VARDY IS TENSATIONAL
Record striker Jamie in the same league as Batistuta, says Ranieri
CLAUDIO RANIERI paused for a splitsecond when he realised the notable comparison he had drawn. Then, having accepted that Jamie Vardy and Gabriel Batistuta are perfectly at home in the same sentence, he continued.
‘Batistuta scored 11 goals in a row for me at Fiorentina — that is the best run by any player I have managed,’ said the Italian, whose current No9 has now equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of netting in 10 consecutive Premier League matches.
‘Vardy can achieve and beat this. It is amazing we are mentioning him in the same breath, so strange when four years ago he was playing non-League football.
‘In my career, I know just one player like him who has taken the same route to the top. He was a Juventus player called Moreno Torricelli who went from non-League Caratese to Serie A and won the Scudetto.’
With each passing week, however, the sight of Vardy — like Torricelli, a former factory worker — scoring goals and terrorising top-flight defences is becoming less strange.
Leicester are top of the table and that is because of their England striker, as much as he and his boss may protest otherwise.
On Saturday, against a woeful Newcastle, the 28-year-old was again awesome. It was classy and entirely fitting of the St James’ Park crowd to rise and applaud him from the field when he made way 13 minutes from time.
The Geordies appreciated this working-class hero, for they had witnessed a player boasting the electrifying pace of Craig Bellamy yet allied to the finishing of Alan Shearer, two of their old favourites.
Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time record goalscorer, had tweeted Vardy earlier in the day to wish him good luck, joking that any goal would be nothing more than a ‘consolation’. Shearer was not smiling when he later came to assess a ‘woeful, embarrassing, hopeless and inept’ Newcastle display, but on Vardy he said: ‘He’s the story of the season and I’m so pleased for him.’
It has been suggested he would be the ideal signing for a top-four team looking to inject some aggression and energy into their frontline. Perhaps observers are forgetting his current side sit top of the table. Not that Vardy is getting carried away.
‘It was a brilliant feeling to equal the record but the main thing was to go back home with the three points,’ said Vardy, preferring not to celebrate his feat, with the prospect of setting a new record against Manchester United next Saturday now the target.
‘We kept a clean sheet as well, so Mr Ranieri might be getting the pizzas in again! But I’m keeping my feet on the ground. I’ll be getting back on that training field now, looking at ways where I can possibly hurt Man United’s defence.’
Foxes midfielder Danny Drinkwater believes Vardy is simply reaping the benefits of his impressive work ethic.
‘He crosses the white line and I don’t think he worries about records or anything,’ added Drinkwater.
‘He just knuckles down to the game and enjoys his football. The more he gets, the better.
‘He’s working hard for the team as well as getting his goals so you won’t see any lad in the dressing room questioning anything about him on the pitch. He’s a great lad to play with and he’s definitely the difference.’
This isn’t a team that have shot to the top with the campaign in its infancy. Indeed, a third of the season has now passed and Leicester have deservedly clawed their way to the summit.
Vardy is the inspiration but his supporting cast are no less talented and tenacious.
Drinkwater added: ‘We’re just a solid team. We play to our strengths, try and not play to our weaknesses — it’s not rocket science. The gaffer’s come in, changed a few things, improved a few things, it’s working.’
Vardy’s opener — he dropped his shoulder to escape a defender before smashing into the bottom corner — was followed by goals from Leonardo Ulloa and Shinji Okazaki, while Riyad Mahrez evoked memories of another former Tyneside resident, Hatem Ben Arfa.
Ben Arfa was unplayable at his best and Newcastle had no answer to Mahrez, the Algerian playmaker who tormented them with trickery and guile.
Newcastle, meanwhile, fielded the ineffective Florian Thauvin, a £13million buy from the French first division during the summer.
Ranieri broke from the acclaim of Vardy to hail Drinkwater’s contribution in midfield but talk soon returned to the history-maker.
‘When I arrived, I watched a lot of videos from last season and was impressed how much he pressed the opponents,’ said Ranieri. ‘Whether he scores is not so important to me, but it is to have players who work so hard.
‘He is not the kind of forward who will just stand and wait for the right ball. He will attack the space and press hard and that helps the team. That is why I am so happy with him.’