He's back; service for Jamie Vardy, please

Leicester fans watched eagerly as England handed Jamie Vardy a start in the friendly against Spain and played a style that favoured him. A striker in sore need of a confidence boost, and to break a drought, the game at Wembley looked important for getting back to Premier League football with the Foxes. He finished the night well, putting himself on the score sheet and being involved in the opening goal. He was also off the pitch before Spain’s late comeback to level the game.

It was an eventful first quarter for the striker. Receiving a talking to from the referee for what looked more of an accidental follow-through, having cleared a ball, than the horrific tackle it was made out to be. Avoiding punishment, it wasn’t long until we saw a textbook move played in for Vardy. Adam Lallana played a wonderful, curled ball for him to run onto and find himself in a one on one with Spain goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, with just one difference. The Vardy of last season would have taken one touch and smashed the ball home. This season he’s struggled, no more so than in front of the net and his first touch wasn’t there. Luckily for him, it didn’t need to be, Reina fouling him and conceding a penalty.

Vardy’s suffered some quite unfair criticism this season. Some fans have been quick to single him out for the blame, or at least part of it, as to why the Foxes haven’t scored as much or created as much. The Danny Drinkwater to Vardy ball last season worked almost every time. This season, it’s known, too obvious and something I don’t recall us executing well more than a handful of times. Mostly due to Drinkwater needing to do so much more than just play forward this season. The criticism doesn’t factor in that he’s played with three different partners either, two of whom are new to both the country and club. That and we’re just not the force to be reckoned with that we were twelve months ago.

The move that preceded the penalty decision showed the value of good service though, something Leicester just haven’t given the England striker anywhere near enough of. Yes, he was wasteful with the chances he did have against Hull on the opening day, but since then, we’ve barely delivered the ball to him. Vardy being the workhorse he is, will drop back and try to reclaim the ball, but it also pulls him out of the box and away from being anywhere near as effective. England did what the Foxes have struggled to do so far this season, dink and chip balls ahead of him for him to demonstrate that he hasn’t lost any of his pace. In these situations, you have to fancy him to beat his markers and then it’s just a case of the space left and what he can do with it.

Spain played into Vardy and England’s hands somewhat, their high line perfect for the striker’s favoured on the shoulder play. That’s another thing that Leicester have struggled with this season. We caught far too many teams out too easily with that simple, but fun, counter-attacking play and making the most of high defensive lines. As Hull demonstrated all too well, and others after, sitting back and letting us have more of the ball than we want cripples us. It seriously limits Vardy’s strengths too. The question lingered, why was this the first time England tried this method with Vardy on the field?

His desperation to score was on display, some snatched at chances and touches that didn’t come off. The striker came closer still when a Raheem Sterling ball flashed across the face of goal and just past the toe of Vardy’s boot. He perhaps suffered a little by Lallana’s early withdrawal due to injury. The two had started to show an interesting understanding, not unlike that we’ve seen with Drinkwater. Safe to say, Theo Walcott, who replaced him, is a different kind of player.

The run of fourteen games without a goal wasn’t to continue though, thankfully. Vardy got his long-awaited goal with a strong, diving header after a ball into the box from captain, Jordan Henderson. Once he’d got the mannequin challenge celebration out of the way, you could see the sheer delight and relief on his face. The goal doubled England’s lead, the home side looking strong on the counter-attack though still prone to mistakes at the back.

While England fans were left to bemoan the final six minutes, it had still been a good night for the Foxes striker. It was a pleasure to see him very much back to his usual self, the goal having an instant impact on his confidence. He was the pest, snapping at defender’s heels once again and while Leicester fans might have been happy to see him substituted with twenty minutes left on the clock, he had been troubling the Spanish defence who were struggling with the overload on attack approach.

Leicester need Vardy back on form, and coming back from international duty injury free and brimming with confidence again will be a welcome sight. Form aside, his mere presence riles up the crowd and his hunger for the ball is still ever present. A dry patch isn’t uncommon for a striker and it;s about those around him soaking up some of the pressure and guiding him back onto the scoresheet. It still feels like the floodgates could open up again if he could just get one.

The Foxes will look to Vardy to end his league drought against Watford this weekend, with one eye on the rather important Champions League game that follows.