Pochettino Must Wait One More Year For EPL – Claudio Ranieri

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri has told Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Mauricio Pochettino he will have to wait to win the Premier League title.

Ranieri leads his side into Sunday’s game against Swansea at the King Power Stadium with a five-point advantage over Spurs, who host West Bromwich Albion on Monday night.

The pressure is starting to build on the leaders, who are without suspended top scorer Jamie Vardy and then travel to FA Cup finalists Manchester United next weekend.

But when asked if he had a message for Pochettino, Ranieri’s reply was clear.

“Mauricio, you can wait,” Ranieri told reporters. “Wait for one more year.

“The pressure is always at the top. They have been behind all year. I’m not bothered. I would love to stay five points ahead.”

The absence of Vardy puts the spotlight on Riyad Mahrez, who has only scored three goals this calendar year after an electric first half to the season which earned him a place in on the PFA Player of the Year shortlist.

But Ranieri is confident the Algeria international will step up in the final four matches of the season.

“I’m very happy with him,” Ranieri said. “If you see what Riyad did, it’s fantastic. Every time he touches the ball, it’s a great ball.

“He is fouled a lot because everybody knows him and they want to stop him, so it’s harder for him. He’s very clever and if you remember who makes the right pass to N’Golo Kante to go on the counter attack last week [leading to Vardy’s goal], it was Riyad.

“Only he has the key to open the defensive line. It’s fantastic. Maybe he doesn’t look fantastic now but look and you will see what he does with the ball.”

Ranieri also addessed the suggestion that he has yet to win a major title in his managerial career.

“Every time I was behind, I know there are people out there who, if I don’t win the title [with Leicester], will say: ‘Ah, Ranieri, he always comes second.’ Yes, but look at my career. Look at it. I was second at Chelsea. But we had started to build a team during the previous year. I continued to buy people during the first Premier League matches. We came second.

“At Roma, I was second. I arrived after two matches. We had zero points. We finished with 80 points. Inter had 82. I lost but what more could I do? I arrived at Juventus the first year after [promotion from] Serie B. We were third, then second. What more could I do?

“I had four or five champions but others were young players. At Monaco we won the second division. Then we finish behind Paris Saint-Germain, second by eight points. Now I try to win this [Premier League title].”