The rise of Leicester City goal machine Jamie Vardy

24 November 2015 09:15

Promotion to the Premier League, an inconceivable escape from the clutches of relegation, an England call up, the current Premier League top scorer and equalling Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record. It is fair to say that the rise of Jamie Vardy has been a meteoric one.

The 28 year old has been the subject of a Premier League fairy tale. Vardy has elevated himself from playing with lower league teams such as Stocksbridge Park Steels, Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town and as such will have only increased both his appetite as a player and also his sense of humility. He was neither entitled nor lucky as a young player. Without the ability to play for the Youth system of a big team, eventually earning a call up to the main squad after periods on loan in the knowledge that a parent team would be watching his progress, he was forced to climb from non-league football to the Premier League alone.

Vardy has excelled since his move to Leicester. He did initially struggle in Leicester’s 2012/13 campaign culminating in reports he considered quitting football. However the 2013/14 season brought about a reverse in his form. Vardy finished with 16 league goals as the Foxes were promoted to the Premier League as Champions.

In his first season in the Premier League his drop in form coincided with an incredibly difficult period in Leicester’s history. A 13 game winless run between game weeks 6-18 yielded just two points from a possible 39. Form that would have any fan planning next season’s trips to other Championship clubs.

Miracles are few and far between in the Premier League. But this was a miracle. Leicester ended the season in 14th, six points clear of the relegation zone. It signified one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history. Since then, Leicester have spared no thought for the toils of last season winning eight of their 13 games and only losing once. The Foxes have 28 points from 13 games and are currently top of the Premier League, leading second place Manchester United by a single point. This upturn in fortunes is in no small part due to Jamie Vardy’s current run of incredible form. The striker has 10 goals in 10 games after his strike at Newcastle and is a mere game and goal away from eclipsing former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistlerooy’s record of 10 consecutive goals in 10 games. This is an incredible turnaround from a player that considered quitting football a few years ago.

If Vardy’s form can continue it will represent a headache for Roy Hodgson, albeit a good one to have. With national captain Wayne Rooney and Tottenham’s Harry Kane both being regulars in the England team and Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott, injury permitting, all vying for starting spots, it will make the competition ferocious in the England team. Hodgson will surely shy away from taking six strikers to the European Championships in France next summer making at least one of the strikers surplus to requirements.

However with Rooney struggling for form, Kane struggling to hit the heights of last season and the injuries to other senior strikers, it is surely only a matter of whether Vardy can keep scoring goals. Even if he were to have a drop in his current form he could still be looking at 20+ goals this season which would all but guarantee his place at the Euro’s next season barring an unforeseen injury. What does the future have in store for Vardy? It is of course impossible to tell. If he can keep scoring regular goals for the rest of the season then it will surely earn him a place in the England team in France next summer. If he was to go, who is to say that the former Stocksbridge Park Steels player can’t make his mark at a major tournament?

His pace and instinctive style of play will cause problems for any defender both in the Premier League and at the Euros while his hard work only encourages the work ethic of the players around him. It is in no way a bad thing for Hodgson to be able to call upon a player without a past of failure in an England shirt. Perhaps the weight of too many tournament failures will not weigh on Vardy’s shoulders like it has done, and continues to do so for so many English players. It is merely now a question of whether Vardy can maintain his form until next summer and then transfer it onto one of the biggest stages in World football.

If Vardy’s form continues he will surely be the subject of interest from bigger teams in the Premier League. Chelsea are in desperate need of goals with their expensive offence struggling in front of goal. While Manchester United need offensive support as Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial are the closest they have to a ‘true striker’.

Irrespective of what happens for the remainder of the season, Vardy can be incredibly proud of equalling a record which belongs to one of the most deadly finishers in Premier League history and who knows, perhaps in 20 years, football fans will be talking about a new striker looking to equal the record set by Jamie Vardy.

Source: DSG