Steve Cooper won’t repeat a past mistake with Jamie Vardy as the Euros prove ‘anything is possible.’
The Leicester City manager is likely to start his 37-year-old striker up front once more after his successful return from injury with a goal against Tottenham Hotspur.
Steve Cooper is set to rely on past experiences and the performance of older players across Europe to help Jamie Vardy continue to play regularly and demonstrate that “anything is possible.”
The Leicester City manager is likely to start the 37-year-old Vardy as the lead striker once again this Saturday (3 pm kick-off) when his team faces Fulham in their first away game of the season.
Vardy made a surprising start on Monday, recovering from a month-long injury just in time to score an equalizer against Tottenham, securing a point for City.
In Leicester’s last Premier League season, Vardy did not score until the 12th match and ended the campaign with just three league goals.
However, Cooper remains fully confident in Vardy and plans to manage him carefully to ensure he can play as often as possible.
Vardy was the third-oldest player to appear in the Premier League’s opening weekend, following Ashley Young and James Milner.
However, age increasingly seems irrelevant, with Cooper citing veteran players who competed in this summer’s European Championship.
Cooper also reflects on his first senior coaching role at Swansea, where he overlooked the experienced winger Wayne Routledge and hopes to avoid repeating that mistake with Vardy.
Cooper stated: “I was thinking about the Euro semi-final between Spain and France.
Spain had Jesus Navas playing at 38 years old, and France brought on Olivier Giroud, who was 37. Pepe was playing for Portugal at 41!
“I was watching that game – I’d already taken this job by then – and I thought it’s becoming more common for some players to continue their careers longer.
I’m not sure if the average age is increasing now.
“I remember having Wayne Routledge at Swansea, who is a good friend of mine. I regret not playing him more.
I assumed he was too old at 36. But he was still very fit and a good player. He knows now that I could have utilized him more.
“So you learn, and I’m applying that experience with Vards now. He will determine how he feels and what he can do.
It’s about maintaining strong communication to assess daily where players are and customizing their preparation for matches.
“We believe in individualized training programs, and Vards’ program will be very different from Abdul Fatawu’s.
We need to work with him to ensure he gets what he needs to be ready for a game.”
