Ranieri backs Vardy to end barren scoring run
JAMIE VARDY has been reassured he will hit double figures for Leicester this season — and come good like the world’s best under Claudio Ranieri.
The Leicester manager is convinced the England star will return to the goal trail as he prepares to face one of his favourite opponents today.
The striker has gone 11 games without a goal for Leicester but has scored late winners twice against West Brom, in April 2015 and October 2015. Vardy scored 24 goals for City last season, to help them win the Premier League, and has been long-listed with team-mate Riyad Mahrez for the Ballon d’Or prize for the world’s greatest player.
But his current barren run is the longest he has gone since March 21, 2015, when he went 23 games without finding the net.
Ranieri is, however, unconcerned about his striker’s drought, which stretches back to a 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on September 10. The Italian believes Vardy has paid a heavy price for his record of scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League games last season.
‘I think at the end of this season, he will have double figures in goals,’ said Ranieri. ‘Scoring 11 in a row is not an easy thing to do. Sometimes goalscorers have to pay for what happened one season when the next one starts.
‘But he’s not anxious. He’s very calm. I say to him, “the important thing is the job you are doing for the team, and sooner or later the goals will arrive”.
‘The big champions know it’s very important to stay calm. I never see him trying do something that says, “I want to score, I want to dribble here”.
‘Jamie is focused on the team. He is not a selfish player.’
Ranieri has managed some of the biggest names in world football and says they have all come through tough periods in front of goal.
‘I have worked with some very fantastic strikers — Gabriel Batistuta, Careca, Daniel Fonseca, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Gianfranco Zola, Alessandro Del Piero — big champions always know they can score,’ he said. ‘Jamie has always scored lots of goals.’