Leicester without Mahrez

[floz]

Mahrez is getting hammered on the Blue Moon forum this morning:

 

"Woefully short on confidence, teammates don't trust him, and so far away from the quality of the rest of the team that it's bordering on ridiculous.

If we'd spent £20m on him I'd say that we'd wasted our money, but £60m? Christ".

 

"You can see why, like everyone else can , he is shit. Never gets a dirty shirt, never breaks out in sweat, never a hair out of place when he leaves the field. He is a lazy bastard".

 

"You needn't worry about him tracking back or defending well hes shite at that as well. The cowardly streak is the deal breaker for me. A poor mans peter beagrie."

 

A poor man's Peter Beagrie? Wow!

[Christoph]

Interesting read on the Man City forum. Doesn't have a lot of fans on there. Maybe they will sell him back on the cheap??  

 

https://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/threads/riyad-mahrez-2018-2019-performances.335464/page-261 

[PaulW]

On 08/04/2019 at 08:40, StriderHiryu said:

That’s a good review and with our current league position and matching our points tally from last season already we’ve arguably improved slightly. But it does highlight how good he was for us... we combine 4 or 5 players together and they still don’t beat his goal tally and this was in a season where his head was clearly turned. 

 

For me those wide positions are the area we could / should improve the most. The three of Ndidi / Maddison / Tielemans is very well balanced, creative and now scoring goals. But as Riyad showed our inside forwards / wingers aren’t anywhere close to the numbers they could produce. 

 

It will be interesting to see if we recruit anyone in those positions in the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Timothy Weah of PSG who is currently on loan at Celtic spend next season on loan here. We’ve also been linked with Harry Wilson of Liverpool (on loan to Derby) and Jarod Bowen of Hull too. 

I think there's an argument in favour of having the majority of our goals & assists coming from various sources, rather than one outstanding player.

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

Just angry fans venting. Need a scapegoat because they were bang average last night.

[murphy]

4 minutes ago, Marshall Cockney Fox said:

Just angry fans venting. Need a scapegoat because they were bang average last night.

They've been saying the same things for some time.  Not just last night.

 

Seems as though we have both sold each other a dud.

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

2 minutes ago, murphy said:

They've been saying the same things for some time.  Not just last night.

 

Seems as though we have both sold each other a dud.

Thing is he's not a dud though is he? Maybe just playing like one currently. However Nacho, well he could be!!

[murphy]

2 minutes ago, Marshall Cockney Fox said:

Thing is he's not a dud though is he? Maybe just playing like one currently. However Nacho, well he could be!!

 

Ask the Bluemooners.

 

If he fails at Man City, then he is a dud, for them anyway.  It happens.  Good players can fail at certain clubs like Kramaric or Inler did for us.

 

You have to remember they paid £60m so that is the benchmark he has to achieve to be successful.  He has to start playing like a £60m player not a £20m player,

[foxile5]

The problem is his attitude. 

 

The refusal to play, the casting around airports, having a driver pick him up from the door rather than walk five feet to his car like a peasant. 

 

The bloke is an utter cock who thinks he's better than he is. That's why he's failing at Man City. 

 

The attitude worked with us, to a degree, because he was so much better than those around him. Now each player is as good as him, but with better attitudes.

 

The likes De Bruyne will always be better because they have the natural talent and a desire to be the best. Mr just wants to be perceived as the best. Style over substance. 

 

No doubt there'll be a phalanx of people leaping to defend him like a family member, but the verdict of Man City fans is damning.

[murphy]

1 hour ago, volpeazzurro said:

He was exceptional for us that season, we all thought the world of him. Though Ranieri did drop him a couple of times and he himself in an PFA acceptence speech even alluded to the fact that he had at times been told by Ranieri that he had to work harder. The world was at his feet and seemingly his ambition was to play for Barcelona. Whilst I would always want to keep our best players I do understand them wanting to attain their highest level. I would reluctantly have loved him to have achieved that and one day put that shirt on and follow his career.

 

Sadly it seemed to change. Even in our winning season he could turn up late for training and that got worse. That was well documented and even Vardy and Slimani alluded to it. I also knew through other sources at the training ground. Despite his stats and occasional bursts of brilliance much of the games seemed to pass him by even allowing for his languid style and he was covered up for greatly by a very good fullback in Simpson. You instinctively know when someone is not putting the effort in, sometimes by working hard you can make things happen. Then there were all the other shenanigans of course. I remember the reports of a possible move to Barcelona being muted but two supposed Spanish correspondents close to the club came up with the same supposed inside knowledge that although they had been interested, his work rate etc didn't fit in the mould of the sort of player they would consider recruiting at that time.

