When Jamie Vardy arrived in Cremona, he probably had no idea of the Stradivari family and the musical instrument that bares their name. The Stradivarius violins are famous the World over for the quality of sound they produce but I would imagine the only Stradivarius that Vardy is familiar with is the racehorse that won three Ascot Gold Cups.
Maybe I’m doing Vardy a disservice, but the bemused way he posed next to a violin in his new Cremonese shirt leads me to believe I’m right. But Vardy isn’t here to sell violins, he’s here to score goals and save Cremonese from relegation. That statement might seem like an odd one to anyone looking at the current Serie A standings. Cremonese sit third with two wins from two, including a spectacular 2-1 win away to Milan at the San Siro.
Among the celebratory scenes and wild celebrations from the fans when Vardy arrived, there is one man not so keen for his arrival. Manuel De Luca wore the number 9 shirt for the first two games this season and despite his 93rd minute winning penalty against Sassuolo, he’s been cut from the Cremonese squad to make way for Vardy. There’s no suggestion this has caused any sort of rift behind the scenes at the Lombardy club, but it adds to the pressure to perform that Vardy will feel from the moment he takes to the pitch.
Pressure that he’s sure he can deal with. In his unveiling press conference (in the violin museum) he was defiant when asked about being just a marketing ploy, “It is up to me to disprove the predictions. Age is just a number. I always listen to my legs. At the moment I still feel great. During the summer I wanted to show on social media that I was keeping myself in the best possible shape and coming back to training with the team was incredible. Training is going very well.”
For the time being nothing can dampen the enthusiasm of the Grigiorossi fans, excited to see their new man in action. Expectation is high in Cremona for a striker capped 26 times by England and who scored 200 goals in 500 games, winning the Premier League and FA Cup. One thing I noticed watching Cremonese beat Sassuolo two weeks ago was the speed in which they got the ball forward in transition. Going from absorbing pressure to the other end of the pitch very quickly, they should have held more than a 2-0 lead when Sassuolo eventually started fighting back.
Vardy will provide the pace at the top end of the pitch that suits this counter attacking stance, but he’ll also provide clinical finishing that will be key if Cremonese are going to take more points off the big boys. They were wasteful against Sassuolo but got away with it thanks to facing another wasteful relegation candidate. They won’t get the chance to be so profligate in front of goal against the likes of Inter, Juventus or Napoli. Even the next block of teams like Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina will punish their profligacy.
Jamie Vardy is no stranger to the need for efficiency, last year Leicester were woeful, abject and well beaten every week. But the 38 year old still managed to bag 9 times during this disaster of a season for the Foxes. Whatever Serie A can throw at him, Vardy will think he’s seen it all before, this is a player that was playing in English football’s 5th tier at semi-professional level only 3 years before making his England debut.
The only “new one” on him will likely be lining up alongside a player who is the Great Grandson of the country’s former Fascist Dictator from World War Two. Yes, Vardy’s team mate on the right wing (yes, really) is Romano Floriani Mussolini. He goes by Floriani and insists that his name is only a distraction for other people and not himself, but the young winger on loan from Lazio is highly rated in Italy. His direct running and pace caused problems for Sassuolo when he was introduced and he won the penalty that De Luca tucked away before being promptly withdrawn from the squad to make way for Vardy.
Manuel De Luca isn’t the only thing gone from Cremonese though, season tickets have now sold out since Vardy signed with over 10% of the population of Cremona now having one. And don’t even try and get a Cremonese shirt for a few months, they’ve sold out too. You can still buy them online, but there’s no sign of a delivery date.
Vardy is a man known for his controversial and provocative celebrations and in this small corner of the Po Valley they’ll be hoping he can hit the right notes and play the World’s smallest violin to Cremonese’s opponents this season…
The Calcio Blog 