Vardi’s opera

Once upon a time, there was a popular anecdote about Cremona and its main business – the production of violins, concentrated on one street. For example, the sign on the Amati store says: “The best violins in the world are sold here.” Instead, the sign on Guarneri’s shop is convincing: “The best violins in the universe are sold here.” However, walk a little further and a Stradivari shop will see a seemingly modest but convincing advertisement: “The best violins on this street are sold here!”.

Jamie Vardy in the local team “Cremonese” has a current price, according to transfermarkt.de, of only 1 million euros. And at almost 39, he is certainly not the best forward in the universe, the world, England or Serie A. But he may very well become the best on the streets of Cremona. “For me, age is just a number. I’ve always said that as long as my legs keep doing what they used to do and feel as fresh as they do now, I’ll keep playing. There are no signs of slowing down, so I will give everything for this club,” Vardy told the Italian media before the start of the Apennine stage of his career, when he expressed skepticism about the veteran’s fitness.

The legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, when he met Jamie as a Leicester player, said: “Oh, Mr. Vardy, you are a legend in Italy!”. Well, it is possible to become a legend in the Apennines, being a player of an English club, but under the guidance of an Italian coach. However, proving your legend in the homeland of the 4-time world champions at a by no means optimal football age is much more difficult, isn’t it?

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Jamie Vardy It is possible to draw a parallel between this, probably already the final stage of Jamie Vardy’s playing career, with the final stage of the creative career of the famous Italian composer, whose name is almost the same as Jamie – Giuseppe Verdi. His last opera – “Falstaff” – had its own originality. The elusiveness and spark of this musical work allows you not to delay the development of the plot and creates a kind of unique effect of hustle and bustle, which is close in spirit to William Shakespeare’s comedy “Windsor Nights”, after which, in fact, the libretto for “Falstaff” was written. So: Vardy as part of the “tigers” does not delay the plot in the same way, instead, elusiveness, sparkle and here and there hustle and bustle are also present. Matches with the participation of Vardy are events, like the same opera, and the British striker himself is always at the epicenter of events. Then he will score an illegitimate goal, to which the VAR will be skeptical, then he will talk with the referee more or less emotionally, then he will get another “mustard”, then, finally, he will score in the goal of the skillful “Atalanta”, skillfully playing on the finish, feeling the full goal attractiveness of the moment. By the way, the numerous family of the English legionnaire in the stands reacted very violently to this goal. And what’s interesting: I can’t evaluate Vardy’s game in matches for Cremonese as unequivocally good or unequivocally bad. The thing is that it sparkles with different colors.

I would like to point out that if at first the heat map of Vardy’s movements in the gray and red Cremonese shirt contained information about his undeniable gravitation to the left flank, then already in the meeting against Bergamaski – the best one for the Briton in the Apennines so far – the drawing of this map looked more balanced. I will note one more interesting touch: in an unsuccessful away match for Cremonese against “Inter” (the favorite won with a score of 4:1), the 179-centimeter Vardy won all the riding duels while defending his goal! Here, of course, you can refer to his remarkable British experience of fighting on the second floor and look for some logical explanation of the mentioned fact in this, however, be that as it may, the fact is the fact.

Recently, the Briton has been regularly at the heart of Cremonese, and the fans there seem to have chosen a new favorite. Vardy, by the way, expressed his delight at the meeting that the Cremona ultras arranged for him, and even compared it to how Juventus fans once met Cristiano Ronaldo.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Jamie Vardy Ratings of the Englishman in this or that match? They are consistently below seven, at least according to the authoritative sofascore.com. After the match with Genoa, in which Cremona won a well-deserved away victory (2:0), I read on one of the Italian websites that Vardy’s presence in the team allows another forward, Federico Bonazzoli, to show his talents in the best possible way. Indeed, Bonazzoli played at a high level in Genoa, scoring a brace. I highly recommend watching Fede’s first goal in that game – an exquisite bicycle kick as a display of high skill! I can’t say that I completely agree with this view of the Apennine media people (I wouldn’t deny the subjectivity of Bonazzoli himself), but the very existence of such an opinion is indicative, isn’t it? And here is one more piece of information for reflection on this topic. In the book “From Nowhere”, which describes Jamie’s very thorny path to the top, such an episode is given. When Vardy found out that in Rome he, the player of “Leicester”, was highly respected and even given the nickname “Caesar”, he reacted as follows: he thanked politely, but said that Caesar is not him, but the whole team!

I will draw attention to several interesting facts from the same match against the Genoese. Alenatore of Cremona, Davide Nicola, to freshen up the attack in the 2nd half, replaced the hero of the match, Bonazzoli, and left the British veteran on the field. Probably, I was not the only one who wondered then why this was so (after all, there is no truth, children, the specific weight of accurate passes for the Briton was too low: it barely exceeded the 40% mark). We soon saw the answer. In the 72nd minute, the age-old forward of the “Tigers” went to press the goalkeeper of the “Griffons” Nicolas Leali, took the ball from him, and the keeper had to foul the Englishman (for a yellow card!) somewhere near the corner flag, admitting his powerlessness. Conscientious pressing, and no fatigue! And, if we go back to the 1st half, I remembered Jamie’s rather conductor’s (musical parallels don’t go anywhere!) gestures, when somewhere at the end of the first half hour of the game, he called on his partners with characteristic hand movements to play higher, to press the “Genoese” defenders, despite the fact that the gray and red were already leading in the away match. Well, the directors of Serie A broadcasts always professionally capture the face of the Briton during the games. Even when there is a pause in the match, Jamie’s face is written with determination and a great thirst for struggle. These virtues will be needed, first of all, during the confrontation with Juventus this Saturday.

Vardy and Davide Nicola? Will they get along? Well, the Brit noted that during their first meeting, they talked for an hour, and he saw the passion in the mentor’s eyes, which immediately caused sympathy. In the 3-1-4-2 scheme, which the 52-year-old manager professes (and Jamie calls his team’s coach that way, after the British tribe), the place of left forward seems to belong to Vardy on a permanent basis. In this context, the Brit will obviously need the most positive experience of working with another Italian mentor – Claudio Ranieri, under whose guidance Jamie became the champion of England. Vardy himself noted, in particular, Ranieri’s ability to find the right notes (and even the timbre!) in a joint kuvani, they say, the coach speaks with such an intonation that I simply cannot let him down.

Everyday life? Well, living in a 2 million (if you count in pounds sterling) villa on Lake Garda and an accelerated course in Italian (as the British media say not without humor, special attention – to “colorful expletives”) – what is not an answer to everyday questions, even if they arose at all! Well, best of luck to Vardi on Gardi!

Oleksiy RYZHKOV