 

Pep amongst other things is supposedly a great motivator and winner. I'm sure he would have believed he could make something even better out of Marhez. I would think he could too. In fairness, it also has to be admitted that in Bernado Silva and Sterling this year he would have come up against trying to usurp two of the Premierships best performers! I also in fairness don't  follow Man City to any real degree other than I do think they're exciting to watch mostly. There have been negative comments made about Marhez in the general media hubbub you read online supposedly from their supporters re Marhez and once, possibly before or after we played them, I just looked at their forum and was quite surprised regarding the negativity about him and that he'd been a poor signing etc. He's in the right place with the right man to work,  learn and improve. It's up to him I suppose. 

 

I didn't see the game against Spurs last night but saw he'd been in the squad. I just checked to see his performance ratings.

 

The Manchester Evening Standard player ratings of his performance were:

 

'Riyad Mahrez- After a dreadful, peripheral first half, he saw plenty of the ball - but his final pass and crossing were still not of the requisite standard. 5

 

Sky Sports:

Riyad Mahrez - 5 Another surprising selection following an inconsistent first season at City. He was pushed off the ball too easily at times and it was surprising he was not substituted until the 85th minute.

 

Daily Mirror:

Mahrez 5 - Booked. City's 'daisy' – some days he turns it on, some days he doesn't.

 

Sounds to me as if he's not changed much sadly. Next season could be his last there unless there's improvement I feel. 

Great post.

 

Just to go off on a tangent for a moment, the only thing I can't agree with is your claim that MCFC are exciting to watch.

 

I think they are the dullest ream in the Prem.  They regularly achieve 70%+ possession mainly tippy tapping it around in the opponents half until they score and then repeat.

 

Not their fault I suppose and you can't argue that it isn't successful, but as a neutral, Man City games are so tedious to watch.

[Ted Maul]

I still don't think we've got a replacement in his position yet- we've strengthened all over the pitch, and RW is probably our weakest position now.

 

If we can retain what we've got, ship out the deadwood and bring in Tielemans, a top class winger and alternative striker, we'll be a very dangerous side.

 

Mahrez is an important part of our history but he's gone now- in his mind he was bigger than us but is struggling to adjust to the next step.

 

At the end of the day, who cares? We'll always have the memories of his time here and we're now in a new era and going places without him.

[Suzie the Fox]

54 minutes ago, Ted Maul said:

I still don't think we've got a replacement in his position yet- we've strengthened all over the pitch, and RW is probably our weakest position now.

 

If we can retain what we've got, ship out the deadwood and bring in Tielemans, a top class winger and alternative striker, we'll be a very dangerous side.

 

Mahrez is an important part of our history but he's gone now- in his mind he was bigger than us but is struggling to adjust to the next step.

 

At the end of the day, who cares? We'll always have the memories of his time here and we're now in a new era and going places without him.

That's pretty much my stance on all this too. 

[dyanmark]

Watched their game last night and he huffed and puffed did a bit of serious defending but you can understand their frustration that Kev didn't come on .Mahrez seems to be under orders to keep wide and stretch the play.

First time ive ever thought Pep made a big tactical error.he looked to be happy with the draw and didn't react as I would have thought.

[Babylon]

1 hour ago, murphy said:

 

Ask the Bluemooners.

 

If he fails at Man City, then he is a dud, for them anyway.  It happens.  Good players can fail at certain clubs like Kramaric or Inler did for us.

 

You have to remember they paid £60m so that is the benchmark he has to achieve to be successful.  He has to start playing like a £60m player not a £20m player,

7 goals and 7 assists from 17 starts, that's only a fraction behind Silva and Silva who start most games. Her certainly seems out of sorts at the moment, but if he'd played the games they had I'm sure his output would have beaten them. So he can't be that bad.

[mancunianfox]

Living in Manchester I can confirm that Man City fans all can't stand him. It started after the missed penalty against Liverpool and he can't do anything right in their eyes since then (despite scoring the only goal in two 1-0 league wins). Despite their success Man City fans still have a small club mentality (90% would rather win the league over the Champions League) and they still value workrate over quality. Mahrez doesn't really help himself on that front.

[Guest Markyblue]

2 minutes ago, mancunianfox said:

Living in Manchester I can confirm that Man City fans all can't stand him. It started after the missed penalty against Liverpool and he can't do anything right in their eyes since then (despite scoring the only goal in two 1-0 league wins). Despite their success Man City fans still have a small club mentality (90% would rather win the league over the Champions League) and they still value workrate over quality. Mahrez doesn't really help himself on that front.

Despite scoring in two 1-0 wins ,he cost them 60+ million i think they expect more and i can imagine the meltdown on here if the position was reversed.  He was great for us and has been pretty average for them. 

