Team of the Season – Jamie Vardy

While Jamie Vardy showed glimpses of potential during his first year in the Premier League with Leicester, bagging five goals and an impressive 12 assists, few Fantasy managers gave serious consideration to the 6.0-priced forward at the dawn of the new season. The Foxes frontman soon emerged as a “must-have” for our three-man frontlines, though, and ended the campaign as the joint-second leading goalscorer with 24 goals. That earned Vardy a place in the PFA Team of the Year and Barclays Player of the Season accolade, while the Foxes striker claimed 35% of the vote to claim the first spot among the forwards in our Team of the Season.

THE STATISTICS

Vardy hit the ground running under new Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, claiming a goal and an assist over the first three Gameweeks, before setting a Premier League record by scoring in 11 consecutive matches.

By Gameweek 17 his price had risen to 7.7 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), but Vardy did then suffer a brief dry spell in front of goal, failing to get on the scoresheet in six appearances between Gameweeks 17 and 22, although he did keep ticking over with three assists across that period. His price subsequently dropped to 7.2 in FPL, but the goals continued to flow during the second half of the season, with braces against Liverpool, Sunderland and Everton as the Foxes lasted the course to secure the most surprising of Premier League titles.

Vardy ended the campaign with 211 points in FPL, tied with Tottenham’s Harry Kane as the highest scoring forward in the game, whilst only his Leicester team-mate Riyad Mahrez (240) managed more overall.

In terms of bonus points, Vardy’s 30 was outshone by both Mahrez, who totalled 38, and Kane, who managed to rack up 33. Mahrez also held the edge when it came to points per game (ppg), averaging 6.5, compared to Vardy’s 5.9, which ranked second among forwards behind Sergio Aguero (6.1).

THE PROSPECTS

In light of last year’s exploits, we can expect Vardy to be elevated into the premium bracket across the Fantasy games. A price of around 10.0 or 10.5 in FPL seems the likeliest scenario, which should see him valued around the same as team-mate Mahrez as the champions look to defend their title.

A delve into the underlying data still looks promising for Vardy and shows last season’s output was far from fortuitous. He sat second only to Kane for efforts inside the box (96 to 106), shots on target (52 to 74) and big chances (34 to 35), highlighting that he clearly has the numbers befitting a high-priced frontman.

Vardy’s goal scoring feats are also all the more impressive given that Mahrez started the season as Leicester’s first-choice penalty taker, before two misses from the Algerian in January saw Vardy take over spot-kick duties. Despite failing to score a penalty against Everton in Gameweek 37, the England international is expected to remain number one in the pecking order for 2016/17.

There is, of course, Leicester’s involvement in the Champions League to also factor in this time around. Ranieri’s reputation as “The Tinkerman” was forged over a number of years but last term’s lack of European involvement, allied with an FA Cup third round exit, ensured that the Foxes’ teamsheet rarely changed from one week to the next.

Vardy’s pace on the counter and work rate up top seems too integral to Leicester’s tactics under the Italian, though, and his importance was highlighted by the fact that he played for a number of months with a protective cast on a broken wrist sustained in September. It’d be no surprise if Vardy remains immune to any chopping and changing, then, whilst his injury-free record – like Tottenham’s Kane – is another factor in his favour.

Should Leicester remain as potent a force in the final third next time out, it may well come down to a straight shoot out between Vardy and Mahrez for our affections. With 11 double-figure hauls to Vardy’s five, the Algerian is clearly the more explosive and offers a superior captaincy option on any given Gameweek. Vardy, on the other hand, affords a greater level consistency. Having scored or assisted in 26 of his 36 league outings (or 72%) compared to Mahrez’ record of picking up points in 19 of his 37 (51%) appearances under Ranieri, his ability to chip in with returns on a regular basis may ultimately sway it for some.