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Soccer

Ranieri fired by Leicester City after wretched run of form

From unlikely Premier League champion to the scrap heap.

Leicester City fired manager Claudio Ranieri on Thursday, nine months after the affable Italian and his rag-tag group of players defied 5,000-1 odds to reach the summit of English football.

“This has been the most difficult decision we have had to make in nearly seven years since King Power took ownership of Leicester City. But we are duty-bound to put the club’s long-term interests above all sense of personal sentiment, no matter how strong that might be,” said vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha in a statement.

The decision to part ways with Ranieri came after a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla, which was one of the more positive losses in a season of many. Leicester is still in contention for the quarter-finals of the Champions League as it prepares for the return leg at the King Power Stadium on March 14.

But as a whole, the Foxes have offered one of the worst title defences in Premier League history. They’re just one point above the relegation zone with 13 matches remaining, and have yet to score a league goal in 2017.

Related: Leicester’s Cinderella story nearing unhappily ever after

The club was also dispatched from the FA Cup by third-tier Millwall last weekend.

Leicester gave Ranieri a vote of confidence on Feb. 7, stating its “unwavering support” for the manager, but apart from a win over Derby County in cup action, nothing seemed to change in the time since.

“It was never our expectation that the extraordinary feats of last season should be replicated this season. Indeed, survival in the Premier League was our first and only target at the start of the campaign,” added Srivaddhanaprabha. “But we are now faced with a fight to reach that objective and feel a change is necessary to maximise the opportunity presented by the final 13 games.”

Assistant manager Paolo Benetti and conditioning coach Andrea Azzalin also parted company with the east Midlands outfit.

Craig Shakespeare and Mike Stowell will take charge of the squad ahead of Monday’s clash against Liverpool.

NFL

Pat Shurmur: Laquon Treadwell in a critical offseason

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings drafted Laquon Treadwell in the first round last spring, 23rd overall, in hopes he could spark a passing game that had ranked 31st in the league in 2015. And while the Vikings’ passing offense did jump to 18th in the league in 2016, Treadwell was responsible for only 15 yards of the team’s output.

He caught one pass, from Sam Bradford on Nov. 6 against the Detroit Lions, during a rookie season marred by nagging injuries that found Treadwell on the periphery of the Vikings’ offense at many times. He was targeted only three times in the nine games he played, before an ankle injury suffered on special teams in Jacksonville on Dec. 11 curtailed his season.

“I was feeling more comfortable, and they were ready to put me out there, but I just went down on special teams,” Treadwell said on Jan. 2. “That’s a tough break for me, but you’ve got to get healthy and come back ready.”

The 21-year-old said he plans to spend his offseason training in Dallas. When he returns to the team facility for the start of offseason workouts in April, Treadwell will be expected to make a significant jump.

“He is going to be like any young player that’s going from Year 1 to Year 2. This is going to be an offseason that is very critical,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “Highly drafted players come in, they’re coming off of that circuit, and all of a sudden they’re thrown in. He’s had a chance now to go through the process once. He’ll have a feel for what it’s going to feel like, and we’re anticipating he’s going to come back and be raring to go and make great improvements.”

While some receivers make a big jump from their first to their second seasons, others find that the spike in performance happens from their second to third seasons. Players who spent time on the field as rookies, Shurmur said, are often able to pick things up quicker in their second seasons. Treadwell saw just 76 snaps as a rookie, placing him 160th out of the 202 rookies who got on the field in 2016, according to ESPN Stats & Information. But Shurmur believes Treadwell got enough time in meetings and on the practice field to absorb what he needs to grow in 2017.

“He had little nagging things that kept him from getting in there full-time early,” Shurmur said. “He didn’t get targeted a bunch of times, but he blocked well, and he competed. That’s really the starting point for a young player.”

Soccer

Leipzig unconcerned over potential European ban

Bundesliga debutant RB Leipzig could miss out on a maiden voyage in continental competition next season because of UEFA rules limiting the entry of multiple clubs under the same ownership.

With Austrian side RB Salzburg sitting atop its domestic league and Leipzig comfortably second in Germany’s top flight, both sides owned by energy drink manufacturer Red Bull are near-certainties for no worse than a Champions League qualifying playoff spot.

