Claudio Ranieri targeted Fiorentina and Swansea City after being sacked from Leicester City on 23 February. But in the end he preferred Nantes from Ligue 1 France to be his new port in June. When this article was written, Nantes came in fourth and unbeaten in six games (losing in two inaugural matches).
Ranieri came there with a two-season contract replacing Sergio Conceicao who stepped down for a proposal by FC Porto. Initially, his arrival was rejected by the French Football Federation (FFF) because Ranieri's age would then exceed the minimum rules applied. FFF parties prohibit teams trained by coaches over the age of 65 years. But at that time Ranieri got away on a special recommendation because his registration was still at the age of 65 years. While his age will be more than 65 years in October 2017.
For Ranieri, to Nantes does not mean a setback in his career. In fact he is still in demand by many English clubs after being fired Leicester City, a season after bringing the Premier League champions. With all the considerations, this former Chelsea coach also chose a career outside the UK.
"For me it is important to have a job I have got offers from various English clubs but I chose to come to France I think after Leicester it is best to take a break from the Premier League and change the country The big clubs do not change their coaches, "Ranieri added as quoted from the Mirror.
Nantes insisted on registering Ranieri as he hoped he could bring a miracle just like he did in Leicester first, by presenting the English Premier League title 2015/2016. Moreover, Ranieri has experience in Ligue 1 because ever gush AS Monaco from 2012 to 2014.
Nevertheless, Waldemar Kita as the owner of Nantes is not too set high target for Ranieri. Ranieri was only given a target to bring Nantes to the Europa League. "He [Ranieri] did not ask for any guarantees and I will not give him any demands.We finished last season well and he has to continue that style.It would be great if qualifying for Europa League qualification," Waldemar said as quoted from The Sports Men .
Nantes did finish well last season for Conceicao's success. Former Portugal national team penggawa successful revolution in Nantes since coming in December 2016 when the team was down. When he joined, Nantes was ranked second bottom of the Ligue 1 2016/2017 standings at the time.
Conceicao is able to make his teams more aggressive and attacking. In the end he took Nantes to seventh last Ligue 1 standings last season. Conceicao also managed to hone players such as Amin Harit, Diego Carlos, Emiliano Sala, Valentin Rongier and other players who in fact are not top players.
Just like Ranieri at Leicester, Conceicao was a basic 4-4-2 formation. Perhaps this is what makes Waldemar do not hesitate to appoint the Italian coach. Aura champion Ranieri will also give the same fire as in Leicester to his players in Nantes.
That is, Ranieri is expected to maintain the revival of Nantes after Conceicao's impressive results. Moreover, Nantes is not a small teams. They are the third most successful teams in France after Saint-Etienne and Olympique Marseille for the eighth Ligue 1 title last achieved in the 2000/2001 season.
It's just his arrival should be left three Nantes mainstay players last season, namely Harit, Guillaume Gillet and Remy Riou. Even so, Ranieri was not too worried. "I can not change it now, I'm like Frank Sinatra, I always do it in my ways," he said as quoted by The Guardian.
But the departure of important players is reasonable because Nantes has limited funding sources in recent seasons. Not with Paris Saint-German (PSG), Monaco or Olympique Marseille, Nantes shopping funds are still inferior to Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne and Rennes.
Ranieri did not start the season well because it was defeated twice in a row by OSC Lille and Marseille. But the defeat explains the need in the Nantes squad at the time. Then after that, Andrei Girotto, Kalifa Coulibaly and Yassine El Ghanassy were brought ahead of last summer's transfer window deadline. Previously, Nantes just bring Ciprian Tatarusanu and Nicola Pallois.
Then Ranieri was able to give his first win in the third week of Ligue 1 match when he beat host Troyes. Since then Ranieri has brought Nantes unbeaten for six straight matches.
The result of five wins and one draw that managed to bring Nantes to fourth place standings with Raihan 16 points from eight matches. The points are just six points behind PSG as the championship standings while Ligue 1,
"I ask for the supporters to be patient, if you play well and you lose one or two times, then you play the wrong way so the most important thing is to win," Ranieri said.
Solid Defense Claudio Ranieri Locks With Nantes
Actually there is nothing spectacular about the Nantes game when attacking. Three of their victory just got the majority with the score 1-0. It is their defense that has been a disaster for their opponents. Ranieri managed to make Nantes defense so solid.
The proof, Nantes only conceded once from the last six games. Olympique Lyonnais, who slaughtered Nantes 6-0 in last season to put Rene Girard out of the way, was held to a 0-0 draw. Ranieri's focus with Nantes is to keep his goal from conceding rather than scoring goals.
Ranieri is aware that Nantes currently has no goal hunger striker like Jamie Vardy while still gushing Leicester. Last season, Leicester's top scorer was Sala with 12 goals. "The goal is to have one of the five best defense in France," said Ranieri who came from Italy.
Jean Petit, who had been his assistant coach when in Monaco gave leaks about Ranieri's tactics. "The team must have a very tight block, everyone has to work, defend and attack Every player knows what to expect from him Physically, his team is at the top level.See the number of Leicester victories that occurred at the end of the game," said Petit.
Currently Ranieri does not have Vardy or Riyad Mahrez to show his magic as he did with Leicester. Nevertheless, Ranieri managed to create a strong defensive unit with Nantes. If you look at his notes so far, Nantes's future is in the right hands and heading in the right direction.
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