Enzo Maresca names Leicester’s most important player
Leicester City head coach Enzo Maresca has recently named one player their most important, in a pick which is controversial if understandable. Here’s why.
The King Power club need to rely on their spring of impressive talents if they are to gain promotion at the first time of asking. Maresca has already named a list of crucial players for the Foxes, but one name has been placed firmly at the top – the legendary striker Jamie Vardy.
Leicester City’s most important player
Although he has not featured much this season – which has diminished his ratings against other forwards – there is a lot more to ‘Vards’ than just goals. As the Italian head coach himself has said:
"“His history talks for itself. He’s a huge player, a big player. Probably the most important player we have”"
Heritage. What Vardy brings is a name, a story, and a passion to play for this badge unlike any other we have seen before. Whenever anyone imagines what it means to be a Fox, they think of the English striker, late into his career, bursting onto the scene and dominating the Premier League, showing all the loyalty and emotion for this club.
For Leicester, this makes the forward something unique: a leader that can still hark back to the great days long gone, the abyssal lows, the ecstatic highs, and the record-breaking moments in the recent history of the club. A player who the youngsters will all know, the opposition will all know, and who the team carries immense respect for. A captain even without the armband.
On top of this, Vardy’s playing important stretches beyond the occasional goal or assist. The attacking threat and opposition fear offered by the mere presence and movement of Vardy alters the flow and direction of matches. The Foxes may appear to sleep, but when the moment comes, the pace and ferocity to strike straight through the heart of defences awakens with explosive vitality: the very element exhibited by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Kasey McAteer, Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, the now gone Harvey Barnes, and our ‘Rocketman’ Ricardo Pereira.
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Vardy sets the standard for the mentality Maresca wants to see from Leicester City. Vardy is how the team should think, and Marescaball is how they should play. This is why the head coach has cast aside those not 100% focused on the King Power club: they might be able to play well, but can they think like and follow Jamie Vardy?