Not so fast, says UEFA, insisting, according to ESPN FC, that, “no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition,” and that if two or more clubs fail to meet the criteria “only one of them may be admitted to a UEFA club competition.”

Austrian outlet Salzburger Nachrichten adds that UEFA has privately confirmed as much, and with terms stating that “the club which was best-ranked in the domestic championship” would gain European entry, Leipzig appears set to miss out.

Still, Leipzig CEO and Red Bull head of global football Oliver Mintzlaff remains unconcerned.

“At RB Leipzig, there is no nervousness and there are no alleged ‘signals’ from UEFA,” Mintzlaff said.

“Should we qualify for a European competition, there’d be no reason to doubt that we’d play internationally next term.”

Since its founding in 2009, Leipzig has enjoyed a meteoric rise from the NOFV-Oberliga Sud to the Bundesliga, and the club’s corporate ties have drawn the ire of supporters across Germany, with violence surrounding a match with Borussia Dortmund the most recent example of contempt.

Unsurprisingly, Mintzlaff and Co. are undaunted by speculation linking it with a potential Champions League dismissal.

NFL

DC Gus Bradley says Chargers will feature Joey Bosa's versatility

SAN DIEGO — One of the team’s foundation players last season, new Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley will have to find a home for second-year pro Joey Bosa.

The former Ohio State star earned Associated Press defensive rookie of the year honors last season, finishing with 10.5 sacks in 12 games. Much was made in the lead-up to last season where Bosa would play in the team’s 3-4 defensive alignment and whether or not he would be a good fit in the scheme.

But Bosa proved effective, moving all across the defensive formations and playing solidly against the run.

With Bosa returning to his more familiar position of a base defensive end in Bradley’s 4-3 scheme, the hope is the Chargers can get even more production from Bosa in his second season.

Bradley said he’s already met with Bosa at Chargers Park. Bosa was a player the Jaguars strongly considered with the team’s No. 5 overall selection before the Chargers picked him at No. 3. Bosa traveled to the team’s facility in Jacksonville for a pre-draft visit.

The Leo defensive end is generally Bradley’s pass-rush specialist. Typically, Bradley is looking for a player that’s 6-3 and 255 pounds to play that position, which more likely fits the skill set of pending unrestricted free agent Melvin Ingram.

After spending his rookie season in a 3-4 base set, Joey Bosa will be a defensive end in new Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s 4-3. Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports

Bosa compared himself to another player Bradley is familiar with last season in Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett. Bradley coached Bennett as the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks.

Like Bennett, Bradley said Bosa is a versatile player who can be effective in a lot of places along the defensive line.

“You have some general ideas of what it should look like, but then there’s always that guy that breaks the mold,” Bradley said. “A Leo [weakside defensive end in Bradley’s scheme] is typically 6-3 or 6-2, has got good length at about 255 pounds and runs a 4.6 [40-yard time].

“Would you say a 6-foot-5, 280-pound guy would be a typical Leo? No, not on the sheet of paper, but this guy’s different — he breaks the mold. Could he [Bosa] play Leo? Yes. It’s going to look a little bit different, but what you’re looking from that position is production. He had 10.5 sacks in 12 games. The whole Leo was designed for guys to get a lot of opportunities to have good rushes. And so you need him to be productive.”

Bradley also went on to say that Bosa also would be a different style of base end than he typically has in his system, with those players typically 6-4 and around 300 pounds.

Bosa played 538 snaps for the Chargers as a rookie. He missed the first four games to a hamstring strain suffered in his first practice after sitting out the first month of training camp in a contract dispute.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Bosa totaled 6.5 sacks from his traditional left end position, three sacks from the right end and one sack from the right outside linebacker position.

While Bosa’s base spot will be as a defensive end, Bradley plans to use Bosa at other areas on the field as well, as former Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano did last season.

“Obviously, going through the draft, we had a pretty good feel for him and we really liked him,” Bradley said. “Sometimes it’s hard if you miss camp and you miss some time. So give credit to him and the coaching staff. They did a great job of getting him ready in a short period of time. And obviously he kept his body in great shape and was ready to go.”

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