' From Cardiff City Flop to Top of the Premier League Player

How Danny Drinkwater went from Cardiff City flop to the heart of Leicester City's miraculous title challenge


WEDNESDAY 3 FEB 2016


BY SIMON GASKELL

Drinkwater has formed a fine midfield partnership with N’Golo Kanté at the King Power Stadium



Was Danny Drinkwater underrated at Cardiff City?
YES
NO

Leicester City’s remarkable season shows no signs of letting up, with the 2-0 victory over Liverpool and Jamie Vardy’s first-half wonder strike leading many observers to wonder whether the unthinkable could happen: could the Foxes actually win the Premier League title?

For Cardiff City fans watching on from a division below it is a particularly interesting question given the fact that just five years ago the Bluebirds were beating Leicester on penalties, denying them a shot at the Premier League during Nigel Pearson’s first spell in charge of the club.

More than that, the following season they brought in a certain Danny Drinkwater on loan from Manchester United - a man who now anchors the middle of midfield for the Premier League table-toppers.

Then, Drinkwater wasn’t even kept on at the Cardiff City Stadium beyond January after arriving in August, heading off to Watford after Christmas instead.

Now he is one of the main lieutenants in Claudio Ranieri’s revolution alongside Vardy with each passing round of Premier League fixtures where Leicester don’t slip up seeing him edge closer to a Premier League medal he would have seen many of his club mates win during his early days at Old Trafford.

Jordan Mansfield/Getty ImagesJamie Vardy (L) of Leicester City celebrates with his team mate Danny Drinkwater (R)
It is quite a turnaround for a man who is, perhaps surprisingly. still just 25.

At Cardiff he arrived as a 20-year-old who was one of a number of loan players brought in by Dave Jones in what would turn out to be his last season in charge.

Drinkwater made his debut in a midfield also comprising Chris Burke, Peter Whittingham and Gavin Rae against Sheffield United on the opening day of the season after the Bluebirds had, funnily enough, just come out of a transfer embargo.



He went on to make 12 appearances in all competitions and most Cardiff fans remember him as a solid if unspectacular performer - a man who was energetic and got around the field but didn’t set the world alight.

Certainly compared to the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Gary O’Neill who had gone before him he wasn’t quite able to dominate games in the middle of the park at that level.

If you’d have asked Cardiff fans then whether they would have envisaged Drinkwater going on to star for a team capable of challenging for top honours, there was sure to have been only one response.



Now has formed a fine midfield partnership with N’Golo Kanté at the King Power Stadium that has proved so productive it has kept Swiss international star Gokhan Inler - a stellar summer signing from Napoli - out of the starting team.

With Kante providing the energy around the field that Drinkwater has often been relied on for in the past, there are also signs that he is taking on more creative responsibility.

He has four assists in the Premier League so far this season - one a sublime through ball for Vardy to round Jack Butland in the 3-0 win over Stoke

That came after Drinkwater had himself found the net with a low drilled effort - something he failed to do in his time at Cardiff.

Also Read: Tony Watt reveals he was set to seal Cardiff City transfer when transfer embargo scuppered deal

Against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, Drinkwwater continued to express himself and display the confidence that is running through all of Leicester’s players at this moment in time.

He was at the centre of a number of passages of play reminiscent of Barcelona’s tiki-taka with one touch passing and backheels that mesmerised Liverpool and on one occasion could - and should - have resulted in a penalty for Shinji Okazaki.


Drinkwater’s form, going hand-in-hand with Leicester’s, has even led to calls for his inclusion in Roy Hodgson’s England plans ahead of Euro 2016 alongside Vardy.

Of his influence in the Foxes’ team Drinkwater is modest, crediting man-of-the moment Vardy for helping him flourish.

“He’s amazing. He works so hard. He can make average passes look like great ones,” Drinkwater said after the Liverpool triumph.

Read more: What became of Cardiff City's dismantled Premier League squad?

One man who is in no doubt about his importance to the team is Ranieri, though the veteran Italian coach has admitted his surprise at the consistently high levels Drinkwater has hit this season.

“When we bought Kante and Inler, we thought they were very good central midfielders,” Ranieri said speaking earlier this season.

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I didn't think he was a flop when he played for us. He was injury prone and therefore didn't get a run of games. When he did play, his quality was there for all to see.

What I recall is we didn't play him enough for (old plum nose )Fergie,so he called him back and loaned him to someone else.Didnt look prem quality at the time and a bit of a hothead.
Done alright now.

wasnt a flop.


another stupid article from the morons at wales online

Gave up after the first 2 paragraphs!!!

Vardy did not score in the first half yesterday plus "just five years ago" is a long time in football!!

Any chance to have a dig at the club a suppose!!

The article is sensationalist and inaccurate. Drinkwater was not a flop, nor did he make a great impact.
Schmeichel was excellent, wasn't he? No headline in that though.

Didn't want to be here. Wanted to move back closer to home.

Away to Pompey Drinkwater was sensational! He was injured after that then Jones started him on the left wing v Swansea where he was understandably poor. In that one game at Pompey thoug it was clear he was class.

Bloody Slade never picked him.

Oh wait

Not a flop looked a decent player with the game time he got I thought.

wasnt drinkwater one of the famous, on the piss untill . god knows what hours before the middlesbrough game, along with, chopra, jet, etc

Not a flop, just not THAT good. Basically like Joe Mason.

I thought he was decent just didn't get the game time he needed,I'm happy to see two players who have donned our shirt top of the league