Claudio: No Vard times for my Jamie
GRIEZ IS THE WORD AT UNITED
CLAUDIO RANIERI has rubbished talk that goal-shy Jamie Vardy is suffering a crisis of confidence, declaring: ‘He’s as happy as ever.’
Leicester’s England marksman (below) heads into today’s home clash against West Brom having not scored in his last 12 outings for both club and country.
That drought is in stark contrast to Vardy’s prolific form this time last year when he set a new Premier League record by scoring in ELEVEN consecutive games.
Yet Leicester manager Ranieri is adamant that, despite his current chronic run, the Three Lions ace remains the same upbeat, livewire character of 12 months ago.
And while backing HARRY PRATT Vardy to start plundering the goals again soon, the Italian also tipped him to reach double figures come the end of the campaign.
Ranieri said: “When some strikers don’t score for a while, you see them becoming nervous. But when I see Jamie, I don’t feel he is nervous.
“When I speak to him, I say, ‘Don’t worry, the important thing is the job you do for the team and sooner or later the goals will arrive.’
“He’s not anxious. I don’t see that. I see him being normal, always laughing, battling on the training pitch – just like last season.
“You know sometimes goalscorers have to pay for what happened one season when the next one starts. But I think at the end of this season his goals total will be in double figures.” Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer recently accused Vardy, 29, of sulking and not putting in a shift for the team. But Ranieri hit back: “When I see Jamie on the pitch I never see him trying do something that says, ‘I want to score.’ “That means Jamie is focused on the team. He’s not selfish!” MANCHESTER UNITED could miss out on top-target Antoine Griezmann (left) if they fail to return to the Champions League next season. That is the fear at Old Trafford, where the France striker is No.1 on United’s wishlist after Gareth Bale – as expected – signed a new contract at Real Madrid. Griezmann, 25, is an £80million target for United next summer when it is looking increasingly likely that he will leave Atletico PAUL HETHERINGTON Madrid. Money is no object to United but their struggle to qualify for the Champions League could be an obstacle.
That is because United are hearing that Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, subject to being free of an embargo, are all poised to join the battle for Griezmann.
And they will all be able to offer Champions League action, while United are currently off the pace again to qualify. The forward’s situation was already being eyed by another three Premier League clubs – Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City – as revealed in the Daily Star Sunday in September.
The France marksman was the top scorer at Euro 2016 this summer with six goals.
He is under contract until 2021 but there have been hints he is ready for a new challenge.
Old Trafford is believed to be his preferred option and he is close to Paul Pogba, his France team-mate.
But ideally Griezmann would prefer to continue to play in Europe’s top competition, which underlines the importance of United securing a top-four finish.