MIDDLESBROUGH, ENGLAND – MARCH 11: Aitor Karanka, Manager of Middlesbrough (L) England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Number Two: Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough have sacked their manager Aitor Karanka who in all fairness was doing a god job for Boro defensively.
They are currently second to last in the league and will have a relegation battle with the likes of Sunderland, Hull, Swansea and Crystal Palace.
However, they don’t score goals. They have the least amount of goals in the league. They have scored a whopping 20 goals this season. Yep 20 goals. Everton’s Romelu Lukaku has scored more goals than the entire Boro team.
But, as said, Boro have managed to only concede 33 goals which is actually pretty good. They have in fact conceded less goals than Arsenal (34), Liverpool (36), West Brom (38), and 11 other teams in the league. That is an outstanding defensive record for a team that’s likely going to be relegated.
In fact, I feel in some ways they don’t deserve to be relegated because of this. But, there’s a reason for this. Boro simply do not know how to attack. They don’t score goals and their main tactic seems to be getting the ball to Downing to cross it in to Negredo with the hopes of him heading the ball in.
Another reason they deserve to be relegated is the fact that some players had a falling out with Karanka including Stewart Downing which ultimately led to the sacking of their manager.
It’s a rather shady and greasy practice that’s been emerging in the last few seasons whereby players have decided the fate of the manager rather than the board. This goes back to when Chelsea players downed tools to get Villas Boas sacked and then last season they got their hero Mourinho sacked.
Players have figured out in recent years that they don’t have to play for their manager. If they don’t like them then they have the power to get their manager sacked. This is a sad reality of modern day football whereby loyalty is governed by the amount of numbers on the paycheck and popularity rules over tactical astuteness.
Which then leads on to the number one team.. which you can probably guess.
led to the </a>sacking of their manager.</p>
<p>It’s a rather shady and greasy practice that’s been emerging in the last few seasons whereby players have decided the fate of the manager rather than the board. This goes back to when Chelsea players downed tools to get Villas Boas sacked and then last season they got their hero Mourinho sacked.</p>
<p>Players have figured out in recent years that they don’t have to play for their manager. If they don’t like them then they have the power to get their manager sacked. This is a sad reality of modern day football whereby loyalty is governed by the amount of numbers on the paycheck and popularity rules over tactical astuteness.</p>
<p>Which then leads on to the number one team.. which you can probably guess.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Number One: </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-433028" src=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F03%2F654926836-west-ham-united-v-leicester-city-premier-league.jpg-850x560.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">STRATFORD, ENGLAND – MARCH 18: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City.<br>(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Number One: Leicester City</h2>
<p>While it’s improbable at this point that <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"https://playingfor90.com/premier-league/leicester-city/">Leicester City </a>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.</p>
<p>After winning the Premier League last season with coach Claudio Ranieri, they had a shocking decline in form which has lingered all season.</p>
<p>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. .</p>
<p>What followed after he was sacked is a damming indictment on the players at Leicester. They have won all of their games so far.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Leicester City players celebrating getting through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"https://t.co/Xe8OSpFwYG">pic.twitter.com/Xe8OSpFwYG
<p>— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"https://twitter.com/NOT_MOTD/status/841764939916283904">March 14, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>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.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">These Leicester city players are all going to hell</p>
<p>— Yinka Bedu (@DJBEDOX) <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"https://twitter.com/DJBEDOX/status/843118250372272128">March 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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<p>Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress (discomfort) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3367374/Chelsea-executives-knew-toxic-club-Jose-Mourinho-comeback-doomed-end-tears.html">reports and he blamed the Chelsea players in the press. You could just feel the negative energy emanating from him.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src=https://playingfor90.com/2017/03/21/relegation-battle-three-teams-deserve-relegated/3/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/k1NIa5BPvME" height="315" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>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.</p>
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