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Former Leicester boss Puel says Vardy can 'be like a child'
EXCLUSIVE BY JAMES SHARPE: Claude Puel puffs out his cheeks and exhales. He takes a moment to think the question over, then repeats it before letting out a small laugh.
'I like Jamie Vardy, but he can be like a child, he needs attention': Former Leicester City boss Claude Puel lifts lid on relationship with striker and language barrier during Foxes reign
- Claude Puel says Jamie Vardy is a 'good man' but needs 'attention' and 'support'
- Puel insists he has no regrets over his time at club after being sacked in February
- The Frenchman insists he is delighted to see Leicester doing so well this season
Another intake of breath. He is mulling over his time in charge of Leicester City, the club now second in the Premier League under his successor Brendan Rodgers.
Fans of the club who had called for the Frenchman’s sacking long before he got the boot in February may well be quicker to lend a suggestion or two. Eventually, he replies. ‘I would not change anything. My only regret is that I did not have more language, more sentences to share my feelings with some of my players. It is difficult to do that without all the words. After that, I think it was the right process.’
Puel’s unenviable task was to rip up an ageing title winning-squad fighting relegation and replace it with a younger, more skilful bunch for the future. His struggles with English, though greatly improved since his time at Southampton, was always going to make it difficult to him to sell his vision.
One might have thought, though, at the very least, Puel regretted not finding a way to get the best out of Jamie Vardy. Puel, so determined to bring in youth, began, or so it felt, to phase Vardy out. He was 32 after all. Puel left him on the bench, even starting winger Demarai Gray ahead of him.
It was, without question, the biggest fault of Puel’s tenure. There were reports of friction between the two, though Vardy insisted he and Puel got on well enough. Vardy found the style of play, forcing through a desire to keep possession at all costs, frustrating for someone thrives on the early ball. Puel’s training sessions, too, were said to be long and limp. ‘It was like preparing a marathon and the day of the match, we were asked to run a 100m,’ said Vardy after Puel’s departure.
Obsessing over the future, Puel took his eyes off the present. Vardy has scored the most goals in the Premier League since Rodgers took over. Six more than anyone else and will on Sunday look to score in his eighth consecutive game. His own record of 11, set in the title-winning season, is in his sights. He has scored as many goals under Rodgers as he did under Puel but in less than half the games.
‘I did not have a problem with Jamie,’ says Puel. ‘Jamie is a good man but sometimes he is like a child: he needs support, he needs attention. It was difficult for me because I was not English, it was difficult to share and explain all my feelings with him.
‘When I arrived at Leicester, he scored a lot of goals. He came back from the World Cup injured, he returned without training sessions. It was difficult for me to use him all the time. I have a lot of time for him.’
Vardy’s ruthlessness combined with a youthful squad behind him, and Rodgers’ man-management and tactical prowess has Leicester in another title race. They are the team clutching strongest on Liverpool’s runaway coattails. Leicester head into this afternoon’s game against Aston Villa in pursuit of an eighth straight win, which would break a top-flight club record that has stood since 1963.
One might think, then, that the man who preceded him would be but a hazy memory. Yet Puel’s name still lingers around fans’ discussions, so polarised is the opinion over his legacy.
Some believe Puel did invaluable work in instigating the difficult change from ageing legends with an over-reliance on a counter-attack to a younger, more skilful squad with the ability to play with the ball on the ground. Putting faith in young players like Ben Chilwell, Demarai Gray and Hamza Choudhury. It was under Puel that Leicester signed James Maddison, Ricardo Pereira and Caglar Soyuncu. They are happy to see Rodgers inherit them and take them to incredible heights, the majority of the dirty work done for him.
Others just think he was a fraud, who obstructed the team’s progression, bored players, bored fans, ostracised heroes, divided the supporters and was the whispering catalyst for a toxic mist that was choking the club. Six defeats in his last eight games, dumped out of the FA Cup by Newport County, blowing the chance of a League Cup semi-final with a weakened team against Manchester City. Every win under Rodgers further proof of Puel’s ineptitude, used to bludgeon his sympathisers around the head. As is usually the case, the truth meanders between the two.
‘It is not a surprise for me to see Leicester in this position this year,’ says Puel. ‘It is the same team, except for Ayoze Perez. It is the same strategy. It is a pleasure to see. Brendan has made a fantastic job. If you look at this team and remember the one that won the title, the whole style has changed. It was my work at the beginning to put in place a team with the possibility to make this progress.’
