The fact that Jamie Vardy decided to retire from international football so prematurely is an absolute travesty. Every time I see this spindly, Red Bull-powered pace-merchant darting into channels and thumping balls into the back of the net, almost like the spherical bag of air made from leather had said something to upset him, a part of my heart sinks.
After years and years, and years of hurt watching England and their continually lifeless displays, we are all now being spoilt by this current exciting young crop of players managed by the wholesome Gareth Southgate. Uncle Gareth, if you will. Harry Kane is one of the best strikers in world football and the likes of Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford are a delight to watch playing alongside each other when the Three Lions continually stick 5, 6 or even 7 goals past their helpless opponents, who so frequently offer such little in the way of a response.
Off the bench there is now Tammy Abraham, who is enjoying a fantastic debut season in the Premier League with Chelsea and now looks to have a tremendously promising future ahead of him at international level. Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson will never be a starter but he is also a fantastically talented asset that we can enjoy watching for the remaining 15 minutes of a friendly match against Canada at Wembley.
Still, though, I miss Jamie Vardy so dearly and wish more than anything that he would step out of international retirement. He offers something different, you see. He is raw, unnurtured due to his unique journey to top-flight stardom, which did not include a comfortable introduction to the senior game via a finance-laden academy system. This 32-year-old serial goal poacher is fitter than ever, despite now entering what many would deem to be the ‘twilight stages’ of his career and should still be playing a huge part for England. He just should be.
Imagine Vardy playing off of Harry Kane’s knock-downs, linking up with the young Jadon Sancho, who he never got to play with before. It would be majestic to watch and make us even stronger than we already are. Sadly, he isn’t going to change his mind and that his choice so there is nothing that any of us can do about it. For now, we’re all just going to have to make do with watching the Sheffield-born striker tear the living shreds out of every defence he faces in the Premier League on a weekly basis, just like he has done for the past five years now.
Back during Leicester’s famous title-winning season in 2015-16, Vardy wrote his name in the history books by scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League matches – surpassing Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 10. This time around, the former non-league marksman is at it again.
Vardy is currently top of the Premier League’s goalscoring charts with 14 goals to his name in 15 games. What is most impressive, though, is that after his penalty against Watford on Wednesday night, the ex-Fleetwood man has now bagged a goal in his last seven consecutive matches for Leicester who, by the way, look the business again this term. Brendan Rodgers’ side currently sit second in the top-flight standings behind Liverpool and have now won their previous seven league games.
Jamie Vardy is four games away from equalling his own PL record of scoring in 11 consecutive matches:
Burnley (h) ⚽️
Southampton (a) ⚽️⚽️⚽️
Crystal Palace (a) ⚽️
Arsenal (h) ⚽️
Brighton (a) ⚽️
Everton (h) ⚽️
Watford (h) ⚽️On fire ?#LCFC #LEIWAT #PL pic.twitter.com/EWe8mqO7jh
— bwin (@bwin) December 4, 2019
Five more goals in his next five games against Aston Villa, Norwich, Man City, Liverpool and West Ham will see Vardy break the very record he set back in 2016 when he opened the scoring against Manchester United at the King Power.
It won’t be easy, however, considering the fact that the Foxes face both Liverpool and City in the coming weeks but, as we have seen in the past from this naturally gifted front man, he is more than capable of achieving it.
Bookies have now priced Vardy up at 33/1 to break his goalscoring record of scoring in 12 consecutive matches; can he do it again?