How could Leicester be relegated so soon after Prem title? - ESPN

LEICESTER, England — They lived the dream, but now comes the nightmare. Seven years after completing the most improbable sporting fairy tale to win the Premier League, Leicester City were relegated to the second-tier EFL Championship on Sunday despite beating West Ham United 2-1 on the final day of the season.

This trajectory from champions to Championship in such a relatively short time period raises questions about how a club still possessing so much individual talent could fall so far. There are no easy answers, though.

The complicated postmortem that now lies ahead was epitomised in the supporters' reaction to confirmation of their fate. Some tried to start up chants against the owners near the end but few followed. The players embarked upon a brief lap of appreciation to a soundtrack of boos and applause, some keen to recognise their efforts while others voiced frustration at a lack of application across the season.

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Nobody could realistically blame Leicester manager Dean Smith, who was parachuted in for eight matches following Brendan Rodgers' departure in early April. Sunday's victory — secured through goals from Harvey Barnes and Wout Faes with only Pablo Fornals replying for the Hammers — was only their second win in that period. It was arguably their best performance under Smith, but Everton's accompanying 1-0 win over Bournemouth took survival out of their hands.

«Any club that gets relegated, they have to find a way to bounce back,» Smith said afterward. «There are plenty of knocks in football, we all know that, week in, week out. It is how you bounce back from it. From what I've seen, with the