Football
Steve Cooper in Awe of Jamie Vardy’s Timeless Quality as Leicester Legend Defies Critics Once Again
Steve Cooper is amazed at the enduring quality Leicester legend Jamie Vardy is showing in the Premier League this season.
Steve Cooper//Getty Images
The Foxes’ club captain is arguably the best value signing in football history having joined the club for a mere million pounds back in 2012.
And the rest as they say is history. Vardy famously helped fire the Foxes to the unlikeliest of Premier League titles in 2016, where he broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in 11 consecutive topflight games along the way.
Jamie Vardy Defies Age with Outstanding Premier League Performance
But the 37-year-old is showing no signs of letting up as he continues to rack up the goals as he closes in on the club’s 200 club with only Arthur Chandler (273) and Arthur Rowley (265) having netted more.
There were question marks over whether Vardy, who bagged 20 times to get Leicester back to the promised land last season, could still cut it at Premier League level.
But he has defied his critics with four league goals so far this term and he continues to impress boss Cooper every day.
Cooper told SportsBoom.com: “Everyone has their own motivations and in the end that’s the bit that gets you out of bed every morning and be the best you can be.”
“What his are is for him to say, but what I know is we’re seeing a really, really good version every single day and matchdays.”
His goal tally, he’ll probably tell you he wants more but he’s got four goals up to now. His goal involvements have been a great example and in the end that’s what you want your attacking players to be doing.
Steve Cooper
“He’s been involved in the most important bit, which is scoring and creating goals. I have talked about him quite a lot and now we’re working together in terms of what his programme and schedule looks like, and everybody is committing to it, trying to get him the best he can be on matchdays.”
Cooper Highlights Vardy's Influence and Leicester's Premier League Ambitions
Cooper believes Vardy’s composure in the final third is rubbing off on the other members of the squad.
“These guys know what they’re doing in and around the box,” insisted Cooper.
“Vards has obviously done the ultimate for years and years and years with the amount of goals that he’s scored.”
“It’s no coincidence he’s just in the box and he’s brilliant in there. We’ve just got to try and get it there more because if we do, we know we have guys there that can do what they do.”
The last few seasons have shown just how tough it is for newly-promoted teams to find their feet at the top level.
Last term Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United all returned straight back to the Championship, and that is the challenge which faces Cooper this season. But he is determined for the Foxes to play their football the right way, instead of scrapping their way to survival.
He stressed: “We’re always aiming to get better and better and better, striving to be the best that we can be and hopefully, over the course of time, we’ll see some gradual progress.”
We have quality and we’re pushing the lads to show it more, to back themselves more and to make right decisions, then from those decisions show good creativity and quality in the final third.
Steve Cooper
“If we can do that off the back of the ideas that we know can have an impact in the game [in terms of] how we get into areas and then what we do in certain types of positions we take up and the numbers there, then yeah.”
“That has been pleasing, we want to do more of it, but that’s why we keep working on our way every single day.”
Shane is a respected journalist who has covered a range of sports for a number of years.