Three reasons why Arsenal signing Jamie Vardy would work - and three reasons why it wouldn't
Now then. If Arsenal really
are going after Jamie Vardy, then it's only right that we all
hypothesise over whether it's going to work, right?
News that Arsene Wenger was going after the Leicester City forward caught
everyone - yes, everyone - off guard, not least because it represents
such a vast shift from his usual policy in the transfer market of
signing younger players who can offer potential for improvement.
The meteoric rise of Jamie Vardy
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Maybe a change of tack is what is
needed; maybe it isn't. Vardy's mooted arrival at the Emirates is
likely to be a divisive move by the Gunners - let's take a look at both
sides of the argument...
He scored 24 Premier League goals last season; fewer only than Harry Kane. His chance conversion rate of 25.8 per cent was equal to that of Sergio Aguero, and far better than Kane's.
Why Jamie Vardy is the perfect signing for Arsenal...
Vardy scores goals, Arsenal need goals
The logic is simple: Arsenal have long been after a 20-goal-a-season centre-forward, and Wenger has long persisted that there isn't one out there who represents sufficient value to make him worth signing; Vardy is a 20-goal striker.He scored 24 Premier League goals last season; fewer only than Harry Kane. His chance conversion rate of 25.8 per cent was equal to that of Sergio Aguero, and far better than Kane's.
Predictably, Arsenal missed more
chances the football statisticians would call 'clear cut' than any other
team in the Premier League in 2015/16, letting 69 such chances pass
them by. Put a clinical Vardy at the spearhead of that attack and he
solves all the problems. Simple.
He'll offer Arsenal one thing they lack
Jamie Vardy proved to be more than just a goalscoring threat in the Premier League last season. At full pelt, challenge him in the penalty area at your considerable risk...
Arsenal were notably light in the
penalty-winning department - the extended absences of the pacey Danny
Welbeck and Theo Walcott may have played a part there - and Jamie Vardy
brings you penalty shouts: lots of them.
Age is but a number
Vardy was a late bloomer. He didn't burst on to the scene as a plucky teenager; hell, he didn't even play much football after he all but gave up on a professional career when he was abandoned by Sheffield Wednesday.
So the fact that he is 29 - and
just one year younger than the depressingly slow Wayne Rooney - does not
matter. He is in the peak years of his career and those will continue
for a while yet.
A certain Ian Wright joined the club at a similar age and went on to become the club's record goalscorer. Don't expect the same heights from Vardy, but don't for a second start to think he is too old to to command a £20m outlay.
A certain Ian Wright joined the club at a similar age and went on to become the club's record goalscorer. Don't expect the same heights from Vardy, but don't for a second start to think he is too old to to command a £20m outlay.
...but here's why Vardy is a huge risk for Arsene Wenger
Vardy isn't used to facing packed defences
Even as Leicester continued, relentlessly, to defy the Premier League odds last season, few teams seemed to wake up and smell the coffee to try and nullify their gameplan. Leicester were happy to relinquish possession, invite nominally more talented teams to try and have a go if they thought they were hard enough, before springing out on the counter-attack with Riyad Mahrez and Vardy sprinting gleefully into the acres of green space left carelessly behind.
Arsenal games don't quite pan out
that way, especially at the Emirates where visiting sides traditionally
set their stalls out, set up camp and park the bus. The craft and
creativity of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla then faces the challenge of
unpicking that deadlock, with space at a remarkable premium in the final
third.
Jamie Vardy won't have the freedom of the opposition half to enjoy in an Arsenal shirt, nor will Arsene Wenger - or the Gunners fans - suddenly embrace a gameplan based around Jack Wilshere lofting hopeful 50-yard passes forward for Vardy to chase after.
One of them is going to have to alter their game to suit the other. It's unlikely to be Arsenal that budges.
Jamie Vardy won't have the freedom of the opposition half to enjoy in an Arsenal shirt, nor will Arsene Wenger - or the Gunners fans - suddenly embrace a gameplan based around Jack Wilshere lofting hopeful 50-yard passes forward for Vardy to chase after.
One of them is going to have to alter their game to suit the other. It's unlikely to be Arsenal that budges.
This Vardy's not for rotating
As Claudio Ranieri's increasingly-not-very-secret weapon, Vardy didn't have many weekends off. He started 36 of Leicester's 38 games (missing the other two due to suspension) and amassed comfortably more on-pitch minutes than any of his prospective Arsenal strike partners.
Vardy is unlikely to demand a
guaranteed starting place from Arsene Wenger, but his astonishing rise
has established a momentum (both in physical and goalscoring terms) that
ought not to be broken. The prospect of Vardy kicking his heels on the
bench with Kieran Gibbs and Calum Chambers may be enough to make him
think twice about Arsenal's offer.
Life in the Arsenal goldfish bowl is unforgiving
There were moments in his career that Vardy doesn't respond hugely well to being under pressure - a 2007 assault conviction, being sent off for diving by poor old Jon Moss, having someone watch him play poker in casino - and that won't equip him for live at English football's most frustrating club.
When March comes round, and
Arsenal are fighting (and losing) on all fronts at home and abroad,
there are serious question marks over whether Vardy could keep his cool.
Claudio Ranieri's pizza-and-holidays approach to man-management is not
quite Arsene Wenger's bag, although nights out with Jack Wilshere could
provide a welcome boost to the freelance income for central London
paparazzi.
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