Jamie Vardy takes his 'anyone can beat anyone' attitude to Cremonese in Serie A

CREMONA, Italy (AP) — Jamie Vardy sees some similarities between his new club, Cremonese, and his former team, Leicester.

Just like was often the case at Leicester, promoted Cremonese faces a challenge to stay up in the top division and has a lot of doubters.

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Vardy said at his presentation Wednesday that he was convinced to join the Italian club during a long Zoom call with Cremonese coach Davide Nicola, who is known as an expert at avoiding relegation.

“Just looking in his eyes and seeing what he wanted, that really resonated with myself and I think as a footballer it’s always nice to feel wanted,” Vardy said. “Having sat down with the manager and the owner, the main task is making sure we stay in the league. And if I’m honest, that’s how it was when I was at Leicester.”

Vardy of course did much more than merely help Leicester avoid relegation, leading the team to an improbable Premier League title in 2016. He scored in a record 11 straight games in Leicester’s historic campaign, which is remembered as one of the great underdog stories in soccer history. The title defied preseason odds of 5,000-1.

“There was never any, ‘We’re going to go for this.’ It was always, ‘We need to stay in the league.’ That was the main thing,” Vardy said. “So all you do, you go out, you take each one by one. You give your all, what will be will be. Back then we ended up winning quite a lot, and that’s football.”

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Cremonese, too, has exceeded expectations by opening with two straight wins, stunning AC Milan at the San Siro and then producing a dramatic late win over Sassuolo.

“It’s 11 vs. 11 and anyone can beat anyone,” Vardy said. “So we’ll just be working as hard as we can on the training field to make sure that we’re ready for every single game that comes up. Take them one by one and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Vialli's No. 10

After 13 seasons at Leicester, the 38-year-old Vardy signed a one-year contract with Cremonese, with an option for a second season.

He will wear the No. 10 shirt once used by Gianluca Vialli at Cremonese and could make his debut at Hellas Verona on Monday.

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“His story is about dreams that become reality,” Cremonese sporting director Simone Giacchetta said. “A dream that we share.

“We’re really pleased to have with us an example of how someone normal becomes special because of their values,” Giacchetta added.

Maresca and Ranieri influence

Vardy said that playing under Enzo Maresca at Leicester in 2023-24 prepared him for Serie A's defensive tactics.

“People were saying that I wouldn’t be able to adapt to that and I finished that season with 20 goals under him,” Vardy said. “You can’t never be too old to learn.”

Vardy was also pleased that Claudio Ranieri, the Italian who coached Leicester to the Premier League title and is now a special adviser at Roma, put a good word in for him at Cremonese.

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“As for the Ranieri bit,” Vardy said. “I know that he’s sung my praises to the manager. So I better not let him down.”

Proving doubters wrong

Vardy grew aggressive when a reporter asked whether he might be slowing down as he approaches 40.

“You must be one of the doubters, and you’re one that I’ll have to prove wrong,” Vardy snapped back. “Now, listen, for me, age is just a number. ... As long as my legs are still doing exactly what they used to and still feel as fresh as they do, then I will carry on. At the moment, there’s no signs of them slowing down.”

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