RizLCFC Posted 13 December 2015 Posted 13 December 2015 Good read this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/leicester-city/12048440/.html
fleckneymike Posted 13 December 2015 Posted 13 December 2015 Riyad in the Telegrapgh http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/leicester-city/12048440/Flying-Riyad-Mahrez-coming-to-terms-with-dramatic-ascent-and-comparisons-with-Lionel-Messi.html 'Flying' Riyad Mahrez coming to terms with dramatic ascent and comparisons with Lionel Messi Leicester's electric winger says that, despite the attention of Barcelona, he is in no rush to leave the 'unbelievable' Claudio Ranieri revolution Eyes on the prize: Riyad Mahrez would be more than satisfied with a top-four finish for Leicester City this season Photo: TELEGRAPH By John Percy 9:30PM GMT 13 Dec 2015 Follow Comment Riyad Mahrez was the Leicester City superhero who stayed at home last weekend. While his team-mates were in Copenhagen for their fancy dress Christmas party, Mahrez was spending precious time with his seven-week-old daughter and trying to make sense of a remarkable year. He is the £350,000 bargain now being mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi, the mesmerising winger and Fantasy Football favourite who has played a key role in taking Leicester to the summit of the Premier League. • Analysis: how Chelsea can beat the mighty Leicester City Mahrez, 24, has been a revelation, scoring or assisting in 16 of Leicester’s 32 league goals, and he will face Chelsea on Monday night on the back of having scored a hat-trick against Swansea City. Earlier this year Mahrez feared Leicester were heading back to the Championship but now even Sir Alex Ferguson is backing them as surprise contenders for the title. “What we’re doing is very good for English football, you can see that even without big stars you can do something. Maybe soon we will be big stars but it’s so strange when you look at the table and we are first, looking at the big clubs below us,” he says, sitting in a room upstairs at Leicester’s training ground. “It’s unbelievable really, people are speaking about Leicester whereas last year they never said a word because we were last. Now everyone respects us. “When our backs are against the wall we respond. Then you see the real man, the real warrior. We’ve only lost to Chelsea and Arsenal since April and who would have said that? Nobody.” Mahrez’s magic has been integral to Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri’s success and he has arguably proven just as important as record‑breaking striker Jamie Vardy, who scored in 11 consecutive league games. Last week Sky pundit Craig Bellamy insisted that Mahrez was the player of the season so far while Ranieri has even compared him to the cartoon character Roadrunner: “Beep, beep and then whoosh! He’s gone. At the moment everything he touches is gold.” • Ranieri banishes Chelsea bitterness to strike balance with Leicester An Algeria international, Mahrez has twisted full-backs inside out with his trickery and his six assists are only bettered in the Premier League by Arsenal’s Mesut Özil. He already has more goals this season (11) than he managed in three seasons at Le Havre, the Ligue 2 club where he was spotted by Leicester’s head of recruitment, Steve Walsh. He said of the three goals he scored at Swansea last weekend: “It was a good feeling and my first ever hat-trick but it wasn’t my favourite game this season. I enjoyed other games more. Villa was a good one. “I feel like I’ve gone up another level this season. Last year was my first in a big league so it was all about experience and it toughened me up. “This year I’ve played more games and that has helped me. Maybe becoming a father has given me a lot of luck because I keep scoring. When I play at home I feel like I’m flying. When people mention me and Messi together it’s amazing, because to me Messi is the best of the best. You can’t say anything to him, he’s the boss. I always watch Barcelona on TV at home because I like how they play.” Barcelona – along with Manchester United and Arsenal – are even believed to have scouted Mahrez recently and it seems certain he will be a wanted man when the transfer window reopens next month. He signed a new contract in August, though, and is in no rush to leave. “Why would I want to go anywhere? It’s not in my head to go now. I’ll just finish the season and then we’ll see. I’ve got four years here on my contract until 2019. Life is good.” It has been quite an ascent for Mahrez, who smiles and shakes his head when he reflects on his career path. He was born in Sarcelles, a town in the northern outskirts of Paris, and readily admits he underachieved at school. But the backing of his late father, Ahmed, proved crucial in his early teens before he joined Quimper, a club in the French regional leagues, in 