Gianluca
Vialli believes a quiet summer of spending is responsible for Chelsea's poor
season, and he is backing Leicester to succeed them as Premier League
champions.
The 51 year-old Italian, who played at Stamford Bridge from 1996-1999 and
was also a manager there, said: "In the summer, the lack of signings at
Chelsea was important.
"Normally you create a spark and that did not happen, and I think some of
the players were mentally tired."
A summer of change seems likely at Stamford Bridge, and Vialli is
disappointed with John Terry's likely exit after he failed to secure a new
contract.
"Captain, leader, legend is the banner you see at Stamford Bridge", added
Vialli. "I hoped he'd retire at the end of the season so he could stay on in
another capacity. It's a pity and as a guy that is still fond of Chelsea I'm
hoping that he'll be back in another position."
While Chelsea have struggled, Premier League leaders Leicester have gone
from strength to strength, and Vialli thinks Claudio Ranieri deserves a lot
of credit.
"He is the best manager in the world if you give him a club with little
expectation and a limited budget. He's good at turning that into something
better and achieving great results," Vialli said.
"The key to their success is Leicester defend better than any other team in
the Premier League. They are well organised and hungry."
Leicester are five points clear at the top of the table going into this
weekend's key clash at Arsenal, but would Vialli like to see them go all the
way and win the title?
He stated: "The Premier League has become very democratic, it is not just
about the top two or three. Leicester are strong favourites right now, but
the other teams are looking at each other and as long as their main rivals
don't win it, they don't care.
"But it would be good for football everywhere in the world if Leicester win
it."
Vialli was speaking at the launch night for Bradford City's 'Upgrade the
Parade', which is a crowd funding project aimed at raising significant funds
to redevelop the stadium.
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