Mahrez for POTY

I never had an opinion on Mahrez. In the back of my head I knew he was good but he's been actually immense in CL this year.

Many players in this City team were outstanding; Walker, Dias, Stones, Gundogan, KDB, Foden, Ederson and even Zinchenko (so basically the whole team lol) but Mahrez gave them the edge and absolutely molested PSG's left-wing. This City team is just a well-oiled machine, although I do agree with @Firenze that it may be so because other big dogs are worse than in recent years. Still, a great job by Pep who also has more haters than lovers on this board and will ALWAYS, NO MATTER WHAT undermine any of his success.

El gunner; some of that hate was warranted. He actually had the same problems for the NT. Was too selfish and didn’t play defense.

Now; his unselfishness and defensive ability are his biggest strength. He runs like Lucas Vasquez out there, but 6 months back that was not Mahrez. He didn’t hustle and put himself about, and he was trying too hard to be the main man in a pep team.

He's now moved to Saudi:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66250638

It's understandable he's leaving Man City, since the last season he was playing less than usual. And the FA Cup semi-dinal hat-rick he got is definitely a good send off finalee for him. He's acheived everything there is to acheive at Man City, so it makes sense he and the club feel it's the right time to move on.

FennecFox7 wrote:His season has been up and down. Leicester as a whole have struggled, largely due Morgan and Huth being absolutely shocking on the ball, King and Amartey being a poor midfield two (decent players but they have looked out of place in a 4-4-2).

Slimani has changed the whole dynamic of that team with that man city game, and vardy is back at his fiery best. Mahrez is just like ozil, he's a luxury player and he needs to take control of games to be truly world class. But he's close.

Ben wrote:He's now moved to Saudi:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66250638

It's understandable he's leaving Man City, since the last season he was playing less than usual. And the FA Cup semi-dinal hat-rick he got is definitely a good send off finalee for him. He's acheived everything there is to acheive at Man City, so it makes sense he and the club feel it's the right time to move on.

I don’t know how I feel about this. I think he could’ve achieved more. He should’ve left city yes, but he still had a couple more seasons. His game doesn’t rely on pace.

I added my other post from years back to demonstrate something. Riyad unfortunately, while his assist and goal tally went up and he became disciplined under pep, his work outside of the pitch and his grit on the pitch never got better. The physical side of the game is something he doesn’t even bother to get better in, which is a shame. A player with so much talent yet doesn’t improve on his glaring flaws. I mean look at how de bruyne runs at defenses and plays. Mahrez has all the talent in the world but zero heart. Bernardo Silva has half the talent on the ball scoring goals and creating opportunities as a forward but he hustles and runs his ass off every game.

FennecFox7 wrote:

FennecFox7 wrote:His season has been up and down. Leicester as a whole have struggled, largely due Morgan and Huth being absolutely shocking on the ball, King and Amartey being a poor midfield two (decent players but they have looked out of place in a 4-4-2).

Slimani has changed the whole dynamic of that team with that man city game, and vardy is back at his fiery best. Mahrez is just like ozil, he's a luxury player and he needs to take control of games to be truly world class. But he's close.

Ben wrote:He's now moved to Saudi:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66250638

It's understandable he's leaving Man City, since the last season he was playing less than usual. And the FA Cup semi-dinal hat-rick he got is definitely a good send off finalee for him. He's acheived everything there is to acheive at Man City, so it makes sense he and the club feel it's the right time to move on.

I don’t know how I feel about this. I think he could’ve achieved more. He should’ve left city yes, but he still had a couple more seasons. His game doesn’t rely on pace.

I added my other post from years back to demonstrate something. Riyad unfortunately, while his assist and goal tally went up and he became disciplined under pep, his work outside of the pitch and his grit on the pitch never got better. The physical side of the game is something he doesn’t even bother to get better in, which is a shame. A player with so much talent yet doesn’t improve on his glaring flaws. I mean look at how de bruyne runs at defenses and plays. Mahrez has all the talent in the world but zero heart. Bernardo Silva has half the talent on the ball scoring goals and creating opportunities as a forward but he hustles and runs his ass off every game.

Good post, FF7! You made some good points there and I agree with your post.

Agreed, that he still has the ability and skill left, and could easily be at least a regular substitute in the Man City team. I guess the competition is too tought in the Man City squad, and at the age of 32, Pep will want to play younger players who have years left in their careers. That's my guess as to one of the reasons he's chosen to leave.

And I guess that he wants to end his career at Man City with one of the best possible finishes. I guess he felt winning a treble and getting an FA Cup semi-final hatrick was a great ens to his time there.