Jamie Vardy does not need to adapt to thrive again with the onus on his Leicester City team-mates to create more opportunities for him, manager Dean Smith has said.
Vardy’s long wait for a Premier League goal reaches six months this weekend, with his only previous strike this term coming in the reverse fixture against Saturday’s opponents Wolves, the number nine finishing a Timothy Castagne cross to round off a 4-0 victory.
From the outside, it has looked like Vardy’s age has now caught up with him, the striker turning 36 in January. But Smith is insistent that Vardy can still play the way he always has, sitting on the shoulder of the last man and running in behind.
The problem for City and for Vardy’s goal tally has been that the passes to him haven’t come often enough, the new manager believes.
Dean Smith said: “All I can talk about is what I’ve seen, and the hunger and desire are there. Are his legs there? I haven’t been able to dismiss his legs with what I’ve seen so far. I have no qualms in playing him. I don’t think he needs to adapt. He can still play that role of being off the shoulder and making the runs. The problem has been if the ball is not coming, and the ball hasn’t been coming too frequently. When that happens you come a little deeper to get involved and that’s what I feel has happened.”
Vardy did not start any of Brendan Rodgers’ final eight games in charge, but has been in the 11 for all three since. While he does need to be managed as he reaches the twilight of his career, it’s not the case that he wants to wind down himself.
Dean Smith added: “Vards doesn’t want to be rested, he just wants to go and play. We’ve been dragging him off the training ground. He’s been out doing extra finishing. It’s what I wanted to see. I spoke to Craig (Shakespeare), who has worked with him to get an idea of what he was like and Craig spoke glowingly of him. He’s just become the first player in Leicester’s history to play 300 Premier League games which tells you all you need to know about him, He’s 36 now – he probably won’t like me mentioning that – so he will have to be managed. But some of the others will have to be managed as well. I’ve said to them, the easy part for me is picking the team. That 11 are happy. The others are the important ones because we can have a strong bench to finish games for us.”
