Jamie Vardy wore the baffled expression of a man struggling to comprehend that anyone could even dream of trying to steal his thunder. When Vardy won Leicester City’s penalty and Riyad Mahrez picked up the ball, it was like a raw steak had been dangled under a hungry dog’s nose and whipped away at the last moment.
Mahrez was acting on instinct, given that he is usually Leicester’s designated taker. The Algerian winger has already been successful twice from 12 yards this season and he has played a crucial role in Leicester climbing to third in the table, scoring seven league goals and tormenting full-backs with his bewitching wing play, but the crowd made it clear that they wanted the headline act to take the penalty.
With Vardy growling away in the background, Mahrez eventually turned away from the spot and handed the ball over to the striker whose hunger for goals is insatiable at the moment, giving him the chance to move one behind Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 10 consecutive Premier League games. “Riyad is our penalty taker and it just shows what kind of team we are,” Danny Drinkwater said. “Riyad realised the run Jamie was on and passed him the ball – and credit to Riyad. He has just shown what a team player he can be.”
Vardy promptly secured Leicester’s 2-1 victory over Watford by walloping in his 12th goal of the season and afterwards the debate turned to whether Roy Hodgson should use him through the middle in England’s friendlies against Spain on Friday and France on 17 November. Hodgson played him on the left wing in England’s win over Lithuania last month and it is difficult to see Vardy starting instead of Harry Kane or Wayne Rooney in a central role.
Drinkwater believes Vardy will have to accept Hodgson’s decision. “His biggest threat is when he plays down the middle but there might be times when he needs to bite his tongue,” the midfielder said. “International football is totally different and if that’s where the manager for England wants him to play he’s going to have to deal with it. But he’s most dangerous when he’s up front.”
Claudio Ranieri was diplomatic. “With our squad it is important to play in the middle,” Leicester’s manager said. “Roy has other ideas because he plays 4-3-3; he puts him on the left so he can cut inside.”
Yet a big smile spread across the face of Watford’s manager, Quique Sánchez Flores, when he was asked whether Vardy should be England’s No9. “Oh, of course,” Flores said. “Vardy? He is amazing. He’s the best striker at the moment. He is always willing to run and play and get behind the back of the defensive line. He is very difficult to stop. I think we stopped him well but it is very hard.”
Part of the debate about Vardy centres on the understandable expectation that a 28-year-old who was playing non-league football three years ago will be unable to sustain his incredible form. He is all hard edges and honest endeavour, with his relentless running and ceaseless hounding of defenders, and no one predicted that he would be the Premier League’s leading goalscorer by the second week of November. Surely, the doubters say, the goals will dry up at some point and Vardy will revert to what he was last season, a decent, versatile forward with a healthy work appetite.
Yet he has shown enough quality this season to suggest that he will not fade away and, in a way, Vardy symbolises the rise of this Leicester side. There were raised eyebrows when they replaced Nigel Pearson with Ranieri in the summer but they have gone from strength to strength since then.
Although Leicester were not at their best in the first half against Watford, they increased the intensity at the start of the second and the impressive N’Golo Kanté gave them a fortuitous lead after a mistake by Watford’s goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes, who compounded his error by booting Vardy into the air 13 minutes later. It’s one way to stop him.
Man of the match Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
