Modern Football Mavericks: Jamie Vardy

Modern Football Mavericks: Jamie Vardy

 

 

 

What is a Maverick?

A Maverick is an unorthodox or independent-minded person. In regards to Football, these individuals has gone against the rules set by clubs, organisations (e.g. F.A) and even those that fans expect any other player to follow. Some are loved and some are hated, and in this mini-series of posts, I will be looking at how they have become a Maverick and what this means for them on and off the pitch.

Name: Jamie Richard Vardy

D.O.B: 11th January 1987

Club: Leicester City

Career Information: Stocksbridge Park Steels (2007 - 2010), FC Halifax Town (2010 - 2011), Fleetwood Town (2011 - 2012), Leicester (2012 - Present).  

Honours:

Club
FC Halifax Town

Northern Premier League Premier Division 2010-11

Fleetwood Town

Conference Premier 2011-12

Leicester City

Football League Championship 2012-13


Individual
Conference Premier Player of the Month: November 2011

Conference Premier Top Goalscorer: 2011–12
Leicester City Players' Player of the Season: 2013-14
Premier League Player of the Month: October 2015, November 2015
Most consecutive Leicester City league games scored in: 11 (9 August 2015 – 28 November 2015)
Most consecutive Premier League matches scored in: 11 (29 August 2015 – 28 November 2015)


If there ever was a more modern Football Maverick, its Jamie Vardy. For the duration of 2015, during Leicester City's Premier League matches, every Football fan thinks of Vardy's incredible journey to the top of the Football mountain. I mean ten years ago Jamie Vardy was a factory worker! Despite his right-wing and not entirely popular views, Vardy has stole the back-page headlines with his amazing work effort and goal-scoring ability. In this post, I will be looking back at Vardy's rise from factory worker to Premier League stardom.

In 2007, Vardy was earning £30 a week when he was playing for Stockbridge Park Steels. Two years later he had a trail at Crewe that didn't work out. He moved to Halifax in June 2010 for £15,000. After a decent time there, Vardy moved to Fleetwood Town after a year and a half. On 1st January 2012, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway offered £750k for Vardy but Fleetwood held out for £1 million which Blackpool never paid.

On 17th May 2012, Leicester bought Vardy for £1 million.

Yes. £1 million.

However, after a very disappointing personal season in which he only scored five goals, Vardy was considering leaving the club after supporters said he just wasn't good enough (well lets just say they said it is more extreme and explicit terms). Vardy only stayed due to Nigel Pearson being able to convince him. The next season, Vardy scored 16 league goals as Leicester won the Championship.

Last season, as Leicester escaped relegation by gaining 22 points since 4th April and finishing in 14th place, Vardy scored and assisted four times in Leicester's amazing 5-2 home win over Manchester United.

And then Vardy's story really started to come to life.

After being bottom at Christmas last season and almost being relegated, no-one saw Leicester being at the top of the table by Christmas (not even Gary Lineker). However, to the amazement of Football fans and Fantasy Football players, Vardy has paired up in a deadly duo with Algerian Riyad Mahrez to rack up an astonishing number of goals and assists that have taken the Premier League by storm and the traditional 'top four' club of the Premier League. On the 28th November, Vardy made Premier League history by scoring in eleven consecutive League games and completed it by scoring against Manchester United. Along the way to this amazing achievement, Twitter users started a trend called 'Chat Shit Get Banged', which bounced onto the social media site from a 2014 Facebook post from Jamie Vardy entitled with the new famous catchphrase.

However, what is forgotten about Vardy is that he is slightly aggressive and has caused some trouble off the pitch. In 2007, Vardy received a conviction for assault following an incident outside a pub, and had to play with an electronic tag fitted for six months. Many would say it unfortunately adds to his attitude and rough up-bringing and there is another incident that proves this. In August 2015, The Sun on Sunday published a video of Vardy at a casino the previous month, calling a man of East Asian origin a "Jap". The Leicester City striker apologised for a "regrettable error of judgement" and was fined by Leicester, who put him on an educational course. There is no place for racism in Sport and its a shame that players can think this behaviour is acceptable. Anyway, away from the dark side of Football, Vardy's rise to the top has proven to a lot of people that it is never to late to achieve your dream.
































Modern Football Mavericks: Xabi Alonso

Modern Football Mavericks: Xabi Alonso

What is a Maverick?

A Maverick is an unorthodox or independent-minded person. In regards to Football, these individuals has gone against the rules set by clubs, organisations (e.g. F.A) and even those that fans expect any other player to follow. Some are loved and some are hated, and in this mini-series of posts, I will be looking at how they have become a Maverick and what this means for them on and off the pitch.

