‘I can unlock my players’ minds’ – Ranieri believes motivation the key behind Leicester success

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri believes his greatest asset is his ability to get the most out of his players.

The Italian was named the Best FIFA Men’s Coach of 2016, after leading his club to a remarkable Premier League title success.

Leicester were considered relegation candidates, before Ranieri led them to the title as they finished 10 points clear at the top last season.

Ranieri, whose team are 15th in the table in 2016-17, believes the key to success is finding a way to motivate players.

“I can only talk about myself. I have a lot of passion and I think I’m good at getting that across to my players,” he told FIFA.com. “You might say that I have the key to unlocking players’ minds, though not all of them.

“It pains me when I can’t make it happen because I feel as if it’s my fault rather than theirs.

“I think that’s the secret, because when you’re working at the highest level it’s vital that you show the players how much you love the game and that you convince them to do the same.

“But if you really want to know what it is that players want, then maybe you should be asking them.”

As for his side’s stunning title triumph, Ranieri said Leicester simply found the perfect mix.

“It’s hard to put it down to one thing in particular. Everything was perfect,” he said.

“It’s hard to explain the chemistry in the dressing room. It was magical, and it’s something that’s never happened to me before.

“And in footballing terms we just made the most of the circumstances. We played well but it just so happened that none of the other big teams were on top of their game.

“It’s strange to say something like that when you win the league by 10 points, but it’s true.”