Riyad Mahrez says that a win over Manchester City gave Leicester the belief that they could go on to lift the Premier League trophy
Leicester City are one win away from becoming the Premier League champions. I don’t know about everybody else, but that’s still not sinking in for me yet.
This situation fills me with so much happiness, despite not supporting Leicester City in the slightest. I enjoy watching their players, and being English I adore the rise of Jamie Vardy, but I’m no real fan of the team – I’m just a fan of the fairy-tale.
From narrowly avoiding relegation in one season, to lifting the title just a year later is unimaginable before now. Leicester City have proved that you don’t need to splash out billions and billions on big name players, and that a positive team spirit can be far more beneficial than a big bank account.
Riyad Mahrez has been one Leicester player at the forefront of this exceptional rise to glory, even being award the PFA’s Player of the Year award. In an article on the Guardian, Riyad Mahrez says that it was a victory against Manchester City this February that gave Leicester the belief they could possibly lift the trophy.
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Mahrez said “To score three goals at City is not easy. It was 3-0 and ended up 3-1. That was when we started doing something big,” reflecting on the 6th of February when Leicester triumphed against title-contenders City.
He then went on to reveal that he and close friend N’Golo Kanté briefly discussed the prospect that they could actually do this.
“In January we just said: ‘Imagine?’ We didn’t go into much more, we just said: ‘Imagine?’ But that was only for about 30 seconds and then we said: ‘No, let’s stay focused and let’s see.’ It was still a long way to go, maybe 15 games.”
I find It more impressive that this side have maintained composure throughout the season, with opposition threatening them from every turn. Both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs have had chances to catch Leicester, and both have equally blown those chances.
Onze Mondial, giving his insight into the belief and spirit of the Leicester City team. He said;
“It is desire. We are fighters. And when I say to you ‘fighters’, I have never seen anything like this in my life. The guys are hungry like crazy and they let nothing go. You blast a shot straight into a guy’s face and he doesn’t even flinch. The defender’s job is to defend, that is it. They love that. You will never see our defenders out of line, trying to dribble and making a pass through the gap.”
It seems that Mahrez understands that Leicester City player effective football, not exactly fancy football – despite how good they can look. He’s saying that everybody knows their place and has the will to fight on for the glory they are chasing. He continued;
“Next, we have real midfielders. The signing of N’Golo Kanté has put Danny Drinkwater in the limelight, because the pair complement each other superbly. And then I am doing well this year, Jamie Vardy too. And we have a good coach. It is a bit of all of that.”
The team spirit they have has contributed massively to the success Leicester are experiencing, and that’s why this story is so brilliant. Mahrez shut down any transfer speculation linking him to PSG, finishing the interview by saying;
“Even today I am not too excited about the prospect of PSG. It is my town, but I do not see myself going back. I don’t really want to go back to France. France does not really excite me, I love England.”
Hopefully Leicester City can keep their players and their spirit, and go out fighting again next season.