Hull City vs Leicester City reaction: Claudio Ranieri warns champions to cut out mistakes after opening day defeat
Hull City 2 Leicester City 1: The Italian was not pleased to become the first manager in the Premier League era to lose the first match of his title-defence to the newly-promoted Tigers
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Your support makes all the difference.Claudio Ranieri has warned his Leicester City players they must learn from their mistakes quickly after a dispiriting opening day defeat by newly-promoted Hull City.
The champions became the first reigning title-holders to suffer defeat on the opening day of their Premier League title defence as Adama Diamande and Robert Snodgrass scored either side of a controversial Riyad Mahrez penalty at the KCOM Stadium.
The Italian, whose side face title-rivals Arsenal next weekend, said: “They played better. We tried to do our best. Our effort was amazing but it was individual, not as a team.
“We tried to win but sometimes it's impossible. We made some mistakes and we have to think where we made them. I told my players this season will be harder than last season.”
Jamie Vardy, Leicester’s 24-goal hero last season, spurned a succession of opportunities in the first-half while Mahrez, the PFA Player of the Year, was absent for long stretches.
Ranieri added: “Today was a normal match, maybe a draw was normal but we lost it. For this reason I told them we must be very strong together because last season we showed ourselves as a very good team and we need to repeat that.”
Mike Phelan, the Hull caretaker manager, showered praise on his depleted squad after a tumultuous pre-season which has failed to yield any new signings as take-over talks continue between the unpopular Allam family and a Chinese consortium.
“I thought the players had it in them to produce something but all credit to the football players because they showed a lot of the determination,” the former Manchester United assistant said.
“They played the way I asked them to play. At this level, you have to master the ball, you have to take the ball and play with confidence, character and courage and I thought everything came out today. But it's one game and we roll on to the next one.
On his own immediate future, Phelan added: “The situation has not changed - I was asked to take pre-season and I've done that, I was asked if I would take the game today and I have done that now.
“Next week could be a big week because we still need to find players. We had a list, those players have gone but players may want to come to this club now - results, performances and attitudes change things.”
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