Like it or not, Liverpool result shows that Leicester were right to sack Claudio Ranieri

Just over a year ago the King Power stadium reverberated to the magical powers of Jamie Vardy, scorer of one of the goals of the season in what was arguably the most incredible seasons in Premier League history. Liverpool had no answer to the pace of Leicester and in Vardy they found a striker in an unforgiving mood, ready to take half, even quarter-chances.

Last night you could have been forgiven for thinking you had gone back in time. The atmosphere was raucous, Leicester were electric and Liverpool were shell-shocked. Except, however, there was one notable absentee. This was the first time Leicester had played since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri, and the absence of the Italian on the sideline was made more notable for the incredible transformation of his players.

Since the first victory over Liverpool, Leicester have gone through extreme peaks and troughs from winning the Premier League title to becoming involved in a tight relegation battle. The sacking of Ranieri on Thursday came as a shock to most, and it certainly divided opinion, but Monday evening vindicated the decision by the owners.

The Leicester players have come in for a lot of criticism this season and it has intensified over the past few days since Ranieri's sacking. Some of the statements put out by players defending themselves over allegations they were involved in the decision were weak whilst Kasper Schmeichel's interview with Geoff Shreeves ahead of the match was about as awkward as they come.

The parallels with Chelsea last season are remarkable and on both occasions it was painfully clear that the manager had lost the dressing room. Of course it's shameful that players' levels would drop so much but that is the reality of football and it is far from a rarity. As nice as it is to call for the players to be the ones who are sacked, or that they should have their contracts ripped up, it just isn't practical.

Gary Neville pointed out on Sky Sports on Monday that the manager's power is diminishing and to an extent he is correct. The average shelf life of a manager is shorter than ever, particularly in England, and while it is partly down to the increased pressure for instant results with all the money involved it is also down to the fact that the gap between the top and the bottom is getting smaller.

Of course a manager can make all the difference in the world with little changes here and there, look at the work done by Paul Clement and Marco Silva to make Swansea and Hull more difficult to play against, but they are also the easiest target when things start to go wrong. Now more than ever it is the players who control the game and even if Leicester's players claim that they didn't directly speak to the owners about Ranieri their actions played more than a part in him departing.

However it's not as if Ranieri is totally faultless. The Italian is a charmer and last season he captured the nation's hearts so naturally fans and pundits were distraught to see him sacked. What he achieved at Leicester will never be forgotten and the manner of his departure was highly unfortunate.

Having said that, there were obvious changes that needed questioning. Of course rumours of dressing room troubles are for everyone to make their mind up on, but on the field there were interesting decisions. Shijni Okazaki did not get used as often as last season as Ranieri tried to incorporate the big money signing Islam Slimani. It's understandable after spending so much on the Algerian, but Okazaki was very under-appreciated in the way he made Leicester tick.

The treatment of Demarai Gray in particular was baffling. The youngster was occasionally frustrating with his decision-making in the final third but he made things happen and brought a directness to Leicester's game that was sorely lacking. Yet whenever he would shine in a cup match, or a brief cameo at the end of a game, it would never result in a more permanent run of starts.

The tactical decisions were odd as well, with a visible shift from what made Leicester so good last year with different systems and different approaches. It's almost as if Ranieri was too wary of teams sitting deep against Leicester and tried to catch opponents out, unfortunately all that he succeeded in doing was surprising his own team.

The Italian was also too loyal, too indulgent to those players who did wonders for him last year. Last year's Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez wandered around like a child in a sulk, Jamie Vardy endured a terrible goal drought that was painful to watch and the back four, certainly not the youngest, looked as if they had aged considerably over the summer.

Vardy's appraisal of his performance against Liverpool involved explaining that caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare had asked him to play further forward which is rather magical in itself, as if Ranieri had asked him to be the creative No.10. However Shakespeare, insert your own writing the script pun here, did make some obvious changes.

Leicester were more compact, they were a tighter unit and, perhaps most noticeably of all, they sat deeper and played more direct. Of course Liverpool played right into Leicester's hands with their surprisingly aggressive approach but it's not as if all of a sudden people discovered over the summer how to play against them. Pretty early on last season it was clear that the solution to beat Leicester was to sit deep but ultimately they still found ways past teams, there's no reason they couldn't do it again with a few reinforcements.

Whether Shakespeare continues until the end of the season, or someone else comes in, the players look rejuvenated and last night it seemed as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. This team is good enough to win sufficient games to secure their top flight status and in all likelihood now they probably will do, especially when clubs like Sunderland, Bournemouth and Middlesbrough are really struggling.

Ranieri will be immortalised at Leicester in a way his players won't be, but in this day and age business comes first and this decision will more than likely be justified come May 21.