Riyad Mahrez - 2018/2019 performances

[Colin Bells Boots]

Do you know that he's not?

I clearly don't, anymore than the experts on here who are having a go at Mahrez .

Do you know ?

 

[mosssideblue]

I clearly don't, anymore than the experts on here who are having a go at Mahrez .

Do you know ?

Gundog is loving this thread now

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I clearly don't, anymore than the experts on here who are having a go at Mahrez .

Do you know ?

No, but I wasn't the one asking the question

 

[Gabriel]

Things that I have found frustrating about Mahrez are that he seems reluctant to engage his defender in a foot race when one-to-one, and that he seems to sit 5-10 yards deeper than Sane. I used to think it was down to a lack of pace, yet when you see us counterattack, Mahrez is as fast in the gallop as the rest.These two points have not changed since he arrived, so I can only conclude that Guardiola advocates that he play that way. Mahrez is glued to his line and we probably underestimate the draining effect on the opposition of running that extra 5 yards to him and 5 yards back. I also think we won’t see the very best of him until he is playing and tacking regularly with de Bruyne and Danilo.

 

[Dax777]

Still playing like he has to prove how good he is, his job is assists mainly so when in a position to pass it to someone in a better position pass it.

The moment he gets this, his star will sky rocket

 

[Dax777]

To try and give a balanced view, I feel that at his age Mahrez shouldn’t have to go through a Learning Curve. Signing players like Mahrez should be about ‘plug-and-play’. He isn’t that. The very top players come into the squad and hit the ground running. I think that people at City saw something in him that they liked and assumed he would fit in, hence the long term pursuit.

As a fan, when I watched Leicester games in their title winning year I didn’t see him as any more than a one trick pony: step over then cross the ball, whether the player was 30 or 3 yards away. He’s never played like a Pep player or City player since he’s arrived.

If you think of other players in Europe, they generally play to a set format. They’re very technical, disciplined and look to produce an end product from those first two points. Mahrez doesn’t fit the above description and I have no idea what his plan with the ball is. He looks like a 2018 version of Peter Beagrie: you have an expectation of what you want him to do, but it never happens.

He is not a Top player. He hasn’t delivered or made a difference in the big games where we need our top players to make an impact i.e. Liverpool, United. At the top level, he isn’t good enough.

Another point in this debate is if he’s in the squad or team, who isn’t? We pay £60m for an average player and completely ignore our youth. The one thing that I’ll always respect United for is their blueprint to teach youth players the philosophy of the club and bring them through. It hasn’t stopped them from winning trophies. As we all know that blueprint plan has worked extremely well over there.

Put simply, I don’t think Mahrez fits in and I can imagine a year or so from now that we’ll see him transferred to a different league. I don’t like to say this, but he’s quickly becoming the Elephant in the room and is becoming another Navas.

If you were going to give an unbalanced view, what would it have looked like?

 

[In the Kippax]

I could have said that although Mahrez was successful in winning the league in a one dimensional team, in a season when other perennial contenders such as City, United, Chelsea and Tottenham Abstained from trying to win the league, that Mahrez is, in know uncertain terms, Overrated.

That would have been unbalanced and a tad (as he didn’t necessarily choose to come to City, he was more given a gold lined opportunity which nobody would ever turn down) unfair.

Ultimately, I think Mahrez has come to a club that I don’t think he’ll ever be a World Class player at.

My main point, is that if we’re going to buy-in players who are proven and experienced, then they should be ready to go. We shouldn’t be waiting one or two seasons to see the best from them.

By the way, this is not a dig at Mahrez: Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have both given the same quote when they said that only 1 out of 3 potential signings made are successful. Look at some of the dodgy defenders Arsenal have had and goalkeepers or midfielders at United (remember the World Class Eric DJemba-DJemba?).

 

[kaz7]

I could have said that although Mahrez was successful in winning the league in a one dimensional team, in a season when other perennial contenders such as City, United, Chelsea and Tottenham Abstained from trying to win the league, that Mahrez is, in know uncertain terms, Overrated.

That would have been unbalanced and a tad (as he didn’t necessarily choose to come to City, he was more given a gold lined opportunity which nobody would ever turn down) unfair.

Ultimately, I think Mahrez has come to a club that I don’t think he’ll ever be a World Class player at.

My main point, is that if we’re going to buy-in players who are proven and experienced, then they should be ready to go. We shouldn’t be waiting one or two seasons to see the best from them.

By the way, this is not a dig at Mahrez: Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have both given the same quote when they said that only 1 out of 3 potential signings made are successful. Look at some of the dodgy defenders Arsenal have had and goalkeepers or midfielders at United (remember the World Class Eric DJemba-DJemba?).

Blimey

 

[aguero93:20]

If you were going to give an unbalanced view, what would it have looked like?

One of your posts on the Zinchenko thread.

 

[mosssideblue]

I could have said that although Mahrez was successful in winning the league in a one dimensional team, in a season when other perennial contenders such as City, United, Chelsea and Tottenham Abstained from trying to win the league, that Mahrez is, in know uncertain terms, Overrated.

That would have been unbalanced and a tad (as he didn’t necessarily choose to come to City, he was more given a gold lined opportunity which nobody would ever turn down) unfair.

Ultimately, I think Mahrez has come to a club that I don’t think he’ll ever be a World Class player at.

My main point, is that if we’re going to buy-in players who are proven and experienced, then they should be ready to go. We shouldn’t be waiting one or two seasons to see the best from them.

By the way, this is not a dig at Mahrez: Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have both given the same quote when they said that only 1 out of 3 potential signings made are successful. Look at some of the dodgy defenders Arsenal have had and goalkeepers or midfielders at United (remember the World Class Eric DJemba-DJemba?).

Genuine Question
How would you compare his first 4 months to that of say:

Sterling
Sane
Merlin
Zaba
Vinnie
Bernardo
Hart
etc
etc