Featured Image Credit: Pro:Direct Soccer
Topics: Jamie Vardy, Vincent Kompany, Premier League, Leicester City, Manchester City, Football
Ben McCrum
Topics: Jamie Vardy, Vincent Kompany, Premier League, Leicester City, Manchester City, Football
Jamie Vardy had only one name in mind when asked to pick the toughest defender he ever had to play against.
Ahead of his 500th appearance for the club in May, Leicester City legend Vardy announced that he would be leaving the King Power stadium following the expiration of his contract in the summer.
The striker spent 13 years playing for the Foxes and established himself as a true legend of English football, winning the Premier League title with in 2015-16, an FA Cup in 2020-21, and two Championship titles.
Although he confirmed that he would not be retiring following his departure from Leicester City, such a major career decision has led to Vardy and his fans reflecting on his highly-successful career.
Advert
And in doing so, the 38-year-old named the one defender that he faced during his time in the Premier League that was harder to play against than anyone else.
While appearing on the Pro:Direct Soccer YouTube channel, Vardy competed in a series of football challenges before being asked several questions about his career, including naming a defender who had been the most difficult to play against.
"Kompany used to be the one, he was horrible to play against," Vardy confidently replied.
Advert
"He was frightening honestly. The speed, power, awareness of the game, positioning, everything. If you did manage to get past, he'd just clean you out."
Throughout his career, Vardy faced off against Vincent Kompany on six different occasions for club and country, sharing the pitch for a total of 403 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Leicester legend, on all six occasions the Manchester City star got the better of him, beating him five times playing for Pep Guardiola's side and once during Belgium's 2018 World Cup group stage match against England.
Advert
Across the matches, Vardy also failed to score even one goal, with Kompany only conceding two goals to the side that the Englishman was playing for in their six meetings.
Of course, this is nothing to be ashamed about given the fact that the centre back is regarded as one of the greatest defenders ever to play in the Premier League having won 10 trophies with City, including four Premier League titles.