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Effervescent Jamie Vardy underlines Leicester's underdog spirit in historic FA Cup win
For the ultimate fox in the box that is the last one ticked off. The FA Cup belongs to Leicester City, for the first-time in their 137-year history, and Jamie Vardy played his part and not least because Chelsea changed because of him.
They altered their team to try and stop Vardy. No one anticipated Reece James playing on the right-side of the back-three but so concerned was Thomas Tuchel about the striker’s pace that he made the switch.
Not bad for a 34-year-old who only eight years ago, after a disappointing first season at Leicester, was mulling over whether to quit. He even had an offer to work as a rep on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. Well, we know Vardy likes a party. And here is another one.
The rest is history. And Vardy was making history again. With Leicester and for himself. At 34, he became the first player in the FA Cup’s 150 years to featured in every stage of the competition from the preliminary round, five steps before the first round proper, to the final: that is 14 rounds from eighth-tier club Stocksbridge Park Steels to Wembley with Leicester.
The focus was always going to be on him. However much Leicester have evolved since winning the Premier League title and under Brendan Rodgers, Vardy he remains their talisman. With a nod to goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and goalscorer Youri Tielemans, Vardy is still their main man.
He also encapsulates what the FA Cup, the pyramid, English football, daring to dream is all about. He epitomises the underdog’s tale. How nothing can be impossible. It is players like Vardy and clubs like Leicester that the despicable European Super League was all about stopping and for Chelsea’s quickly aborted part in that alone Leicester had to be who the neutrals were rooting for.
That and, also, because they had never won the FA Cup before. Not once. There have been four previous finals and this was their first in 52 years.
And so Leicester looked to Vardy – and so did Chelsea. James is 13 years his junior, is the quickest defender available to Tuchel and so he was tasked with trying to shackle Vardy. Twice in the first-half, though, the forward slipped him. Typical Vardy. He has never been a player who needs to be continually involved, who has to drop deep in search of touches. He is a predator. He runs the channels he runs his opponents. He makes them fret and he makes them crane their necks to know where he is.
James did not know, though, when Vardy sprinted into the penalty area and stopped to create the space to collect Timothy Castagne’s cut-back. James, though, did well to block a shot that was certain to test goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Then in first-half injury time, Vardy smartly stole between Thiago Silva and James to meet Tielemans’ lofted pass. He had to do better than misdirect a header. But there was another warning for Chelsea.
There is much talk about passing the baton to Kelechi Iheanacho – who has outscored Vardy this season – but Vardy gives them so much more. When Iheanacho stood and watched as the ball fell five years ahead of him it was Vardy who raced across to slide in and tackle Jorginho. Little wonder Iheancho was replaced.
It was always going to be a tough task against this Chelsea defence but Vardy was tireless, running down Silva and forcing him to concede a throw-in close to his goal, and he hassled in the build-up to the goal. It was a brilliant strike from Tielemans but it was born of the pressure Leicester exerted and a rare mistake from James as well as laziness from Jorginho. And that is something Vardy can never be accused of.
Vardy talked about winning the cup being the final box being ticked in a remarkable career and he was determined to see it through as he ran and ran and never relented. This was what leading from the front looks like.
