Secret of Vardy’s eternal youth

Beers in lockdown and cryotherapy

JAM I EVA RD Y, if you didn’t already know, turns 35 in January. He’s only a year younger than Wayne Rooney.

It means the perennial question that follows him every season gets asked again: how long can Vardy keep going?

That’s not the right question. The question, more accurately, is how long can he keep improving.

It’s only two seasons ago that Vardy won the Golden Boot. He’s off the mark already this season, scoring the winner against Wolves and, true to character, howling in front of the rival fans. In pre-season running tests, Vardy finished top alongside a Leicester teammate in his early 20s. He’s still posting record low body-fat.

‘ You only need to look at his physique, look at his torso, and look at everything about him, he is so fit,’ said manager Brendan Rodgers.

‘He is physically in a great place. Every time Jamie plays, you want him to be electric, you want him to be dynamic. You want him to be making runs. You know when he can do that he is such a threat. He’s a nightmare for defenders. So that is going to be managing that over the course of the season.

‘You saw last weekend, he was so good. I just love watching him when he’s like that. He’s a joy to have in the team. He’s got that devilment that I love. He continues to defy everyone who thinks he is slowing down.’

If Vardy scores against West Ham tomorrow, it will be his 120th Premier League goal. That puts him alongside Steven Gerrard. He’ll be three behind Dwight Yorke and five behind Nicolas Anelka.

It will be Vardy’s 247th game in the competition. Yorke played 375, Anelka 364. Of those players ahead of him, only Alan Shearer, Sergio Aguero, Thierry Henry, Harry Kane and Robin van Persie have scored their goals at a faster rate. Vardy’s hit rate is just below a goal every other game.

It’s a wonder, really, how he’s managed it. This is the same Vardy, after all, who as a teenager bought bread and dripping for 20p on his way to school. The same Vardy who drank port from a Lucozade bottle the night before games and gobbled down cheese- and- ham toasties and baked beans on the morning of a match. The same one who still necks multiple cans of Red Bull and shots of double espresso on game day. Vardy, too, like many of us, spent his summer drinking beers on his sofa. No personal training regime. He relaxed with his wife Rebekah and their five children. He tinkered on his allotment.

Yet come the game, there he was scoring in his fifth consecutive Premier League opener. The rest was what he needed after the end of a season that saw him suffer with a groin injury, score just four goals in the second half of the campaign and play the support act to Kelechi Iheanacho. One, it should be noted, he did excellently. His all-round play is another aspect of his game t hat has improved over the years.

Rodgers knows it’s about managing Vardy. He won’t be able to play every game, certainly not when the Europa League and cup competitions begin. He won’t train every day either.

The club are planning for life without him with the £23m arrival of Patson Daka from RB Salzburg. Iheanacho’s 11 goals in the final 12 games of last season proved he can help carry the baton.

For now, it’s still about keeping their main man fresh. All the talk of port and cheese toasties paints Vardy as more of a caricature than the dedicated professional he is. He understands his body. He had a cryotherapy chamber installed in his home to help with his recovery. He’s helped, too, by the fact his Football League career didn’t start until he was 25. His retirement from international football allows for rest. ‘He’s a top-class professional,’ says Rodgers. ‘You don’t produce what he does if you’re not. He is a fun-loving character but very professional in his work. He is in early every day. He gets in about 9am, gets ready, gets prepared, eating the right things. He’s still very hungry. Very focused. He loves it. Look at the joy when he plays. He is great to work with.’

Rodgers has encouraged Vardy to focus his press more. You won’t see Vardy hurtle from one side of the pitch to the other after a loose ball as much as he used to. ‘The king of lost causes,’ as Rodgers calls him. Now, he will focus his press on the centre-backs, to keep the fire and intensity.

West Ham boss David Moyes said: ‘I think you have to be collectively trying to look after Jamie Vardy. He is a terrific player and looks as if he is getting better.’

It’s not just Rodgers who is planning for the future. Vardy recently became co- owner of US team Rochester Rhinos.