The Leicester City talisman and now minority shareholder owner of Rochester Rhinos had an interesting 2020/21. Goals were present and another achievement was ticked off the list, but was there a worrying trend leaking into Jamie Vardy’s season for a second consecutive season? Damon Carter takes a look to find out
Jamie Vardy, Leicester City stats:
Appearances total – 42 / Premier League – 34 / FA Cup – 4 / Europa League – 4 / EFL Cup – 0
Goals total – 17
Moment to savour – The hat trick at the Etihad and a 5-2 win
Moment to forget – Not dispatching an easy one on one at St Mary’s that would have given the Foxes two more crucial points in the battle for the top four.
Jamie Vardy’s importance to Leicester has almost become the nonchalant bit of information that any football fan could roll off to mask that they know next to nothing about life at The King Power stadium. They may add in that – his age is becoming a factor – which means that Leicester’s inevitable decline is approaching. The truth is that this season has completely put to bed that the Foxes are a one man team as for the first time in 6 seasons, Vardy was not the club’s top scorer.
To the untrained eye though that would be easy to look past as he raced into the season with eight goals in his first eight games. His sharpness and eye for comedy was still there in spades as he cupped his ear to an empty Hawthornes on the opening day of the season after another goal. Then came a hat trick at a remarkable 5-2 thrashing of eventual champions Manchester City where Vardy scored an incredible through the leg finish. Winners at Arsenal and Sheffield United followed, as well as a dramatic last minute equaliser in Braga . Up to Christmas he’d scored thirteen goals in all competitions, contributing four assists.
All looked rosy in the garden of Jamie, but in truth the cracks were already starting to appear. Penalties are normally a strikers bread and butter and Vardy is no different, but his reliance on them this season has been telling. Of those thirteen goals he scored seven were penalties.
What happened after Christmas was an alarming drop off. Of the 25 games he played from New years day he scored just two goals from open play with one of them being a goal against Liverpool which most of us would expect our elderly relatives to poke in. This may sound harsh and in many ways it is as there are reasons for this drop off. In January the club felt it necessary for Vardy to have groin surgery which meant him being out of the side for five games where an emerging Kelechi Iheanacho started to build his confidence.
Since the groin surgery it has been noticeable how freely he isn’t moving on the pitch, there is a rigid nature to his finishing, gone are the opening of the body finishes so characteristic of his play. He is snatching at chances and doesn’t seem calm, is he worried he might open his groin too far again? Is it just as simple as he needs more of a rest to enable him to give those bursts of energy again. However his contribution around the pitch are still fruitful and with a healthy dose of assists (nine in the Premier league) assured him of the sixth best billing for goal contributions. He draws the eyes of centre backs who are desperately trying to monitor his runs off the shoulder and out wide.
This is the second season in a row where Vardy has started the season in strong fashion for Leicester City only to finish meekly. This is potentially to be expected of a 34 year old striker who relies on pace and sharpness. Likewise it is not ideal that he is rarely afforded a rest which must be contributing to his lack of sharpness and burn out during the season. Although Iheanacho is starting to look the real deal, Vardy is now his partner, which gives him even less cover. Vardy will surely be the most delighted to see a new striker join (maybe even two?) if he is to prolong his career at the top. Although a canny financial move to owning the Rochester Rhinos in MLS, could signal the potential for where he sees his future. Time will tell.
Rating: 7.5/10
The future: The fire is still burning in his belly, but the spark is starting to flicker, needs more rest in 21/22 to prolong his quality years at the top
Chances of Leaving: 0%