I say “Lionel”, they say “Messi”. I say “Arjen”, they say “Robben”. Even the likes of Mohamed Salah, Gareth Bale and Angel di Maria get the nod from this pedantic and persnickety horde of soccer fans. A hush falls over the room when the person chairing over this discussion brings up Riyad Mahrez. “Mahrez, the one-season wonder?”. And they all chuckle.
The subject of the world’s best left-footed wingers doesn’t seem to warrant an inclusion for Riyad Mahrez. Manchester City, who are well-stocked and resourced in all departments, muscled their way to four trophies last season. The Algerian, a mere spectator all season long, slipped under the radar in Manchester- bar the penalty miss at Anfield and the final day goal at Brighton.
The advent of the new season, however, seems to have sparked the two-time Premier League champion to life. Riyad Mahrez is a man on a mission as he sets about righting the wrongs on a below-par first season in sky blue. The form of Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva forced Pep’s hand in 2018/19 and even when deployed on his favored right-wing position, Mahrez was ordinary, to say the least.
With the injuries mounting at City, Mahrez’s rebirth has come at the perfect time. His purple patch has been all the more typified by his performance in the 3-1 win against Leicester City. Ben Chilwell was never given a moment’s peace with the Algerian also managing to etch his name onto the scoresheet.
A portion of the credit falls to Pep Guardiola as well as he set City up to play to Mahrez’s strengths. Long diagonals to switch the play meant that the left-back was isolated against the winger who then had no qualms about making mincemeat of the English defender. And therein we have the answer to our question.
The way the Champions of England play, hogging the ball, exploiting space and running in behind the full-backs to swing crosses into the box is run-of-the-mill information. Josep Guardiola’s tactics meant that Mahrez’s natural game was stifled. The slow nature of City’s game meant that the 28-year-old was always occupied by three or four defenders every time he received the ball.
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At Leicester City, this was not the case. Mahrez was the man tasked with carrying the ball forward on the counter, often resulting in one on one situations with the opposition full-back. More often than not, he ended up flooring the defender to continue his full-blooded rush towards goal.
Mahrez possesses a wand of a left foot and dribbling continues to remain one of his strongholds. 5 goals and 6 assists in 14 games in the Premier League surely vindicate a starting berth and so you might presume. Guardiola, on the contrary, expects more from the winger with the Spaniard highlighting Mahrez’s poor work-rate in a majority of his pressers.
In a team like City, where the whole squad works in tandem as a unit, Guardiola cannot afford to have a player sticking out like a sore thumb. It is up to the AFCON winner to work on his weaknesses and cement his place in the starting 11 week in, week out.
The world knows who Mahrez was. Although who Mahrez is may be a fading memory, who he is going to be is all set to be inscribed in folklore for the days to come.
What is your best memory of Riyad Mahrez?