[String fellow]

That late penalty miss by Mahrez late on against Liverpool at Anfield earlier this season will almost certainly cost Man City the title. Similarly, that penalty miss by Aguero last night against Tottenham will probably cost them dearly. The quadruple will end up as just a double, Watford permitting.

[Crispin LA]

They sold us a dud like Nacho for about 28m and we sold a Mahrez for around 60m.

It all evens out at the end. Mahrez was good for us in spells in the games with Vardy. Life isn't sometimes greener on the other side, ask Danny. 

[Dames]

23 minutes ago, Babylon said:

7 goals and 7 assists from 17 starts, that's only a fraction behind Silva and Silva who start most games. Her certainly seems out of sorts at the moment, but if he'd played the games they had I'm sure his output would have beaten them. So he can't be that bad.

He's definitely not bad at all its a decent record.

 

As another poster mentioned I don't think his style suits the team or the club, he's definitely suited more to being the big fish in a small pond where he can get away with turning up when he wants (both metaphorically and physically). At a club full of superstars with a 60m price tag hanging above him whatever he does is going to be under more scrutiny and a lot more is going to be expected. Its more noticeable when he's having an off day because the players around him will be showing him up.

 

I'd still have him back here in a heartbeat though, imagine if we signed Tielemans and Mahrez in the summer, our attack will be disgustingly good.

 

 

[Babylon]

9 minutes ago, Dames said:

He's definitely not bad at all its a decent record.

 

As another poster mentioned I don't think his style suits the team or the club, he's definitely suited more to being the big fish in a small pond where he can get away with turning up when he wants (both metaphorically and physically). At a club full of superstars with a 60m price tag hanging above him whatever he does is going to be under more scrutiny and a lot more is going to be expected. Its more noticeable when he's having an off day because the players around him will be showing him up.

 

I'd still have him back here in a heartbeat though, imagine if we signed Tielemans and Mahrez in the summer, our attack will be disgustingly good.

He he got licence to basically do what you want as you are the best player, so he's already try and create or take people on. Last night he took the soft option so often. 

[mozartfox]

A bit like the Drinkwater situation.  Moved on for more money and glory, but as with life, nothing is ever guaranteed (save that of Chis Sutton being a total 5-star Bell-end every time he opens his mouth).

[Chico1958]

I know we are moving forward again and tbf I've enjoyed hearing the plaudits the team are now getting.

 

To me, if I wanted someone to come back it would only be Kante.

 

Danny Drinkandrive and Mahrez have and best of luck to them.

 

Ps: Oh and a fit Rob Huth   

[volpeazzurro]

2 hours ago, murphy said:

Great post.

 

Just to go off on a tangent for a moment, the only thing I can't agree with is your claim that MCFC are exciting to watch.

 

I think they are the dullest ream in the Prem.  They regularly achieve 70%+ possession mainly tippy tapping it around in the opponents half until they score and then repeat.

 

Not their fault I suppose and you can't argue that it isn't successful, but as a neutral, Man City games are so tedious to watch.

I know what you mean as despite all the plaudits from the purists, I used to find Barcelona as dull as ditch water after a couple of games in quick succession ?. I suppose if I'm honest and think about it I tend to watch mostly highlights like motd really apart from our games of course. I may have just been lucky in the games I've watched. David Silva mesmerises me as when he comes down here to us, I try and watch him and lose him and I'm not even on the pitch! Sane is a good player to watch also.

[yorkie1999]

how we got £60 million for Mahrez is unbelievable. He hit his peak when we won the league Wonder what we would get for him now if he was still here.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, floz said:

"You can see why, like everyone else can , he is shit. Never gets a dirty shirt, never breaks out in sweat, never a hair out of place when he leaves the field. He is a lazy bastard".

 

"You needn't worry about him tracking back or defending well hes shite at that as well. The cowardly streak is the deal breaker for me. A poor mans peter beagrie."

 

 

pretty much what he was at Leicester to be honest. Doesn't put the work in, Never plays defence which puts a strain on the defenders behind him. Lazy, Prima donna.

 

Enjoy the medals because you're no longer going down as a "great" player Mehrez.

[Guest SO1]

3 hours ago, PaulW said:

I think there's an argument in favour of having the majority of our goals & assists coming from various sources, rather than one outstanding player.

In the Rodgers teams that I followed it was always about an attacking group, the front three or four working as a unit. Followed by mid fielders and defensive backs. Creating overloads in the offensive half of the pitch. Think Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling coming from everywhere at any direction. Creating havoc in the box. All interchangeable. Everyone in the team has goals in them.