2009. There are obvious comparisons with the rise of Vardy, who was playing non-League football for Fleetwood Town only three years ago. “It’s a very good story for both of us because we started at the bottom. ‘Vards’ was in his mid-twenties when he came to Leicester but I was only 19 when I went to Quimper. I was playing in the city with my friends before that,” he says. “When I went to Le Havre I wasn’t physically ready. I was skinny and not strong enough to play in a tough league. They told me to go back to the second team. I was very disappointed but maybe that helped me to be the way I am now. “My father was a big influence. He kept telling me to pursue football, always. He always encouraged me and my brother, he would sometimes play with us when I was with my friends. He would be very proud of me now.” Mahrez’s move to England came in January 2014, after one of Walsh’s regular scouting missions unearthed gold. Walsh actually went to watch a Le Havre winger called Ryan Mendes – now at Nottingham Forest – but was blown away by the player on the other flank. After two more trips he convinced Leicester to buy him, with the £350,000 fee surely confirming him as one of the shrewdest signings of the decade. His start was steady if unspectacular, but his rapid progress as a Premier League player can be traced back to Leicester’s scramble to safety last season. Now he is the name on many people’s lips and he is being called the most skilful player in the top flight. He regularly retweets videos of his wizardry from games, including a moment against Villa in September where he took three players out with one twist of his body. There was even a ‘flip-flap’ against Manchester United last month. “It’s just natural. Even when I was young I had a reputation for it. I would play with my friends outside and I was doing all the things you see now a long time ago,” he says. “I’ve always done the flip-flap, even when I was young. Stepovers, dummies, I love to dribble. If you speak with my friends they will say I’m the same Riyad.” Chelsea stand in front of Mahrez and Leicester on Monday evening, with Ranieri’s team 17 points ahead of last season’s champions. While Leicester are one of the stories of the season, Chelsea’s decline has been astonishing. “I’ve been really surprised, I don’t know what has happened to them. They have lost confidence, it’s something strange. Nobody recognises them at the moment,” says Mahrez. “I hope they’re not going to wake up on Monday – but they will eventually. They’re better than Manchester United, who we played a few weeks ago. “Chelsea are more dangerous than them, even though they are 16th. When you see Chelsea it makes you realise how things can change so quickly.” • Jose Mourinho: phone call ended feud with Claudio Ranieri And what about Leicester’s prospects? It is Ranieri’s squad who are being openly talked about as potential title contenders and beating Chelsea will take them back to the top. Mahrez says: “I don’t think we can win the league. I don’t like to speak about it because football goes fast. You can be first and then in six games you can be 12th. The results can just flip and everybody can forget. “We want to get to 42 points and then who knows? Playing in Europe is a dream of ours, especially with this team because we grew up from the Championship. It’s basically the same team with only a few changes to the first 11. “Top six would be brilliant but I don’t want to finish fifth, I want fourth. I’d rather finish fourth or third than sixth because that would be so close. I wouldn’t want to just miss out.”
SecretPro Posted 13 December 2015 Posted 13 December 2015 Good read this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/leicester-city/12048440/.html He's a top lad. Good head on his shoulders.
ealingfox Posted 13 December 2015 Posted 13 December 2015 So the target has been upped to 42 points now has it? AMBISHUN
lifted*fox Posted 13 December 2015 Posted 13 December 2015 He signed a new contract in August, though, and is in no rush to leave. “Why would I want to go anywhere? It’s not in my head to go now. I’ll just finish the season and then we’ll see. I’ve got four years here on my contract until 2019. Life is good.” Sounds sincere - I really hope he means it. “We want to get to 42 points and then who knows? Playing in Europe is a dream of ours, especially with this team because we grew up from the Championship. It’s basically the same team with only a few changes to the first 11. These boys really do love each other. The fact he says 'dreams of ours' shows their all in it for the common goal. Then going on to talk about them growing up from the Championship. I honestly think they're like family at the moment - that's why Mahrez and Vardy won't be going anywhere in January and, dependant on finish, might just decide to stick around in the Summer as well.
