#26 | Riyad Mahrez - 2019/20 Performances

[br88]

I thought this thread was about Mahrez??.

 

[jamesha]

I thought this thread was about Mahrez??.

It is and I for one am really excited to see how he plays this year.
Winning the AFCON must have been a massive boost for him and he looks like he is taking that into the new season - he must have been tearing it up in training to get a start against West Ham.
Hoping for a good performance against Spuds to get the home crowd on his side.

 

[Dax777]

Honestly, I did my best to keep the post as short and compact as I could but the gist of what I’m saying relies on so many other factors that I didn’t bring up but also factored in. I honestly love talking about the sort of thing but it’s not for everyone and I try to avoid this stuff on here.

Just to touch on your comment about playing on the ‘wrong’ side and to better explain what I mean by getting maximum value from each position I’ll try to explain it better. Picture the squad in general without any names on the lineup but just the total contributions as a whole for the year. We’re pretty much rated a 8.5 to 9.5 in every position from our ‘best 11’. We won four trophies because our second choice players that rotate in are anywhere from a 7.5 to 9. Play back our entire season and you’ll see that Leroy always started on the left, Mahrez right, GJ cf and never LW, David left CM, Kevin right side, etc.

By seasons end if we make deep runs in most of the competitions the entire squads minutes will be divided out much more evenly than ppl might be aware of. I know that’s true because I’ve been keeping a running database for three years now. It’s incredible how well Pep does it. If you know that’s the case then it’s the managers job to get the players playing in their optimal position for as many or all of those minutes as possible and Peps the master at it.

The argument I’m making is that Mahrez will get his minutes in his best position and when Raz misses matches Pep will tweak the system rather than just swapping in Mahrez for Raz/Leroy’s role on the left.

It’s also better for the player and especially for the squad chemistry at staying in the same area of the pitch and it’s a big reason why I’m not a fan of him playing on the left for that reason mostly.

To your point, if you want to take the position that he’s ‘equally as good’ on the left side as the right then that’s fine. It’s subjective and it’s guess work on my part but there’s no evidence to back that claim up. I think 3 ATB with GJ/Kun is miles ahead of throwing Mahrez over there who has effectively 0 experience playing over there at this level and Pep obviously hunts out every minor edge.

We’ll see what happens with it. Thats my read and honestly it’s a win/win. I ship $100 to charity or prove Dax wrong :-)

I’ll lower it even further. 500 minutes on the left should be about 15% for him. Fair enough line and makes the season more interesting.

I'll respond later. :)

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Good in stretches last week, bagged two assists and won a penalty but I think Bernardo will come in tomorrow

No slight on Riyad but Bernardo is the man

 

[kaz7]

Pep Guardiola on Riyad Mahrez: ”First of all, there is this tendency after one game, when he didn’t play as much last season, to say that now this is his season. Be calm. The only reason Riyad didn’t play quite regularly last season was because of my decision.”

“For players of this quality, as a winger, it is hard to find rhythm and control. Most of the time Bernardo played and he won five titles last season and he played incredibly well. Riyad is a smart guy, he’s intelligent, he’s a talented player.”

”He knows what we want and he’s able to do it. He trains good and he can change the game. He’s good for our competitors, for Leroy and Bernardo, and he’s ready to take his position.” #MCFC

 

[EL APACHE TEVEZ]

I can see another player of the season for riyad.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Good in stretches last week, bagged two assists and won a penalty but I think Bernardo will come in tomorrow

No slight on Riyad but Bernardo is the man

Thought he was great. Proper team player and worked his socks off. Great season ahead hopefully

 

[Deleted member 81382]

Just watching back some of his performances when Leicester won the league and he was fucking ridiculous.

I think it's pretty clear last season he was just trying too hard which was probably due to a combination of factors: being our record signing, trying to prove he's good enough to play for a team that got 100 points and then wanting to make up for the penalty miss. Added to the fact that under Pep, players have needed a year to adapt to his way of playing.

If we get anything close to the player he was in 2015/16, he could be a potential POTY winner.

 

[Craig]

Good in stretches last week, bagged two assists and won a penalty but I think Bernardo will come in tomorrow

No slight on Riyad but Bernardo is the man

He wasn't good in stretches last week, he had a superb game. One swallow and all that but if he could reproduce that or his Leicester title winning form he'll offer more in that position than Bernado. I still hope Bernado moves in the middle this season.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

He wasn't good in stretches last week, he had a superb game. One swallow and all that but if he could reproduce that or his Leicester title winning form he'll offer more in that position than Bernado. I still hope Bernado moves in the middle this season.

He comes across as a confidence player and that was sorely lacking last season. Plus I also think he also found it hard to break teams down that way deep, something he didn't have to do at Leicester. Let's hope he can push on from last week.