When fans and pundits alike list their greatest Premier League strikers ever, the usual suspects of Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry will appear. Some even like to throw in names such as Jermaine Defoe or Robin Van Persie. But there is one name that tends to elude people’s lists, despite having all the accolades and the goal scoring resume to go with it, that man is Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy.
It has been ten years since the South Yorkshireman first signed for the Foxes and is his eighth year in the top flight, but still at the ripe age of 35, Vardy continues to avoid father time. While continuing to play at the highest level with a pinnacle level of production.
City fans for years have been very tired of hearing the age-old clichés surrounding LCFC’s No.9: That he only scores goals from balls in behind, and that he relies solely on electric pace to score goals. Anyone who has watched Vardy play regularly during his career will know this is completely ignorant and actually; that his entire game has developed exponentially since he made that £1million move a decade ago today. Please now click the link underneath to go directly to the next page.
The reason why City’s marksman does score so many via running in behind, even at this point of his career, is due to his movement being so elite. He is constantly on the shoulder, in between defenders. Some may think this is purely so that he can make runs in behind and although partly true, it is also so that he is never in the direct eye-line of his markers. This means defenders must react to his runs and cannot anticipate sprints. As a result, that half a second delay is all it takes for ‘JV9’ to go into that space and rifle the ball into the net.
So, not only does the East Midlands side’s main man pass the eye test, he also has many winning intangibles: the sheer will, desire and ferocity that he plays with is something that much of world football would agree is missing from the modern game. Additionally, you could argue most importantly, in this statistic driven time we live in, that his goal scoring numbers do really match up with, and in some cases supersede, some of the greatest strikers to ever grace English football.
‘Vardz’ currently holds two goal scoring records in the EPL, one prompting the famous “it’s 11 its heaven for Jamie Vardy”, after he scored in an unbelievable 11 straight games breaking Ruud Van Nistlerooy’s 10. As well as this season breaking the great Ian Wright’s record for goals over the age of 30, which he could now potentially, when all is said and done, put his new record well beyond any other possible candidate’s reach.
This is another great example of why the City man is so underrated, just take look at the who’s records he is breaking, players that many would consider to be superior to him. Though records like these would suggest otherwise.
Vardy sits 14th all time with regard to netting in the EPL, with a sensational 132. He is only 18 away from Michael Owen in 10th, so it is very likely that the 35-year-old will finish his career in the top 10 If he stays full fit, he could potentially achieve this next season. While in conjunction having an outstanding goal to game ratio of 0.49. Just to put that in context of how good that is, he has a greater goal ratio than six of that top ten. That record is greater than Owen, Robbie Fowler and even Andy Cole; players considered legends of the game.
Even without factoring in his personal accolades, and ones from Football Writers – Player of the Season, English top-flight Player of the Season, Golden Boot winner, 4x Player of the Month and of course a Premier League medal – Leicester’s goalscorer is without a doubt a dead set to be inducted into the EPL Hall of Fame once he hangs up his boots. Which will finally reveal to pundits and fans how they underrated him so much for so long. He will be forever immortalised in the eyes of City fans, and sure enough, the rest of football as well.