Jamie Vardy scores three main types of goal: predatory goals, goals running in behind,
and penalties. We’ve looked at where he scores them, and how.
The main type of Vardy goal is what we’ve termed running in behind, where he receives
a pass having timed a run beyond the defensive line.
Predatory goals are where he’s already in the box, which depend on sharper movement
across or away from defenders.
He’s also scored a few direct from set-pieces, and three goals we’ve categorised as ‘other’,
where he’s won possession himself, for example.
Habitually, Vardy scores with both feet and with either finesse or blunt force. He’s
also proven a danger from headers, several of which have been close-in rebounds rather
than the result of contesting crosses.
Vardy scores the vast majority of his goals from within the penalty area – only three
of his goals are from outside the box, and two of those are volleys from a long ball
– incredible strikes, but not representative of how he normally operates.
Jamie Vardy was assisted most regularly for his 100 goals by Riyad Mahrez, with 14, followed
by Danny Drinkwater, Harvey Barnes, and Marc Albrighton on six. Mahrez and Drinkwater have
not been at the club for a while, but Mahrez still holds the record for assists for Vardy
in a single season, with seven in 2017/18, while Mahrez and Drinkwater each assisted
him five times in 2015/16.
That relationship with Mahrez was the most potent for a reason. The Algerian’s delivery
accentuated Vardy’s abilities, often playing passes which suited his anticipation, exploited
his speed and capitalised on his knack of separating himself from defenders.
Vardy’s 18 penalties have mostly been won by Vardy himself, and the tally places him
inside the Premier League’s all-time top 10, just ahead of current Arsenal head coach
Mikel Arteta and former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard.
To look into Vardy’s goals further, we categorised the type of assist, the type of approach,
and whether the move had two passes or fewer, or three passes or more; these we called direct
and non-direct.
The most common goal that Vardy scores, apart from penalties, is from running in behind
a defence and onto a through ball after a counter-attack of two passes or fewer. Twelve
of his 82 non-penalty goals in the 100 were scored this way.
The next most prevalent is a predatory goal, pulled back across the box from a constructed
attack of three or more passes. 10 of the 100 we looked at resulted from this sort of
attack.
Six predatory goals have come from a cross following a constructed attack involving three
or more passes. And he scored five goals running on to a through ball during a constructed
attack of three or more passes.
Within the basic assist categories, Mahrez dominates the through balls, Drinkwater the
long passes, and Albrighton the crosses.
And by season, it’s clear that Vardy has shifted his approach under different coaches,
although his two most prevalent basic types of goal, running in behind from a through
ball and predatory finishes from pull backs, are consistently the goals he scores most.
Because Leicester City have changed during the time Vardy has been there. From the extremely
direct, counter-attacking football that brought them the title under Claudio Ranieri, to the
still vertical, but more possession-focussed style under Brendan Rodgers, Vardy has adapted.
A quick look at types of goals scored under different managers shows this clearly.
Looking at the areas in which he scores under different managers, it’s also clear that
the majority of his goals in the six-yard box are under Rodgers, while under Ranieri
the bulk are in the area, but not in the six-yard box.
Under Ranieri, Leicester were much more direct: they made fewer passes and had less possession,
looking more to counter at pace through long passes.
Under Rodgers, Leicester are better at progressing the ball up the pitch in stages, more patient
around the box, and have a greater number of attacking players for whom Vardy can act
as a predatory, penalty area focus. Vardy does still score goals running off the back-shoulder,
but he now spends more time in the box waiting.
Having analysed all 100 goals, the quintessential Vardy goal is finished in the penalty area
from a through ball from a direct counter-attack, and supplied by Riyad Mahrez. What’s interesting
is that Vardy doesn’t score that type of goal so much now, and not just because Mahrez
has left the club.
Rodgers’ style means that Vardy is now scoring a different type of goal more frequently.
Now a member of the Premier League’s 100 Club, it’s likely the next few seasons will
redefine what we consider to be the classic Jamie Vardy goal.