Is Vardy the real deal?

Jamie Vardy’s journey from part-time football to the English Premier League was spectacular enough, but his stock is showing no signs of slowing down. Currently top of the goalscoring charts with 10 goals in as many fixtures, the Leicester City hotshot is the most prolific marksman around. How has this unheralded striker hit such heights? TODAY EPL analyst Adrian Clarke (sports [at] mediacorp.com.sg) dissects the make-up of his game …

He’s a street fighter

Modern strikers are so technical, so polished, so pampered in their upbringing that most do not like it (or know what to do) when the going gets tough. Raised in the blood-and-thunder world of non-league football — the school of hard knocks — Vardy is made of sturdier stuff. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he thrives on conflict. By making it his mission to give every defender 90 minutes of hell, he provides a unique challenge to those who are more accustomed to having time on the ball. The way he runs, chases, scraps and fights for every loose ball immediately puts opponents on the back foot.

A positional switch

Under Nigel Pearson, the 28-year-old was more of a support striker who buzzed around a big man, or did a shift on one of the wings. This season, new boss Claudio Ranieri has made him the spearhead of the side, and it suits his game perfectly. Vardy’s searing pace is much more threatening when he plays higher up the pitch, lurking on the shoulders of central defenders. He frightens them witless. The Foxes are not the kind of side that keeps the ball for long periods. Instead, they like to be direct and play on the counter attack. With this in mind, Vardy is the right guy in the right position.

Speed kills

The Foxes forward is not just the division’s top scorer, he is the quickest player in the Premier League, too. Clocked at an amazing 35.44kmh, Vardy is the kind of front man you are never going to catch once he has accelerated past you. Just ask Southampton defender Virgil Van Dijk, who was left scrambling in his slipstream two weekends ago. Vardy plays in a team full of pacey players, so it is not as if opponents can afford to put all their defensive eggs in his basket either. Often drawn towards one of their lively creators, Vardy gets on the move and waits for passes to be slipped into the grass ahead.

A plethora of providers

Leicester are far from a one-man team. Midfielders Marc Albrighton, Nathan Dyer, Danny Drinkwater and Riyad Mahrez have all showered their top scorer with opportunities this term, and deserve high praise for their service. Vardy is part of a side that is at the top of their game.

Varied finishes

In the frenetic world of top-flight marksmanship, you do not often get time to weigh your options inside the box. However the ball falls to him, a striker has to react instinctively. Vardy, a right-footed player naturally, has developed his heading and left foot wonderfully this season. Aside from dispatching two penalties, the Foxes star has scored two headers, two left footers, and four with his right foot from open play. That is a good assortment. His Chance Conversion stats are also outstanding; last season he scored 12.5 per cent of the efforts he attempted, in 2015/16 it is 30 per cent.

Pure hunger

Vardy had to wait until his mid-20s to play professional football (he was with Northern Premier League sides Stocksbridge Parks Steels FC and Halifax Town, and then Conference League side Fleetwood Town before joining Leicester in 2012), and he is determined to make up for lost time.

Will vardy be another one-season wonder?

For all his virtues, there is a danger that Vardy’s spell in the sunshine may not last beyond this May.

A short glance back at Premier League history shows it is a division littered with the ghosts of frontmen that shocked us with one stunning campaign — only to drop from the sky as quickly as they rose.

Names such as Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace, 2004-05 season, 21 goals), Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn, 2007-08, 19 goals), Marcus Stewart (Ipswich Town, 2000-2001, 19 goals), Michu (Swansea, 2012-13, 18 goals) and Mikael Forssell (Birmingham City, 2003-04, 17 goals) are a reminder that stints in English football’s spotlight can be short-lived, no matter how brightly you shine.

Personally, I’d love to see Vardy show more stick-ability than those I mentioned from yesteryear.

Wholehearted footballers like him do not come around too often, and his success is an inspiration for every other striker plying his trade in the lower levels. Vardy is living proof that you can be rough around the edges and still make a name for yourself at the highest level.

Centre-forwards do have a shelf life, however, and as he approaches his 29th birthday, you have to wonder if this is Vardy at his peak. His performances last season (five goals, eight assists) were good, but his current ratio looks unsustainable given his track record.

When you put your name in lights, opposition sides study you closer, too, and that’s a problem that lies ahead.

He is not a player who will beat you with too many moments of magic. By dropping deeper, readying yourself for his work rate, and making sure he is marked tightly, Vardy, in theory, is a forward that should not be too hard to nullify. Much will depend on whether Leicester can maintain their sizzling form (unlikely) or whether they decide to cash in on their most sellable asset within the next 12 months (more likely), and they are two factors that can destabilise anyone.

My heart says Vardy will get 20-plus goals this season and next, but my head is telling me something different. Let’s just enjoy this working class hero for what he is, for as long as it lasts.

KEY STATS

10; Jamie Vardy has more league goals than Liverpool as a club (9) so far this season

7: He became only the eighth player to score in seven consecutive Premier League games, joining an elite group which includes Ruud van Nistelrooy, Daniel Sturridge, Mark Stein, Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Emmanuel Adebayor.

About the author:

TODAY EPL analyst Adrian Clarke is a former Arsenal midfielder who has played at every level of the English game. Now an experienced sports journalist, he writes for many international publications.