A few years ago a motivational speaker brought out a smart little book called Legacy: What The All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life. Everyone wanted to know how a tiny country miles from anywhere could dominate the world’s hardest team sport for so long. A lot of it, the book said, boiled down to humility, believing in the collective, going the extra yard, and, crucially, ‘no dickheads’. Better people make better All Blacks, was the message.
Now the world is trying to learn from the Leicester City playbook. The key factors in the Foxes’ triumph were a strong, well-balanced squad; a tough but charming manager; a well-run scouting policy (paying particular attention to the financially stretched French leagues); two powerful, resolute central defenders who took it as a personal affront if an attacker got past, backed up by perhaps the best goalie in England; great team spirit (pizza and all that); and going out of the FA and League Cups early so they didn’t have too many games to play (it won’t be like that next season). Any side in the world can try to replicate most of those (and you can bet your last slice of pizza that the owners of the top Premier League clubs are asking their managers: ‘If Leicester can spend £60 million and win, why am I giving you £350 million to finish sixth?’) But what was unique this season was that all Leicester’s rivals were so terrible: Chelsea in turmoil; Arsenal fiddling about as always; United all over the place; and Man City, who should have cruised the Premier League, playing as if they couldn’t be bothered. What are the odds of all that happening again?
So the Lawn Tennis Association wants to rebrand itself as British Tennis.
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