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MANCHESTER -- Leicester City's miraculous run to the Premier League title has reset the ambitions of other small-market teams, according to Stoke City defender Geoff Cameron. "It gives other clubs belief that they can do the same thing -- that's what's so special about it," Cameron told ESPN FC on Monday evening, minutes before second-place Tottenham's failure to beat Chelsea confirmed the Foxes as the most unlikely champions in English -- and perhaps sporting -- history. "They don't have the players other teams have, but they have proven that if everybody works hard for each other, it can be done." Leicester beat and drew with Stoke on their way to the summit. Cameron remembers noticing something different in their approach the first time the two met, a 2-2 draw in September. "We were organizing our back four and had no forward to mark, because Jaime Vardy was defending on his own 18," the U.S. national team veteran said of Leicester's star forward. "He's done that from the first game of the season until now. "They have an understanding," Cameron continued. "Everybody works. It sounds simple, but hat's not always the case. The big name players on your team, they can make you or break you. "But look at [Riyad] Mahrez; he works as hard as Vardy. Danny Drinkwater, he's an engine. Never stops running, [N'Golo] Kante breaks up tackles and he sends the ball down the line. They have a style, and it works because they all know the jobs they have to do." Successful teams often become trend-setters. Clubs and national associations have emulated the methods employed by recent World Cup champions Spain and Germany over the last six years. Still, it's hard to fathom what Leicester accomplished this season given the massive disparity in what they par for and to players compared to deep-pocketed global brands like Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester behemoths United and City. Even Tottenham, on pace for their best Premier League finish this year, are on a much different level budget-wise than the likes of Leicester and Stoke. For the Foxes to thrive, the team had to become the star. "If you compare Spurs' starting 11 to Leicester's, you'd probably say that Spurs have better players on paper," Cameron said. "But they couldn't beat Leicester because Leicester pressures teams, they never give up and they do it every single game." They're also pragmatic. Other clubs' fans have noticed. Everton's Roberto Martinez, for example, has come under fire for sticking with a possession-based style even when his players have struggled to implement it. "I like to pass the ball and play out of the back, but there are times in the Premier League where you have to kick the ball long," Cameron said. "I've done it 1,000 times. There are games where you're getting bombarded because you're playing Arsenal or Spurs and the pressure is on. "You can't keep possession. But if you sit in and have 11 guys in place defensively and structured properly, you can absorb the pressure and wait for a counter-attack or a set piece." Teams in other leagues have found the same thing. Under Diego Simeone, Champions League semifinalist Atletico Madrid has been able to stand toe-to-toe with their far wealthier Spanish rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid in recent seasons by using a similar strategy. Like most neutrals, Cameron was pulling for Leicester to pull off the unthinkable, and not just because of what it might mean for other humble clubs; his friend and former Stoke teammate Robert Huth is one of the Foxes' key men. "It's something really magical," Cameron said. "You see their fans, and they know it's a once in a lifetime thing. Or is it? Maybe they can do it again next year."
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