Mikey Posted 13 December 2015 Posted 13 December 2015 Nice article that is. The way he talks makes me think he's not even thinking about going anywhere else, and obviously enjoys playing with this group of players.
americanfox Posted 13 December 2015 Posted 13 December 2015 Sounds sincere - I really hope he means it. These boys really do love each other. The fact he says 'dreams of ours' shows their all in it for the common goal. Then going on to talk about them growing up from the Championship. I honestly think they're like family at the moment - that's why Mahrez and Vardy won't be going anywhere in January and, dependant on finish, might just decide to stick around in the Summer as well. Or he's not stupid enough to say the wrong things. I really hope he stays -- and he definitely will through the summer --, but Mahrez is smart and we're reading way too much into his comments. Just glad he's not a bad apple and is representing this club well. Long may it last.
Oxfordfox83 Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 "I always watch Barcelona on TV at home because I like how they play.” It's only just dawned on me how shit it must be for our players that they never get to watch us play without knowing what happens. Imagine if you thought Barcelona were exciting to watch... #poorriyad
Dan Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 Wouldn't it be great if we did actually manage to hold onto him this summer.
moseeds Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 Our biggest signing next summer will be holding on to Mahrez
desertfox2 Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 Refreshing to see someone with so much talent being down to earth. Not just a great talent but seems to have the right mentality as well
Captain... Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 I'm expecting this team to mirror O'Neill's team, they will stick together while we are being successful, but should we reach a plateau, a point where they feel they have taken this club as far as it can go in terms of success, they will start to think about trying their hand elsewhere. While we are still progressing and achieving, there is no reason for any of these players to leave, and with Top's money and ambition I'm hoping things will only get better, but an amazing season this season followed by a couple of finishes around 10th then players may start to look elsewhere.
johnny the fox Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 Hope all this exposure don't fook us up.. it is a great story though.
Gerard Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 Wouldn't it be great if we did actually manage to hold onto him this summer. We have a decent chance as long as we make the top four. I think the players will stay together and be happy here as long as there is progression but when that juggernaut stops you can't keep players who are wanted by the very elite of world football. The one thing massively in our favour is Kante and Mahrez are contracted for another 3.5 years and Vardy is contracted for another 2.5 years which will take him to 31.5. We still hold the cards here so we either keep them or get huge fees.
Wymsey Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 Seems a polite lad, who has got his head firmly screwed on and no apparent intention of wanting to leave.
shen Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 We have a decent chance as long as we make the top four. I think the players will stay together and be happy here as long as there is progression but when that juggernaut stops you can't keep players who are wanted by the very elite of world football. The one thing massively in our favour is Kante and Mahrez are contracted for another 3.5 years and Vardy is contracted for another 2.5 years which will take him to 31.5. We still hold the cards here so we either keep them or get huge fees. You can imagine the club will start to budge at £30+ mil bids this summer if we're not in the CL. Especially if we turn down bids in that range in January. Mahrez will have set his sights higher following this season, while Kanté would be any managers dream.
Foxymcoxy Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 You can imagine the club will start to budge at £30+ mil bids this summer if we're not in the CL. Especially if we turn down bids in that range in January. Mahrez will have set his sights higher following this season, while Kanté would be any managers dream. Depends if Mahrez kicks up fuss really. I don't think the club will be keen to sell for £30m but if he's pushing for a move then we will have to begin negotiations...
shen Posted 14 December 2015 Posted 14 December 2015 Depends if Mahrez kicks up fuss really. I don't think the club will be keen to sell for £30m but if he's pushing for a move then we will have to begin negotiations... We don't know what happens behind closed doors, but judging by his interview in this thread, he seems to indicate that anything could happen this summer. Let's not kid ourselves, Mahrez says 42 points is the first goal this season, but also admits he'd be disappointed with anything less than top 6 or even fourth place. The guy is ambitious and realistically we're just a stepping stone. Heads have turned and it wouldn't surprise me if some of the biggest teams in Europe make a bid this summer.
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