premier League, The Foxes entered halftime losing 1-0 to West Brom before scoring three consecutive goals in a 3-2 win.

Whether they can keep up their scoring and comebacks for the rest of the season will determine where they end up, but they will have to figure out how to play better defensively, if only marginally.

Next: The Bad