Premier League, Chelsea F.C., Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City F.C.
'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
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.
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.”
“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.”
0 comments
Post a Comment