Leicester's Valentine’s date with destiny

Any objection if we talk about Leicester City again?

Didn’t think so.

I’ve noticed recently that if you mention the name to anyone who professes even a passing interest in football, their face immediately lights up. Desensitised as many people are by the Premier League’s bloated money, bloated egos, relentless hype and seemingly unassailable dominance by a handful of mega-clubs, it’s as if Leicester’s corner shop success triggers a reaction of almost childish delight, similar to the feeling that good ‘ol Louis was expressing when he croaked mellifluously about the trees of green, the red roses too, the bright blessed day and the dark sacred night.

Yep, you look at Leicester City sitting proudly atop the table and a little bit of you can’t help thinking: what a wonderful world.

But there’s still the other bit of you – the bit Louis didn’t song about, since it’s hard to find a rhyme for Etihad or Abramovich – which, having accepted the wonder of it all, thinks: ‘yeah, but it can’t possibly last, can it?’

That’s certainly the view of our old friend Jason McAteer who, on a flying visit to Dublin earlier this week, ventilated the fear that dare not speak its name.

“Leicester winning the title would be the biggest achievement (in the history of the Premier League), bigger than Blackburn’s – but I don’t feel they’ll do it, to be honest,” said the former Ireland international.

“Now, (in mid-February) you haven’t really got one hand on the trophy although you’re sitting top of the table and playing full of confidence and everyone’s talking about it, saying ‘can they? can they?’

“But I think when it comes to April and you actually have one hand on it, if you’re sitting second or top, that’s when the nerves really kick in. The games then become a bit tetchy, you don’t take as many chances.

“They’re playing great football at the moment, Leicester. It’s refreshing the way they play on the break, they’re expansive. Vardy, everything he hits is going in. Mahrez, nearly everything he does is coming off.

“It’s just ticking over nicely.

“But once they get to late March into April, when teams are fighting for their lives - whether it’s for European football or trying to stay up - the games will be a lot tougher.

“Leicester will feel the pressure then - and there’s not many players in there that have been there and done it. And that’s why I’m going to go for an Arsenal or Man City to win the league. Spurs too are more equipped than Leicester to go on and win it but I just think that mental strength gets you over the line – and that’s where City and Arsenal will come into it.”

You don’t have to look back too far to see evidence of the merit in McAteer’s argument, his former club Liverpool discovering in the hardest possible way two seasons ago that the closer you get to the summit, the more slippery the slope – almost literally so in the case of poor Steven Gerrard. And McAteer talks from personal experience too, since he went through something similar with the club in the ‘90s.

“In 95/96, we threw it away in April with that Coventry game (a 1-0 defeat on the back of a famous 4-3 win against Newcastle United) and ended up finishing third. The following year was the same . I remember signing for Liverpool, and that season we beat (eventual champions) Man United at home and drew away. We were by far the better team but it was just that mental toughness that we lacked.”

For McAteer then, key to getting across the line is experience. “People say it’s the second or third one that’s hardest to win but I think it’s the first. You know when it’s not going well and how to adapt - but the first is the hardest to win.”

That may yet prove to be the case but Leicester have already made most pundits’ predictions look pretty foolish this season and, should they keep up their winning streak against Arsenal tomorrow, the ranks of the naysayers will be thinned out even more. One thing’s for sure: on the Valentine’s Day that’s in it, it’ll be the away side feeling almost all the love as they embrace their latest date with destiny.