When future generations are told about the history of English football, it will be an obligatory story to tell them the fable of Leicester and Jamie Vardy. A memorable team that, seven seasons ago, touched glory by winning its first Premier League in its 139-year history. And a good part of that crown of foxes It is due to that boy born and raised in Sheffield who could not succeed in the club of his city because he was ‘short’. Today, little or nothing remains of that squad that fell in love with the world. At the controls of Brendan Rodgers, Leicester walks towards the abyss of the Championship and the light of ‘9’ has gradually gone out at the King Power Stadium.
Since that feat, Leicester’s situation has plummeted to the limit of touching the bottom. Classified in seventeenth position, the foxes They are one point from relegation this season and they chain five consecutive days without winning. In addition, they did not have the dream start, by no means, since the first victory in the Premier did not come until the eighth day at the hands of Nottingham. Leicester’s condition is critical and, the march this summer of two capital pieces such as Kasper Schmeichel and Wesley Fofanawe must add the poor performance of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans or Jamie Vardy himself.
Precisely, The English striker is going through his worst moment since his arrival in 2012 from Fleetwood. The ‘9’ has lost all the leading role to the point of having been relegated to the bench. In the shadow of Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka, Vardy has become a regular substitute. In this season, the 36-year-old striker has played a total of 31 games, in which he has contributed four goals and five assists.
Even sharper registers he possesses in Premier, where The man from Sheffield has played 26 games, scoring just one goal in his 1,276 minutes on the pitch. In addition, in the last six league games he has been a substitute and with the ‘9’ starting from the start up to 11 times in domestic competition, Leicester could only add two wins. His last goal was on December 20 in the EFL Cup round of 16 against MK Dons. Undoubtedly, very discreet figures for a Vardy who, in the last five seasons, has scored fifteen goals in the Premier: 15 goals in the 2021/22 and 2020/21 seasons, 23 scored in 2019/20, 18 in 2018/19 and up to 20 in 2017/18).
English is living history of the foxesbecause in addition to being the Third all-time top scorer for the club with 168 goals (only surpassed by Arthur Rowley with 265 and Arthur Chandler with 273), his arrival at Leicester marked a before and after. To the league feat of the 2015/16 season, we must add five years later, the conquest of the FA Cup at the hands of Chelsea and the Community Shield against Manchester City. But Vardy not only took the name of Leicester to the top of England, but also to the Old Continent where the United Kingdom team reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
An uncertain future
Jamie is an incredible player for this club and he will become a club legend. There are always periods in players’ careers where they start to sink. We have seen it with all the great players and that is why I have always been cautious with him. He’s a great player to have on our team and whether it’s starting or coming off the bench he can have a huge impact. But we can’t depend on Jamie. Whatever it is for him, she won’t take anything away from him that she did before. Time reaches everyone. He is still very determined to have the impact that he can for the club and I am glad that he is here to do it, ”Brendan Rodgers commented a few months ago about his situation.
Vardy has a contract with the foxes until June 2024, but the future of English seems to be further and further from the King Power Stadium. With his age and future offers from more exotic leagues as the main culprits, the story of Vardy and Leicester could be coming to an end. Before what could be the last season of the Englishman at the club, the parish foxe sighs because his legend gives them one last service in his staunch desire to achieve the long-awaited permanence in the Premier League.