hackneyfox Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 4 minutes ago, OntarioFox said: There's wanting to move, as Drinkwater did, then there's sitting in airports on deadline day and throwing a sulk / refusing to play when you don't get your move. I don't begrudge Drinkwater's move, as ill-considered as we thought it was and has proven to be, because I saw no visible reduction in his performances on the pitch when interest from Chelsea became apparent, but Mahrez genuinely cost our team points when he threw our developing game plan into the air by going AWOL in February 2018. He arguably and ultimately blew a hole in the genuine momentum that Puel had built around the squad at the time - by late January 2018 we were picking up results with "Puelball" and the team seemed to understand their role. We put in some monster performances at the turn of the new year - most notably that match away from Chelsea in which we matched them for possession, dominated in the first half and somehow left with a 0-0 draw thanks to Cortouis' heroics and Chilwell seeing red. Mahrez was a key part of that, free to be creative and bringing the rest of the team into a tactical set-up not dissimilar to the aggressive, high-press possession football Rodgers is now implementing to great success. He was also amongst the goals, bagging against Huddersfield and Watford, and clearly a focal point of the new style. That all went down the sh*tter starting with that 2-1 reverse at Everton, in which his sudden withdrawal clearly blew our gameplan out of the water at short notice, and continued long after he finally sulked back into the squad, ironically against Man City. We didn't win again until the 10th of March, and Puel's early momentum was completely shot. Hands up if anyone can remember him putting anything close to a shift in for us until he scored his free kick against Bournemouth, itself a lucky break given he had been ineffective once again that game? It's all well and good to blame Puel's lack of a plan B, but the reality is that he also lost his plan A the moment the teamsheet came out against the Toffees - and, a short purple patch around Christmas 2018 aside, the hit to his credibility as manager was ultimately terminal. Mahrez is a manchild and his antics from the moment Man City expressed their interest to him finally getting his dream move soured his legacy for a lot of fans, me included. Refusing to play and then putting in minimum effort when finally agreeing to for more than a month while your side's ambitions for the season and all goodwill towards the new manager from the fanbase disappear before your eyes in the ensuing chaos is unacceptable. I'm with @FIF. I wish I could pretend that everything that happened after 2017 never happened, but it did, and unless you couldn't guess from this long-winded response, I lay a lot of the blame for Puel's ultimate failure at Mahrez' door as he was chasing a functional system and a replacement for a Riyad-shaped hole from the day the strop happened. Some great points but for me he is still the most naturally gifted player I've seen at Leicester (I'm hoping to change my mind next season with YT and EC is up there as well). His goal and assists figures are unbelievable. He's a legend so I can forgive him.
OntarioFox Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 Just now, hackneyfox said: Some great points but for me he is still the most naturally gifted player I've seen at Leicester (I'm hoping to change my mind next season with YT and EC is up there as well). His goal and assists figures are unbelievable. He's a legend so I can forgive him. Fair enough, and I would reiterate that I am genuinely grateful for his contribution to the greatest season in our history. But it comes back to the old adage - "no player is bigger than the team". Safe to say, that home truth must surely be coming home now he's a small fish in the ocean that is the Man City squad, and his shortcomings we knew of all along are under far more intense scrutiny. It's early days yet, but it kind of feels like we're finally exorcising the ghost of our over-reliance on him for creativity now - though that is again tempered by the fragile position of Tielemans in the team. I honestly feel that half the reason Puel got the job in the first place was down to his intentions to woo Mahrez into staying and building a system that relied on his bursts of brilliance - and just as it was starting to work, the player himself pulled the rug from under him. Maybe it was naive of Claude to assume that he was going to stick around for the long run, but I still think history would have been different if he had actually got his head down and continued to perform in that fateful February.
murphy Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 6 minutes ago, hackneyfox said: Some great points but for me he is still the most naturally gifted player I've seen at Leicester (I'm hoping to change my mind next season with YT and EC is up there as well). His goal and assists figures are unbelievable. He's a legend so I can forgive him. I can forgive his off days, I can forgive him wanting to move, I can even forgive his perceived lack of effort at times, but (tainted) legend or not, I can't forgive him disrespecting the club. I genuinely believe we are better without him. I don't miss his mercurial performances on the pitch and I would hate to have put up with his moody dramas again off it.
OntarioFox Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 3 minutes ago, murphy said: I can forgive his off days, I can forgive him wanting to move, I can even forgive his perceived lack of effort at times, but (tainted) legend or not, I can't forgive him disrespecting the club. I genuinely believe we are better without him. I don't miss his mercurial performances on the pitch and I would hate to have put up with his moody dramas again off it. Oh, and on that note - I REALLY am glad the Algerian army have, for the most part, stood down from LCFC's social media output. Man City are welcome to them.