Name: Xabier Alonso Olano

D.O.B: 25th November 1981

Club: Bayern Munich

Career Information: Real Sociedad B (1999-2000), Real Sociedad (2000-2004), Eibar (on loan, 2001), Liverpool (2004-2009), Real Madrid (2009-2014), Bayern Munich (2014- Present).

Honours:

Club
Liverpool
Champions League 2004-05
UEFA Super Cup 2005
FA Cup 2005-06
FA Community Shield 2006

Real Madrid
Champions League 2013-14
UEFA Super Cup 2014
La Liga 2011-12
Copa del Rey 2010-11, 2013-14
Supercopa de Espana 2012

Bayern Munich
Bundesliga 2014-15

Country (Spain)
FIFA World Cup 2010
European Championship 2008, 2012

Individual
Spanish Player of the Year 2003
Premier League Goal of the Month November 2004
FIFA FIFPro World XI 2011, 2012
La Liga Best Midfielder 2012
UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament 2012

Most underrated Maverick of all?
When people think of cool, they think of a few memorable places and people. Milan. Paris. New York. Dubai. James Bond. Andrea Pirlo.

But only a few thing of Xabi Alonso.

The Spaniard has always been the everyday man's (depending who you ask) favourite type of midfielder, as well as Maverick, as he strolls around in training, doesn't run in games (no matter how important they are) and always seem to be pictured with a beer in his hand at team gatherings (which I'm sure his wife would deny!). All in all, Alonso seems like a carbon copy of Andrea Pirlo. However, Alonso seems even more cooler and focused than the legendary Italian midfielder and I look at the Spaniard's achievements and attitude to the Beautiful Game.

At the age of 15, Alonso was sent to the Irish town of Kells as part of a student exchange programme and learned a lot of his English there. Alonso was friends with Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta but were scouted to different top Spanish clubs, with Alonso going to Real Sociedad's academy and Arteta going to Barcelona's academy. Alonso moved to the first-team at the age of 18 but moved to Eibar to gain massive first-team experience.

In his first professional season, Alonso made 30 appearances for Sociedad and ended up scoring three goals. The season after, 2003-04, Real Madrid failed to win Alonso's signature as they couldn't, or wouldn't match the £13 million price tag. Mikel Arteta then joined his childhood friend at Sociedad but the dream partnership in midfield was short-lived as Alonso moved to Liverpool for £10.7 million in August 2004. Alonso slotted in coolly to the Merseyside team but broke his ankle on New Day 2005 after a tackle with Frank Lampard that left the Spaniard injured for three months. When he returned against Juventus in Champions League quarter-finals second leg, he filled the hole left by the injured Steven Gerard and one Journalist from the Guardian said "This marvellously accomplished footballer testified in the Stadio delle Alpi that technique can overcome a serious physical disadvantage." Which is true. Alonso proves you don't need loads of physical presence in order to dominate a game. Alonso was part of the 2005 Champions League Final winning Liverpool team that infamously fought about against AC Milan to win 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out after a fantastic fight back from 3-0 down. Alonso then said about the win "This is the best moment in my professional career."

In January 2006, In a FA Cup win over Luton Town, Alonso scored two goals, the second from 65 yards and within his own half, subsequently winning a Liverpool supporter £25,000 from a £200 bet. Later that year in September, Alonso scored another cracker against Newcastle and commented saying "I think this was better. The Luton goal bounced a few times, this one went quite straight. The Luton one was left-footed – it was different – but I am quite happy to score the goal."

In the 2008 summer transfer window, there were reports that Alonso would leave the Merseyside outfit due to Liverpool chasing Gareth Barry (didn't you miss out there Rafa!). Alonso told the media "The fans couldn't have done more to show me how they felt... If I went out for lunch or a coffee, there was always someone who would come over and say, 'We'd love you to stay'. I'm just glad that, in the end, nothing came of it the transfer because it wasn't something I ever asked for." However Alonso did move to Real Madrid in August 2009 for £30 million due to 'differences' with Rafa Benitez. He then achieved a record number of points when he finished second with Real behind champions Barcelona, a total 96 points for Real. He had achieved this was Real Sociedad in 2002-03 and Liverpool in 2008-09. He won his second Champions League medal when Real beat Atletico 4-1, after extra-time.

Other information about Alonso is that he has stated that he is a Liverpool fan and has done during the later stages of his career. He is also the tenth most followed Sportsman on Twitter and the eight most followed Footballer on the site.

There has been a lot of comparison between Andrea Pirlo and Xabi Alonso due to their casual comments, laid-back approach to games and quality off-the-pitch antics. However, Alonso is one of the most technically gifted midfielders and calm Midfield players and is in my opinion the coolest Maverick ever.