European Championships: Strikers By The Dozen

Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, Tottenham’s Harry Kane and QPR’s Charlie Austin are at the top of their games, scoring aplenty for their clubs. But can they together lead the English line at the European Championships in France? The answer is an emphatic “no”. They are excellent players, but they can’t work together. They are there to offer manager Roy Hodgson options A, B or C.

- Ian Rush

Jamie Vardy, the record-breaking goal-scorer from Leicester City, has been the highlight of the current Premier League season. He is a lad blessed with the right amount of confidence and Claudio Ranieri’s faith in his abilities has done wonders to his psyche. Jamie has been a consistent performer and has delivered regularly.

Social media has been abuzz with many comparing his style to mine. A few have even broached the topic during conversations. But I have never cared much about comparisons — everyone has his own individual style. Jamie plays off the shoulders of defenders, which enables him to get ahead of the back and to me that is very old school. Current defenders, not used to such playing styles, find it difficult to cope with him.

Jamie was brought up the hard way — he played in the Northern Premier League, the Conference and the Championship — and knows how difficult lives in those leagues are. Such grounding gives you the belief that no matter how old you are, if you believe in yourself and work hard enough and have enough determination, you can go on and achieve great things. Indian players should take a note here and never lose heart.