We are sat in Puel’s new office at Saint-Etienne, the day before their 4-1 win against Nice. When he took charge of his first game in October, Les Verts were bottom of Ligue 1. Now they are just three points off third place ahead of their game against Reims on Sunday. He has taken them as high as third in his eight league games in charge, making the best start of any manager in the club’s history.. He is looking to build something there too.
Puel was appointed by Leicester in October 2017. The club, nearly 18 months on from their title win, was in trouble. Claudio Ranieri was sacked nine months after lifting the trophy with Leicester in 17th place. They were in the same position when Craig Shakespeare, the next in line, was sacked too. Something needed to change.
‘When I had my first meeting with Top [Leicester chairman, then vice-chairman] and Jon Rudkin [director of football] in London, my first answer was to say that when Leicester won the title, the season was built on one style of play. Direct. The seasons after, opponents put in place a strong deep block with no space behind. It was not possible to use the same style of play. It was important to build a team that could play on the counter and make a set attack. A complete game. I told them that only five players would be good for the future. The others do not have the ability to play this way.
‘I said if you want me to come, it is to change the style of play. If that is not for you, I cannot come. I left the meeting room and thought they would not have me because I had said that only five players were good enough. One hour later, they called me and asked me to come.’
In that sense, it was never going to be easy to be popular, dismantling a team of immortals.
‘If I wanted to come to Leicester to be popular, I would not have come. I chose to come so I could introduce my project and direction. It was difficult to change these players and to say to them “No, it is finished for you, now we need to look forward”.’
Things started pretty well, winning five of his first eight league games. The season would derail when Riyad Mahrez went AWOL after a blocked January move to Manchester City. From there, results were inconsistent at best. Fans lost patience. The home form nose-dived, as the team struggled to do anything with the possession they had. In the eight home games last season in which Leicester had more than 50 per cent possession, they won just one, losing five and to the likes of Southampton, Crystal Palace, Cardiff and drawing to West Ham and Burnley.
An unavoidable learning curve or proof of a manager out of his depth?
Kasper Schmeichel’s legendary father, Peter, made his views clear. ‘Once they get their act together it’s actually not a bad club,’ he said at the time. ‘They’ve got good players, they just don’t have the manager who can get anything of out them. Once that is sorted out we will see them in the eight to fifth place where I think they belong.’
‘I did not have all the support,’ said Puel. ‘It was always me at the top of the betting to be first fired. Sometimes when we suffered a defeat, the same article would be in three newspapers criticising and saying there was a bad atmosphere in the dressing room. It was always a bad atmosphere around me. Sometimes it is agents because some players are unhappy they did not sign a new contract. We can imagine different things.
‘It was a pity, but I cannot change this. It was my job to prepare this team for the future. When you put in young players, you will lose points but you need to give them game-time. If I wanted to work to save my job, I would put in place just the players with the right level for the moment to secure my place. This is why I insisted with Chilwell when everyone wanted Christian Fuchs. For me, it was the right strategy to accept losing some points for them to perform in the future.’
Patience does not stretch that far in the Premier League. Puel was sacked in February after a 4-1 defeat by Palace, the team’s fourth straight loss. Yet, strangely, it was a 3-1 defeat by Tottenham the game before that made Puel hopeful it was all about to click. Leicester had 20 shots, nine on target, scored a stunning team goal with new loanee Youri Tielemans at the heart of it and Vardy at the end of it. Vardy had been left on the bench and came on to miss a penalty with his first touch.
‘After the game, the Tottenham sporting director told me we had a very good team for the future. I was happy because I was sure of the quality of this team,’ said Puel.
‘I have had this feeling twice in my career. The other was at the beginning of my career when I put in place the team at Monaco that won the French title with the youngest ever team. I had the same feeling after Tottenham. I was proud of our work. It was only a few games later I left.
‘It was a little disappointment not to have the chance to follow the team but it was my project at the beginning and it was not possible to perform at this level when I arrived. After my time in Lille, in Lyon, in Nice, in Leicester, all the managers who came after me cannot regret the things I put in place.’
Whatever Puel says, he is unlikely to change the opinions of those entrenched on either side. Whether you believe it is in spite of him or thanks partly to him, Leicester are back reaching for the incredible with one of the game’s finest managers at the helm.
Meanwhile, Puel is starting work on something new to build.