Simoken Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 1 hour ago, hackneyfox said: Agreed and that's why I don't rate Schmeichel, his lack of attacking prowess is appalling. I has to be the most none relatable comment i have ever seen.
David Hankey Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 2 hours ago, dmayne7 said: I think Youri forgetting someone... I agree Tielemans is an excellent player and I sincerely hope we can capture him for good. I would say he is very young and with the right moulding he could well eclipse Mahrez.
hackneyfox Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 28 minutes ago, Burgh foxes 01 said: Leave him to get marry where he is . indeed
Countryfox Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 Phew ! ... funny old thread. Skilful player helps win us the prem (fantastic !) ... Wants to better himself (no probs so far) .. can’t get move so has a major strop and disrupts team (big prob) ... moves on but doesn’t get much game time cus he’s not as good as he thinks he is (his prob) ... we argue about whether he can defend or not () ... Anyway ... all I want to know is what his fan boys are saying on Citeh’s forum ... Oh .. and I agree ... leave him to marry/marcy/ mardy there ...
Guest Markyblue Posted 11 April 2019 Posted 11 April 2019 Mahrez is mardy because he can't marry vardy no wonder hes struggling.
OntarioFox Posted 12 April 2019 Posted 12 April 2019 14 hours ago, Markyblue said: Mahrez is mardy because he can't marry vardy no wonder hes struggling. But where does Marcy come into this?
norwichfox Posted 12 April 2019 Posted 12 April 2019 1 minute ago, OntarioFox said: But where does Marcy come into this? I think it's because he's Mardy...
MC Prussian Posted 16 April 2019 Posted 16 April 2019 On 08/04/2019 at 09:30, TJB-fox said: Imagine him in this team instead of Gray though. Jeez As much as I'm frustrated with Gray still myself, let's not forget that Mahrez joined us a few weeks before his 23rd birthday. Gray is still only 22.
Grebfromgrebland Posted 16 April 2019 Posted 16 April 2019 Leicester without Mahrez is like a biscuit with no cup of tea.
MC Prussian Posted 16 April 2019 Posted 16 April 2019 On 08/04/2019 at 13:17, lgfualol said: I love Mahrez Come home lad Parts of me share that sentiment. However, I can do without his ego. He's made his choice, now he's got to live with it. Not doing too badly in financial terms at the new club. Family safe and sound for decades to come. Also, there's the major question whether he'd be able to reproduce his magic again, now that he's approaching 30. Another part of me thinks we've seen the best of him in his best years. And that we should leave it at that.
HybridFox Posted 16 April 2019 Posted 16 April 2019 He was great for us and will always be a cult hero. But like Drinkwater, I would never take him back if the chance arose. We've moved on and in all honesty the team is collectively working harder and we play a different brand of football. Everyone seems to be happy in the direction we are going in so why go back?
Lambert09 Posted 16 April 2019 Posted 16 April 2019 6 minutes ago, TK95 said: He was great for us and will always be a cult hero. But like Drinkwater, I would never take him back if the chance arose. We've moved on and in all honesty the team is collectively working harder and we play a different brand of football. Everyone seems to be happy in the direction we are going in so why go back?
murphy Posted 16 April 2019 Posted 16 April 2019 2 hours ago, Grebfromgrebland said: Leicester without Mahrez is like a biscuit with no cup of tea. That's one way of looking at it, or you could say:
weller54 Posted 16 April 2019 Posted 16 April 2019 2 hours ago, Grebfromgrebland said: Leicester without Mahrez is like a biscuit with no cup of tea. When Brighton to go down we could buy Lewis Dunk to make up for it?
TJB-fox Posted 17 April 2019 Posted 17 April 2019 13 hours ago, MC Prussian said: As much as I'm frustrated with Gray still myself, let's not forget that Mahrez joined us a few weeks before his 23rd birthday. Gray is still only 22. Where have I berated Gray? Just saying I’d much rather have Riyad as pretty much every other Leicester fan would
MC Prussian Posted 17 April 2019 Posted 17 April 2019 50 minutes ago, TJB-fox said: Where have I berated Gray? Just saying I’d much rather have Riyad as pretty much every other Leicester fan would Steady - I didn't say you did. Just a way of me saying how much I still have hope that Gray can become more prolific in front of goal, as he's still younger as Mahrez was when he came over from Le Havre. Riyad didn't get going until his first full season with us - a league below - and also struggled in the Premier League at first.
Fox 4 Life Posted 17 April 2019 Posted 17 April 2019 Can we start a Mahrez without Leicester thread too? Think that will be worse off for him!
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