Dyche’s lift for Keane
Why I dropped Vardy
CLAUDE PUEL says he has had no choice but to carefully manage Jamie Vardy after a troubled first half of the season for his striker.
Vardy was controversially left out of Leicester’s Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat by Manchester City last week. Puel’s decision improve it. But when we win I insist they are calm and now it is the same. We lose a game, it happens, and focus on the next one.
“Last season we dropped points and immediately won again. That’s what we have to do. We have two games away before the New Year and we have to do that.” City have not dropped points in the match following a was justified by a fully fit and firing Vardy, right, hitting the winner in the unexpected 1-0 win at Chelsea on Saturday.
Puel said: “Jamie has had a lot of problems since the beginning of the season.
“He has had two injuries, a suspension, no proper pre-season, a lot of things. We need to have Jamie match fit to play his best. Against Chelsea he gave us the right response.
“The reason he did not play against City was to protect him. It’s important to manage all the players.”
TONY BANKS SEAN DYCHE has revealed he rang Michael Keane to cheer up his former player when he was struggling after leaving Burnley for Everton.
Keane left Turf Moor in 2017 with a first England cap under his belt. But the central defender became a virtual recluse after poor form in his first two months coincided with the sacking of manager Ronald Koeman.
“There were a few months when things were going really badly and I did not really want to go and do things out of the house,” Keane admitted last month.
Everton, though, have picked up again under Marco Silva and Keane has won back his England place, starting the friendly against the USA after a year in international wilderness.
Now Keane returns
Vto Turf Moor, the ground where he built his reputation after spending his formative years in Manchester United’s academy.
“I spoke to him a couple of times last year,” said Dyche. “I think he had a tough time last year. I told him to keep doing what he was doing. He knew he was a good player and it was just the little things.
“I don’t know why it did not work out for him to start with. It was tough for him, very tough.
“He was fantastic for us – a brilliant professional. He arrived a bit under the radar but went to them for a lot of money. A lot of other players went in at the same time and it did not quite mould as quickly as possible.”