Saturday 20 June 2015 12:54, UK
The stats show that there is far more to England newcomer Jamie Vardy than just goals. Adam Bate looks at what makes the Leicester City striker special...
It's been quite a journey for Jamie Vardy. The man who was playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Northern Premier League when he was 23 looks set to make his debut up front for England at the age of 28. The tale couldn’t be more compelling if he’d been temping at the same beetroot factory as Rickie Lambert. But sentiment has got nothing to do with this decision.
It’s apparent when watching Vardy in action just how hard he has worked for this opportunity. Perhaps it’s inevitable that some will question his inclusion and his pedigree, but that seems particularly churlish given the demands for England to name a strong Under-21 line-up. Roy Hodgson has done just that with Harry Kane, Danny Ings and Saido Berahino finding themselves in that squad.
While Vardy’s tally of five Premier League goals does not make a compelling case on its own, the list of English strikers with more than that is not a long one. In fact, the only ones among them ignored by England are the familiar faces of Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor and the 31-year-old Glenn Murray. Significantly, Vardy has more assists this season than the three of them put together.
Assist maker
Indeed, Vardy’s assists tally is remarkable. No striker has more. While his total of eight is matched by Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez, there is no other forward with more than five assists and it’s not a coincidence either – Vardy ranks among the top three for clear chances created too. It’s testament to the fact that Vardy brings more to a team than mere goals.
Hard work is the key quality that sets him apart. There’s a visceral joy at the sight of Vardy – eyes bulging and arms pumping – chasing down a ball into the corner. “He’s got something a lot of other people haven’t got,” Leicester coach Kevin Phillips told Sky Sports. “He’s got raw pace. He upsets defenders, causes mayhem and that creates space and opportunities for other people.”
He (Vardy) has got something a lot of other people haven’t got. He’s got raw pace. He upsets defenders, causes mayhem and that creates space and opportunities for other people.
Vardy looks like a man anxious to squeeze every drop of talent from his body for fear that his Premier League adventure could be taken away, but it would be wrong to suggest that this is no more than a harum-scarum approach to the game. It’s part of a methodology that’s at the heart of what Leicester boss Nigel Pearson wants from his team.
Defending from the front
Pearson has played a variety of different formations this season, but much of the late season success that lifted Leicester away from danger came with Vardy playing up front in a 3-4-1-2. Operating with two strikers makes defending from the front essential and Vardy’s hard running makes it viable, as Leicester’s then head of technical scouting Rob Mackenzie explained at the start of the season.
“Work rate is really important under this manager,” Mackenzie, now at Tottenham, told Sky Sports. “If you’re playing as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 then you’re not going to go chasing centre-backs, but if we are playing a 4-4-2 the front two would be expected to defend from the front. So you have to take into account that his stats might be based on what he’s being told to do.”
As a result, Vardy does not merely wait for service in the centre but presses the entire opposition defence in order to force a mistake and win back possession. It’s something Leicester’s analysts take extremely seriously. “We subjectively code our work rate,” added Mackenzie. “I think it’s something that is more relevant higher up the pitch. Who is initiating the pressing?
“When we code and analyse players we have three categories: (1) Forced turnover; when the player presses an opponent and they skew it out of play or give it away. (2) Forced decision; when they still keep possession but the player who has engaged them has forced them to go backwards or laterally. (3) Pressing attempt; when it’s OK but it doesn’t have the same intensity as the other two.
“Whether they press from the front or not is something that we can immediately see. Do they look to turn the ball over high up the pitch similar to what we would expect? For example, in our team at the moment we have Jamie Vardy whose pressing is really impressive. So we can use his data that we generate in-house as a benchmark.”
Vardy provides some benchmark. He ranks among the top 10 strikers for interceptions, a product of his speed. His recent efforts also saw him produce more high-intensity sprints than anyone else on the pitch in four of his last seven appearances, three of which he was substituted in. He led the way in the 5-1 win over QPR before departing after 65 minutes to a standing ovation.
Whether that sort of approach can translate itself to international level remains to be seen, but Hodgson is rewarding the efforts that have enjoyed success in the Premier League. With four goals and four assists in a 10-match run that saw Leicester pick up more points than anyone since April, he's the form man at the form team. It’s been quite a journey for Jamie Vardy. But the journey isn’t over yet.
