Vardy hailed by Rodgers as one of the best
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers believes he has instilled in Jamie Vardy the confidence to prove he is one of the best strikers in Europe.
The Premier League’s leading scorer heads to Aston Villa today in inspired form, scoring in each of his last seven appearances, and with nine in total in those games to take his tally to 14 for season, and 23 overall following Rodgers’ arrival in February.
It is a stunning about-turn for the 32-year-old, who struggled last season for goals under Claude Puel prior to the Frenchman’s sacking.
“The huge credit is to him,” insisted Rodgers. “He’s an incredible talent who has all the attributes that big teams look for in their profile of a striker – fast and hard-working. Through all my days, that’s the profile of player I like, too.
“Coming into here, I knew he was one of best in Europe, and it was a case of giving him the confidence to show that.
“Sometimes players can get into their early 30s and be written off. But in seeing his energy and speed, it was a case of him fitting into how we wanted to work, which I felt would be fairly easy.
“And he wants to work, to run in behind, to press, so with how I like teams to play, he was a natural.
“So the huge praise goes to him, to take on board what we wanted, and then to have that consistency and hunger, and that’s proven very impressive.”
Unlike many strikers, Vardy has also displayed an altruistic nature and team ethic that has also delighted Rodgers.
“That’s what makes him a joy to work with,” said Rodgers. “He wants to score goals, but he also wants to create goals. He is a very selfless player.
“Jamie is a team player. Everything he does is in the best interests of the team, and when you have someone like that at his level, it’s great to have that quality and mindset in the team.”
Villa boss Dean Smith also believes Vardy has proved there is no ceiling to his talents.
“He is a late grower into the game and is certainly flourishing,” he said.
“I think people thought maybe the season they became champions was his big season and might have been the top.
“But he is certainly showing and proving there is still life in him.”