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Jamie Vardy: The Leicester City hitman can be England’s unlikely Galactico in Russia

By Harneet Singh Sethi

BURTON-UPON-TRENT, ENGLAND - MAY 22: Jamie Vardy of England looks on during an England training session at St Georges Park on May 22, 2018 in Burton-upon-Trent, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
BURTON-UPON-TRENT, ENGLAND - MAY 22: Jamie Vardy of England looks on during an England training session at St Georges Park on May 22, 2018 in Burton-upon-Trent, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images) /
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England are yet to get their World Cup campaign underway, but Jamie Vardy’s place in the side has already been thrown into question several times. You couldn’t have not seen it coming.

The Leicester City striker is right among the breed of players that is bound to be slated, to be torn into and to be regularly doubted despite the numbers staring the critics right in the face. We’ve seen it happen to some of the very best – these names ranging from such prima donnas as Mesut Ozil to Cristiano Ronaldo, who can stake his claim to be the greatest footballer of all time.

This is not an attempt to compare Vardy to either of those two – they supplant the Fleetwood Town striker by some margin – but to merely point out that such constructed narratives are part and parcel of the game, and they are not to be looked into to judge any player, especially someone like Jamie Vardy.

The 31-year old is unique. No one epitomises a footballer with endless possibilities quite like he does – not Harry Kane, not Raheem Sterling, not Kyle Walker, or anyone else who is fortunate enough to be wearing the whites of England this summer. The moment you think you’ve found out where does he stop, he’s there to prove you wrong.

And it’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. From being impetuously dubbed a one-season wonder after the title win to being branded lucky, he has been refuting each and every claim year after year. In this respect, he is a bit like Cristiano Ronaldo, the master of defying logic and disrespecting theories.

Vardy isn’t as skilful or as genius like the Galactico, but he has the mental strength that’s similar to him, which is his most important asset. He has the potential to beat his own potential, and do things that we consider a stretch too far for him, like winning the Premier League, scoring in 11 consecutive league games or scoring 11 goals against the top six in one season.

Representing the Three Lions at a World Cup is in itself a stretch too far for this harmless guy from Sheffield, but now that he is here, you just know he is not going to mess around.

If given his chance, the Leicester City striker can be England’s unlikely Galactico in Russia, but an atypical Galactico – one who doesn’t achieve the spectacular by virtue of the beauty of his football, but with his scrappiness, with the ability to play out of his skin and get under that of his opponent.

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It might sound far-fetchedly far-fetched, which it truly is on such a stage; however, it is not to be forgotten that Jamie Vardy’s is a career based on making a mockery of possibilities and probabilities. So long as he continues to play Football, he’d keep on doing just that, and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it.