Relegation battle: The three teams that deserve to be relegated

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - MARCH 18: David Moyes, Manager of Sunderland looks on prior to the Premier League match between Sunderland and Burnley at Stadium of Light on March 18, 2017 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - MARCH 18: David Moyes, Manager of Sunderland looks on prior to the Premier League match between Sunderland and Burnley at Stadium of Light on March 18, 2017 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images) /
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STRATFORD, ENGLAND – MARCH 18: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City.(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
STRATFORD, ENGLAND – MARCH 18: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City.(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images) /

Number One: Leicester City

While it’s improbable at this point that Leicester City will be relegated, I do think they deserve to be. They are currently 15th in the league with 30 points. So it’s not likely they will face the infamous relegation battle.

After winning the Premier League last season with coach Claudio Ranieri, they had a shocking decline in form which has lingered all season.

Nobody knows really why this was but some claim that Leicester have downed tools this season to get the popular Italian sacked. Why anyone would dislike Ranieri is probably one of Earth’s greatest mysteries like how Paul Pogba is worth £100 milllion. .

What followed after he was sacked is a damming indictment on the players at Leicester. They have won all of their games so far.

Watching them beat Liverpool easily after Ranieri was sacked was hard to see. The players were playing like the old Leicester from last season. Vardy was chasing every ball, Mahrez was back to his old tricks and skill while Huth and Morgan had suddenly remembered how to defend.

The players were clearly not playing well on purpose for Ranieri. It’s hard to figure out why exactly and the situation was like deja vu after myself, as a Chelsea fan, went through the same thing last season.

So I do understand what Leicester fans are going through right now. On the one hand they will never forget their title with Ranieri but on the other hand they’re happy Leicester are finally winning again.

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Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress (discomfort) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.

The cognitive dissonance that pervades fans following the sacking of a popular manager takes awhile to get rid of. I was guttered when Mourinho was sacked, as a Chelsea fan, but at the same time I wanted him sacked. I wanted my team to win. It’s a confusing emotion.

So, while I do feel for Leicester fans during this ordeal, I still think they deserve to be relegated after their treatment of Ranieri. Mourinho had become a poisonous toxic man around the dressing room at Chelsea according to reports and he blamed the Chelsea players in the press. You could just feel the negative energy emanating from him.

But Ranieri seemed like such a nice guy, Even when Leicester kept losing game after game, Ranieri refused to throw the players under the bus, unlike what Mourinho did at Chelsea, and is still doing at Manchester United.

Additionally, I don’t like Jamie Vardy very much. He seems like (in my opinion) a dirty player. In the Champions League round of 16 match against Sevilla he dived to the ground in supposed ‘agony’ after Samir Nasri appeared to move his head towards Vardy which subtly grazed him. He fell to the ground in what was some fine acting, earning Nasri a red card. Vardy should apply for an acting job in Coronation Street or Eastenders after his playing career.

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But I think Leicester will survive, and comfortably. Their new manager who was previously their assistant coach Craig Shakespeare will get all the plaudits for essentially doing nothing. He has gone back to the basic formula that Ranieri used last season which for some reason the players weren’t fulfilling.

Leicester will survive and I hate that.