‘He’s one of the best in the league’: Brendan Rodgers on Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has branded Jamie Vardy as one of the best in the league.
Vardy was breathing fire again in his side’s 4-1 win over Huddersfield Town, as the 32-year old scored a brace to take his tally to 15 Premier League goals for the season.
In the process, he also overtook the legendary Gary Lineker on the club’s all-time scoring chart. The former Fleetwood Town forward now has 104 goals (!) for Leicester.
Naturally, Rodgers couldn’t stop himself from showering his main man with plenty of praise.
"“Gary was obviously a top-class striker for many years, but it’s been a real joy to work with Jamie, I think from the first evening I met him when I joined,” Rodgers said.“He’s very hungry to improve and get better, and obviously the style of the team and the impression of the team always helps him.“You’re pressing the game hard when you haven’t got it [the ball] and you’re creating opportunities.“He’s one of the best in this league, he’s already proven that, but he’s shown the hunger to continue with that.”"
Most of us were guilty of holding the opinion that Vardy was finished at the top level – but what do we know?
Since Rodgers’ arrival, he has six goals and one assist in five appearances (eight goals in his last eight), a tally that he took 14 appearances to match under Claude Puel.
The biggest difference between then and now is that Leicester are sharper, more direct and more adventurous.
Puel was often guilty of not affording the players the freedom that they crave for. On the other hand, Rodgers has given them that license to express, resulting in everyone performing better than before and more importantly, everyone enjoying himself.
While Vardy has benefitted the most, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Wilfred Ndidi, Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira et al have also thrived under this new-found independence.
Next. Huddersfield Town 1-4 Leicester City: Match report, player ratings. dark
They must, however, continue at the same level till the end of the season if they are beat Wolverhampton Wanderers to seventh spot. A couple months back, it looked like an unrealistic dream, but now, it looks possible and the players think much the same – which is a big plus.