Goals a fraction of what Vardy brings

JAMIE Vardy delivered a welcome reminder of his enduring quality last weekend, but it wasn't about the goals. In a way, it never was.

- Chris Dunlavy

God knows, he's bagged plenty. Seven for England, 177 for Leicester. Thirty-four for Fleetwood and umpteen more in his part-time days at Halifax and Stocksbridge.

"Jamie's scored goals all his life, and he always will," said Leicester boss Enzo Maresca after Vardy's brace downed Watford. "It's why he is Jamie Vardy - it's in his blood." So much, in fact, that Erling Haaland once studied Vardy to understand the art of playing on the shoulder.

Yet for all the talk of speed, finishing and predatory instincts, for all the nerveless penalties and six-yard tap-ins, Vardy's contribution has always been about so much more than sticking the ball in the net.

He's a catalyst. A provocateur. A rabble rouser. Football transforms Vardy into a human dynamo, snarling, snapping and fizzing with malicious energy, even now with 36-year-old legs and five kids at home.

He electrifies crowds. Needles opponents to distraction. Coaxes out the competitor in the meekest of colleagues.

Leicester had Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante and an entire squad playing out of their skin en route to that famous Premier League title, but Vardy was the inspiration.